Popeye the Sailor: 1933-1938, Volume One

After years in the public domain, Max and Dave Fleischer's famed Popeye cartoons have finally been given the red carpet treatment they deserve. This four-disc boxed set collects the first 60 shorts in chronological order (unlike the Looney Tunes sets, which more or less randomly slap together cartoons by theme), with the high points here being the two full-color extravaganzas “Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor” (1936, Oscar-nominated) and “Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves” (1937), both of which boast amazingly fluid movements and detailed backgrounds. But many of the remaining 58 are also excellent, such as the brilliant “A Dream Walking” (1934), with its astonishing use of perspective and timing (indeed, it's surprising how few clunkers are found here). The plots vary only slightly: Popeye (voiced by William Costello from 1933-35, and afterwards by Jack Mercer, who also co-wrote some of the stories) must usually rescue or protect the fickle Olive Oyl (Mae Questel) from the bully Bluto (Gus Wickie), but somehow these exploits have continued to transcend time (even in a politically correct era in which violence and smoking—i.e., Popeye's corncob pipe—are frowned upon; though no one would complain about Popeye's spinach eating habit). DVD extras include commentary tracks on selected cartoons by various historians and animators, the 43-minute documentary “I Yam What I Yam: The Story of Popeye the Sailor,” the 30-minute featurette “Forging the Frame: The Roots of Animation 1900-1920,” various shorter Popeye "Popumentaries, " and several bonus cartoons (many from the silent era, most of them early Fleischer pieces). Highly recommended. (J.M. Anderson)