The 'Hyp-Nut-Tist' (1935) User Reviews

Nutty hypnotism

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 28 August 2018]

Dave Fleischer was responsible for many gems. Ones that were amusing and charming, though over-cuteness did come through in some efforts and the stories were always pretty thin, with appealing characters, outstanding music and visuals that were inventive and with innovative animation techniques.

While maybe not quite classic Popeye, 'The Hyp-Nut-Tist' is still very good and very funny, using the dance setting very cleverly. Have always enjoyed many of the Popeye cartoons a good deal and like Popeye very much, Fleischer's efforts were always well animated and scored with lots of entertainment value and great chemistry between Popeye, Olive Oyl and Bluto. 'The Hyp-Nut-Tist' has everything that makes the Popeye series so appealing in its prime era and does nothing to waste the three main characters or make them less interesting.

The story is an interesting and beautifully paced one, never being dull, if formulaic (not uncommon with the Popeye cartoons), though with a lot of variety and creative moments. The humour and gags make it even more entertaining with very amusing to hilarious gags, especially everything with the various animals when under hypnosis, and the cartoon is hardly devoid of them.

All three characters are great, though Olive Oyl's material is not as great as Popeye and Bluto's, though she is used very nicely. Those two are spot on and their chemistry drives 'The Hyp-Nut-Tist' and has so much energy. Popeye is always amusing and likeable but for me Bluto in the role of the hypnotist is here the funnier and more interesting character.

Furthermore, the animation is beautifully drawn and with enough visual detail to not make it cluttered or static and lively and smooth movement. The music is also outstanding, lots of merry energy and lush orchestration, adding a lot to the action and making the impact even better without being too cartoonish. Fleischer's direction is always accomplished and his style is all over it.

Voice acting is dynamic and of very good quality on the most part, William Costello and especially William Pennell give Popeye and Bluto so much life. Mae Questel fits and voice Olive Oyl well, much better than Bonnie Poe.

All in all, very enjoyable if not quite classic Popeye. 8/10 Bethany Cox

And Levitator

[boblipton · 7/10 · 17 December 2023]

Popeye and Olive Oyl go to see Bluto in his stage show. He's a hypnotist who also makes things levitate. After Popeye distracts him, he makes Olive come on stage and hypnotizes her into thinking she's a chicken. After the sailor man objects, he and Bluto get into it.

It's all a lot of fun, even if the typical plot of the Popeye cartons for the next couple of decades was settling into concrete. Particularly under the Fleischers, there would be occasional effort to make other sorts of stories, usually adventurous ones, but it was too easy to redo the same thing over and again, concentrating on some variety in the gags. Here the gags are very good.

Olive chicken

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 16 December 2023]

Popeye and Olive Oyl go to see The Great Hypnotist. She loses the coin flip and has to pay the admission. There are various magic tricks. Popeye distracts the performer and ruins a trick. Olive Oyl gets pulled into the act and hypnotized to be a chicken. Popeye grows tired of the humiliation and fights back.

It's really funny that she's a chicken. That's a great gag at the cartoon's expense. This is all fine but I just have one question. Is it gentlemanly to do the coin flip? It seems like a bad boyfriend move or it could be a cute private ritual. I don't know. I don't have the balls to try it.

Popeye Can "Stands No More"

[ccthemovieman-1 · 9/10 · 16 September 2007]

That's all I can stand 'cause I can't stands no more!"

That'a line Popeye would use many times over in the hundreds of cartoons after this one, but it's first used here as he watches a hypnotist on stage make a fool out of Olive. Miss Oyl is made to imitate a chicken by the hypnotist, our old buddy Bluto, who is "The Great Hypnotist" in this episode.

When Popeye's had enough, he jumps on stage and the cartoon really gets wild after that with both guys making total fools of the other....and the packed audience loving every minute.

This was a humorous Popeye, entertaining all the way.

A good Cartoon

[AtomicAnthony · 22 December 2001]

Popeye takes Olive Oyl to a Hypnotist, and he takes her up on stage, and puts her in a tranze. Popeye is trying to knock the hypnotist out, and save Olive Oyl, at the same time. This is a good cartoon. I hope all Popeye lovers watch it.

