Thrift Store Finds: Popeye- She Sick Sailors (1944) VHS

There are dozens of Popeye theatrical cartoons that are public domain. Meaning, they are not owned specifically by any company. What does this really mean to us? It means that several mom and pop, low budget home video companies can release these cartoons on home video. Mostly in beat up, fuzzy form. About 5-10 Fleischer (1936-40) cartoons are public domain, while dozens from 1952-57 are also PD. These cheap companies started putting out the public domain Popeye (and other cartoons) on VHS in the mid-late 1980s. It hasn't stopped since. Since the early 2000s, DVD companies have put out these public domains over and over. Meanwhile the Famous Studios majorities (1942-57) remain unavailable on DVD and TV. (Unless you were lucky enough to tape it off Boomerang in the mid-late 2000s, or Cartoon Network in the early 2000s.

However, from time to time non public domain cartoons will somehow make there way on to these companies videos and DVD's. Some examples are Abusement Park (1947), With Poopdeck Pappy (1940) and Quiet Pleeze! (1941).

Most of the time however, it is the same old stuff. So imagine my curiosity when I come across a VHS of Popeye cartoons. Naturally I'm assuming its the same stuff. But the picture on the front of the VHS shows a hand drawn still of the non public domain, and never on home video cartoon She Sick Sailors (1944). Home videos, especially from cheap companies do this all the time. Put a picture of a great film on a DVD with crap on it. One time I bought a Laurel and Hardy DVD with a picture of Liberty (1929) on it only to find out that It was mostly solo Laurel films. So back to the story. I turn it over and She Sick Sailors is listed, as well as the well traveled PD classic Alladin and His Wonderful Lamp (1939).

So for 1.99 (which is over priced for a beat up VHS from 1987) I purchased it to see if She Sick Sailors was really on it. If so, was it original Paramount titles like I taped off TV on Cartoon Networks Popeye Show? Or was it a TV A.A.P title, or no title?

So I put on the VHS when I got home. The tape worked and the first episode on the VHS was not Alladin but it was indeed She Sick Sailors, A.A.P Print. Horrible condition (Not the VHS, the film) A hair was present in the projector transfer and everything! However I  more than enjoyed seeing this classic. Alladin was second and the same print I've seen over and over. No opening titles and all!

For reference I have listed the public domain Popeye cartoons here;

Lil Swee Pea (1936)

I'm In The Army Now (1936)

Popeye Meets Sinbad (1936)

I Never Changes My Altitude (1937)

Paneless Window Washer (1937)

Popeye Meets Ali Baba (1937)

A Date to Skate (1938)

Customers Wanted (1939)

Alladin and His Wonderful Lamp (1939)

Me Feelins is Hurt (1940)

Me Musical Nephews (1942)

Shuteye Popeye (1952)

Ancient Fistory (1952)

Big Bad Sinbad (1952)

Popeye's 20th Anniversary (1954)

Fright to the Finish (1954)

Taxi Turvy (1954)

Out to Punch (1956)

A Haul in One (1956)

Parlez Vouz Woo (1956)

I Don't Scare (1957)

The Crystal Brawl (1957)

Patriotic Popeye (1957)

Famous Studios Screen Song- The Stork Market (1949)

Today we are going to take a look at a 1949 cartoon from Famous Studios/Paramount called The Stork Market. Like all "Screen Songs," the second half of the cartoon is going to be a sing a long in the form of a bouncing ball. Here we get to sing along to "Pretty Baby." The Screen Songs from Famous are often overlooked, possibly with good reason. The first half consists of a mixture of Famous/Warner Brothers and Tex Avery-esque gags. While the second half is the sing a long which is tedious, annoying and forgettable at best. 1949 was possibly the final year at Famous where the animation looks pretty good before budget cut backs forced Paramount to resort to cheaper animation. Look for a Edward G Robinson caricature. Interesting in the first half Famous went for the Warner Bros. one shot cartoon feel of the late 30s and early 40s. Unfortunately this one was made in 1949 so you can see how the studio was behind the rest.

