elicopperman Ever since his debut in newspaper comics in 1929, and his debut in animation in 1933, Popeye the sailor has become a household name for his aggressive albeit hysterical attitude and tough natured charm. So in 1936, Max Fleischer and his studio decided to take a bold leap with the spinach packing sailor and create a cartoon longer than 10 minutes. The result was Popeye Meets Sindbad the Sailor, an Oscar nominated classic animated short that was even included at # 17 on Jerry Beck's book, The 50 Greatest Cartoons. I myself grew up with this short on a public domain vhs, so the quality was rather sub par, but seeing the cartoon in its restored and remastered glory makes it way more of a treat than before.The basic storyline is that Popeye must rescue his girlfriend Olive Oyl from the notorious Sindbad on his island of ferocious creatures. Pretty standard as far as a Popeye cartoon goes, but what elevates it from being your typical Popeye venture is how epic and grand it is. The setting of Sinbad's island is marvelous, complete with the Fleischer's legendary stereotypical backgrounds that create a lot of depth and dimensions, and one can definitely tell how much effort and care was put into crafting the island. The creatures themselves, whether it'd be lions, dragons, or even giants, are frightening but intriguing to watch, mainly by what predicaments Popeye ends up in with each animal. In particular, the roc is so majestic in terms of design and size that it's hard not to feel timid around the beast, especially when it takes off to fly (what a tremendously epic scene).In addition to how magnificent the island is, the music is utterly fantastic. Most of the score consists of suspenseful tracks that play whenever Popeye is in danger. The scores help accompany the already monumental and thrilling scenes to give them that extra flavor of tension. Not only that, but despite only one musical number playing afloat, Who's the Most Phenomenal Extraordinary Fellow is incredibly catching, and helps establish both the courageous character of Sindbad and his accomplishments overseas, with some humorous lyrics sprinkled throughout. Adding into that, Gus Wickie does a great job performing the speaking and singing voice of Sindbad, elevating his aggressive presence and pompous ego to new heights. Speaking of the voices, Jack Mercer, the longest running and most iconic voice of Popeye, performs the usual vigorous albeit humorous charismatic voice we've come to know and love, complete with witty ad libs, and Mae Questel carries through on making Olive truly sound like the damsel in distress without coming off as annoying. Needless to say, Popeye Meets Sindbad contains enough grand animation, tense music, and amusing voices to present sixteen minutes of pure thrilling entertainment. Whether you're a big fan of Popeye the sailor or not, check this cartoon out and have the time of your life. And just remember, there's only room for one brave sailor in this world, and I'm sure you know who that is.

Foreverisacastironmess This has gotta be one of Popeye's best adventures ever and is certainly one of the gems of the old Fleischer cartoon library. In terms of quality the animations that the studio was putting out at this time were easily giving the works of Disney a run for their money! This very old but to me no less beautiful short that in part inspired the special effects wizardry of a classic movie has such an enchanting visual design and use of colour to it and the rich small details in all the backgrounds and everything as well as the plethora of screeching chained up beasts are fantastic. I especially enjoy the use of the 3-D like effect that was in a couple of sequences. It was accomplished through a fascinating process of filming the animated cells against an actual physical model, and it was a technique the Fleischers pioneered that really gave a little added sense of depth and magic to whatever animation it was used in. It sadly wasn't used all that much after their time, which is a bit of a shame as I find it quite a beautiful and impressive effect even today. It seemed a bit odd to me how Sind(D?)bad was portrayed by Bluto who is a big blowhard of a bullying jerk and most definitely not a likable hero type, as his hilarious bragging song about how great and mighty he is adequately demonstrates, but on the other hand he does have a whole island of mythical monsters under he command that he conquered fair and square so he is technically mighty, he's just a jerk about it! It has some good funny gags in it and stuff like the creepy Italian double-headed ogre and when Popeye gets squeezed and turns so beat red that he actually turns into a beet for a second! My favourite bit of animation is when the gigantic roc flies over and demolishes Popeye's boat. This is still a terrifically fun short cartoon that's still great to watch a good eighty years after it was made! The fantasy adventure atmosphere and the magical story book-esc imagery really made it special and different and a little more than the average Popeye short. Definitely worth a look-see if you're a fan of the character, if you're a fan of the traditional heroic image of Sinbad the Sailor though..probably not so much! x

Ron Oliver A POPEYE Cartoon.POPEYE THE SAILOR MEETS SINDBAD THE SAILOR when our spinach-munching hero pilots his ship too near the isle of the bearded braggart. After being attacked by Sindbad's foul pets, and with Olive Oyl in the clutches of the villain, it's time for Popeye to go into action...This was the first in a series of 3 excellent two-reel cartoons, created by Max Fleischer, in which Popeye & his friends are interpolated into the classic stories of The Arabian Nights. They feature great animation - notice the fascinating 3-D backgrounds - and taut, fast-moving plots. Meant to be shown in movie theaters, they are miles ahead of their Saturday Morning counterparts. Jack Mercer is the voice of Popeye; Mae Questel does the honors for Olive Oyl.

Popeye-8 Using the Fleischer Brothers' special 3-d backgrounds, Paramount's "Sindbad" is an impressive animation feat, as well as an entertaining and funny cartoon. It has made virtually every "greatest cartoon" list, with no apologies.