June 16, 2011

Aw, Ya Sissy!



Adventures of Popeye from Fleischer Studios, 1935

Been searching for this for years! I hadn't seen it since I was maybe 11-years-old, but it's interesting how precisely I remember the rhythm and tone of all the sounds. The live-action stuff at the beginning and end are particularly strange. Seeing that freckled-faced, sour-puss punk getting busted hard in the chin by a sissy jacked-up on spinach remains one of the most satisfying endings I've ever seen. It's frustrating to see the hyper-kinetic animation of today in comparison to this hand-rendered Fleischer Studios stuff because there's so much soul on display. It's a lost art, a far better art, in my opinion.

2 comments:

stexe said...

In all fairness, that kid IS a total sissy.

I love the moment at 7:34, where the Fleischer animators blew up the film to large transparencies, then painted over it. Disney did the same thing with "Tron" decades later, with lesser results.

Joyce Pitrone Hawkins--Wrinkles Don't Hurt said...

Brings back so many memories. I, too, recall all of this like it was yesterday. How impressionable kids are. Just think. Today's kids see TV and movies over and over again. I wonder what THAT is doing to their brains!?!