Popeye and hypnosis

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 26 March 2019]

"The 'Hyp-Nut-Tist'" is an American cartoon and maybe from the title of this movie or also from the title of my review you alreac recognized that here we have a Popeye cartoon. As always it is in black-and-white and this one was made back on 1935, so it is almost 85 years old now and it is one of the earlier Popeye works by Fleischer (and Kneitel) and he moved on from Betty Boop to Popeye around that time. This one includes the 3 most famous characters from this prolific series, next to Popeye there is Olive and also Bluto who plays a wicked hypnotist this time. You can decide for yourself if the connection to German politics during that time is depicted here or if it is a pretty unpolitical film. I would say the latter. In any case it runs for slightly under 7 minutes like most other (Popeye) cartoons and Popeye and Olive visit a stage performance here and get sucked in by Bluto's gift on more than one occasions. Olive gets turned into a chicken (without any physical change). This physical change, however, is shown when Bluto's attempt to turn Popeye into a monkey backfires and also when it succeeds and he turns him into a donkey, but still gets to feel his hooves on one occasion. The longer the film goes, the more it is really a fight film you could almost say as there is some pointless punching going on at the stage eventually. In the end, as always Popeye gets his spinach 90 seconds before it's all over and prevails. Well, the comedy fell a bit flat here. The humor depicted on Popeye frequently feels very random and not spot-on for me. The best example is the inclusion of the mentally challenged man at the very beginning or why Popeye and Olive would toss a coin to see who pays. And lets be honest here, had Popeye not annoyed the magician and being a nuisance with his pipe early on, then perhaps it never would have escalated this much. One more reason why I find myself cheering more for Bluto a lot of the time, not just in this one here. Other mentionable aspects here are that Bluto is indeed a talented magician and not just a bully and fraudster like in other films. And that we rarely get to see so much visual affection from Olive towards Popeye as we do see here at the very end. I guess she likes being smacked reason into her? I would not be surprised, but yeah I still don't think she is a hot chick. All in all, not one of my favorite Popeye cartoons. I give it a thumbs-down and suggest you watch something else instead. The title isn't great either in terms of the usual Popeye title play on words.

One of the best of the Billy Costello Popeye shorts

[esskayess · 10/10 · 6 February 2021]

This Fleischer Studios short is very clever and funny. Popeye and Olive go to a theater to watch Bluto the Hypnotist and hilarity ensues when a skeptical Popeye distracts Bluto, leading to a series of gags which get better and better until our hero calls upon his magic vegetable. A must for any lover of classic animation.

This was one of the last shorts that had Costello voicing Popeye. He soon wore out his welcome at Fleischer Studios with excessive demands that led to his firing. I always preferred Jack Mercer's version of Popeye (more wit and less brass), but this is one of the best with Costello, helped greatly by Gus Wickie, who was, by far, the best Bluto voice.

Popeye vs. Hypnotism

[ja_kitty_71 · 10/10 · 2 December 2009]

I think cartoons about hypnotism are funny to watch, because of this Popeye short and the 1945 Donald Duck short "The Eyes Have It." This is my third favorite Seymour Kneitel and Roland Crandall collaborated Popeye short. However, William Henning animated this short (uncredited), I don't know which scenes. Also I think, but I am not sure that this short is also the first appearance of Gus Wickie as Bluto.

In this short, Popeye takes Olive to a stage showing of Bluto the great hypnotist, who also levitates objects. But, Popeye makes him lose his concentration, levitating a drum from the orchestra pit, by 'tooting' on his pipe, and the drum lands on Bluto's head. So in retaliation, Bluto pulls Olive on stage hypnotizing her into thinking she's a chicken. When Popeye has enough, he jumps on stage and the cartoon really gets wild after that with both guys making total fools of the other, with the packed audience loving every minute of it. I'd like it when Popeye paces in exasperation and tooting on his pipe. Seeing Olive as a chicken increases his pacing speed; then: "That's all I can stand 'cause I can't stands no more!" I also love this quote: Bluto: "ABBA DABBA!" Popeye: "Aw, Abba Dabba yourself!"

So my last word is that it is another humorous Popeye cartoon, and I thought the animation was very nice throughout.

Good Short

[Michael_Elliott · 14 July 2008]

"Hyp-Nut-Tist", The (1935)

*** (out of 4)

Popeye and Olive go to see a hypnotist and once there he puts Olive under a spell, which doesn't sit too well with her boyfriend. The entire running gag of this short is that the hypnotist keeps putting Popeye under various spells to where he thinks he is various animals and this small gag works well enough for several laughs with the best coming when Popeye thinks he is a donkey. The animation is very nice throughout and it all leads up to Popeye pulling out the spinach to get even.

On DVD from Warner.