Unfortunatley I was unable to find the cartoon for streaming. But it is available on Mill Creeks 150 (or 600) Cartoon Collection.

Looney Tunes- Porky's Pooch (1941)

Today we are going to look at the 1941 Black and White Looney Tune, "Porky's Pooch." Having been deprived of the black and white Looney Tunes on TV since I was a kid, I sought out these hard to find goodies. (Including the Bosko and Buddy Looney Tunes). Porky's Pooch is by all accounts a ordinary 1940's Looney Tune. By this time Porky had his design and character down pat. The animation and directors at WB by 1941 would be the ones that would remain for the long haul well into the 1950's (Clampett, Freleng, etc). So Porky's Pooch, though shown in Black and white seems like a later short. Compare this with say a Porky short from say 3-4 years earlier and there is a world of difference. The blatant Looney Tune physicals style is also apparent here.

What I like about it: Its humorous and entertaining. Everything that most post 1940 Looney Tunes are, what makes them so timeless in many peoples minds. Porky, to me is a underrated character. Especially since the early Porkys (1935-43) really arent too common among Boomerang and Cartoon Network re-runs.

What I dislike: Damn is that dog annoying! I would think he would have a better chance at Porky wanting him as his pet if he were more of a sweet quiet type. Plus the story of how he got Porky to be his owner was a story right? We never got back to the present!

All in all one of the better entries from the 1941 season. To me these Black and White Looney Tunes are the real "Prime" cartoons.

The Decline of Quality at Warner Brothers. Post 1948.

It's a universal fact that the Post 1948 Looney Tunes are more beloved than the Pre 48's and especially the pre 1940 cartoons. There's good reason for this. By 1943 the folks at Warner Brothers had really come into their own with characterization and storytelling. Essentially the characters were in a league of their own and the humor was almost top of the line. (Tex Avery's MGM cartoons were possibly funnier). So there's no doubting why they are so popular. Plus the simple animation of the post 48's really allows the cartoons to fit in on TV these days (The Pre 43 cartoons never see the light of day on Boomerang/CN here in the states). However those "simple backgrounds," and simple animation I eluded to is the reason that i prefer the older Looney Tunes/Merries Melodies.From 1938 on the humor and characters started to be there but the quality was still at a high level. Budgetary cuts of the 50's really hampered Looney Tunes. By the 60s the studio was on its last leg due to the budget. However by the 1950's most studios had been budgetized and Warner Brothers was no exception.

The Later Betty Boop Theatricals (1935-39)

As great and innovative as the Max Fleischer Talkartoons and subsequent Betty Boop series from 1930-34 were, there was a period of Betty Boop cartoons that were just the opposite. Betty Boop was a sexy woman and the cartoons reflected that. However, by 1935 the Hays Code came into play and Betty was resorted to a long dress. This wouldn't necessarily make for a  bad or boring cartoon but the Fleischer's opted that instead of creating interesting situations for the character, they were going to create a number of generic characters that were going to carry the story load. The result: cartoons like "Training Pigeons" (1936), where Betty's dog Pudgy chases Pigeons for 6 minutes. It sounds more interesting than it is. The Boop cartoons would stay the course and trudge on until 1938. Fleischer had moved its studio to Miami and Boop's voice actor Mae Questal did not go with them. Margie Hines replaced her (She also replaced Mae as Olive Oyl as well). The Fleischers continued making Betty Boop cartoons until 1939, but by then it was evident that the animation style of the Fleischer's had changed and so had the animation business in general. The later Boop's were certainly different then the early (prime) cartoons. However the Fleischer animation is always top notch and always a pleasure to watch. Even if the stories and characters are bland as can be! The late 30's Boop cartoons always gave me the feeling that they were second banana to the Popeye series. In that regard it reminds me of watching the mid  30's Chase comedies who were always second or even third banana behind Laurel and Hardy and The Little Rascals (Our Gang). Like Chase the Betty Boop cartoons went out with a whimper and by 1940 the Fleischer's new series (Gabby, Stone Age, etc) reflected the overall decline in quality at The Fleischer studio. Fleischer studios became Famous Studios in 1943, and the rest, as they say, was history.