Popeye, Olive Oyl, and Bluto in I EATS MY SPINACH (1933) – Popeye on rodeo drive

PopeyeBluto

Popeye and Olive Oyl go to a rodeo, where they watch Bluto as a rodeo-rider. Olive is smitten with Bluto (and from the looks of the apathetic audience, she’s the only one who is), so naturally Popeye has to show him up. He jumps on Bluto’s horse and runs circles on him, followed by his returning the favor by letting the horse run him in circles. Ditto the steer-wrestling contest (love it when a bull subdues Bluto and clamps his hooves above his head in victory). Bluto tries to kidnap Olive, but Popeye pops the spinach, knocks Bluto out, and punches a pushy bull so hard he turns into an instant meat market.

Funny enough, but more spot-gaggy than story-driven. The cartoon’s atmosphere is established in the first scene, when Popeye casually throws a boulder at Olive’s apartment window to get her attention, and she slides down the building’s drainpipe to meet him. A cartoon that starts at wacko level doesn’t have much place to go.

On a rating scale of 1 to 4 spinach cans, I give this cartoon: CanCanCan

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