Lost And Foundry

Take Factory Worker Popeye, with lunch box in hand, then add Olive Oyl walking Swee'Pea to meet the Sailor at lunch. The fun starts when Swee'Pea hops into the factory. It seems to me that Swee'Pea is having fun (although it's the wrong way). But as the cartoon progresses, Olive tries in vain to stop the machinery and gets caught in one of those machines herself. The clincher:Popeye loses his spinach over to Swee'Pea, who realizes that Olive and Popeye are in trouble and has to eat the spinach and swing over to save the two adults (I wish that the baby had done that 'Tarzan' yell). But Swee'Pea saves them and sings Popeye's song (this time, it's "I'm Swee'Pea the Sailor Man). This was Swee'Pea's first singing of a cartoon closing.

Perhaps this cartoon should be viewed again, as it has a lot of great things happening. First, there is a wonderful opening view of the factory whistle that is pure Fleischer anthropromorphism. Aside from the flirting with danger business, in terms of animation timing, this cartoon deserves much better appraisal. The uses of action and rythm coordinated with music work very well. There are moments reminiscent of Chaplin's "Modern Times," which seems to have suggested some of the bits with Popeye going through the machinery. But most of all, this is an opportunity to twist the formula with an ironic surprise. And the audience gets its pschological satisfaction in the end. So what's wrong with being cute if it's genuine?

A one joke cartoon of close calls for Swee'Pea in a factory. A rather tedious formula done more than once. Much better Popeye cartoons with Swee'Pea exist. (All color copies should be destroyed on sight).