and it was also one involving Betty Boop, although she wasn't the star. Instead, it was 1933's Popeye the Sailor:
Last night I went to a drive-in to see a trio of older films; that will be discussed when I review one of them later in the day. For now, I will discuss this cartoon, which played before the three motion pictures. When I was a kid I viewed some Popeye cartoons; heck if I know if it was VHS rentals, them appearing on TV or a combination of the two. In any event, this was the very first Popeye cartoon-originally he was only in comic strips.
This established the basics of the character... he was really F'ing strong, his girl was the rail-thin Olive Oyl, the rude bully Bluto was their enemy, and he Hulks up after consuming spinach. The crux of this is spent at a carnival, where Bluto is always bested and he then kidnaps Olive. This culminates with Popeye literally punching a train to save his girl. For about a minute, Betty Boop shows up to do a hula dance. I'll be charitable and say she has a dark skin complexion because of her having a hell of a tan... also, as this is Pre-Code, she is topless except for a lei that always covers her chest.
Mix in plenty of nice visual gags and this was pretty good, both on its own and as an introduction to a character that plenty of people still remember 91 years after he made his debut.
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