Popeye 30's Gem-Can you take it?

I bought the GIGABYTE EAGLE RTX 4080 GPU finally.

(The above announcement was back in November 10 2023)

Just wanted to point that out.

Anyhow, no further sidetracks, lets get on to the main attraction:

POPEYE's "Can you take it?"

Released in April 27 1934, this is another Popeye short that's for sure a gem to us all.

It has all the bells and whistles of cartoony goodness, as well as Masculine Ironies that would seriously impress Dr. Livesey(Evgeniy Papernyy version that is).

But what's most interesting is that this cartoon is recycled. No seriously, it is recycled!!!

I read that this particular Popeye Cartoon took inspiration from the Betty Boop's BIMBO'S INITIATION.

The core idea was that in BIMBO'S INITIATION, Bimbo wants to join a club but in order to do that, he has to endure multiple life-threatening situations.

Pretty basic plotline eh.

Popeye does it a little differently.

Here, he wants to join a Bruiser's Club because he's already a manly sailor who take the pain.

Except, these Bluto copycats fiercely believe that to be manly, you've got to be big, rotund, muscular, and have the voice of a bear just like William Pennell (Bluto's original voice).

The trouble is, these Bluto copycats fail to realize that back in the original POPEYE from 1933, the titular sailor doesn't need a fat stomach or a bear's voice to be manly. You just need to work out from time to time.

And you don't need spinach 24/7 just to have that strength, as a matter of fact, Thimble Theatre didn't use spinach excessively like the cartoons have.

Anyhow, the parts of CAN YOU TAKE IT? that make it so different from 

BIMBO'S INITIATION

is that Popeye can actually fight back with his own methods and this is further exemplified with the both the handshake and cigar scenes right here.

SHAKE!!!

OW!!!!

HAHAHAHAHA!!!!

SHAKE AGAIN!!!

OWWWWWW!!!!!!

DIRTY POOL POPEYE!!! DIRTY POOL!!!!

NOW THE SMOKE TEST!!!

THANKS FOR PROVIDING A MATCH!!!

NOW I BLOW AT YOUR FACE!!!

I CAN'T STANDS THE SMOKES NO MORE!!!

Now here comes the unexpected. I can hazard a guess that Popeye's gonna bite back back puffing smoke at Bluto's face and he does but instead of his mouth, he becomes creative:

I can pretty much guess people will laugh their ass off with this unexpected smoke gag because you were made to expect that Popeye will huff and puff like Mr. Big Bad Wolf but instead, he lets out smoke out of his good eye. And it works perfectly because you can't puff out smoke from your eye holes in real life.

The smoke gag however is my own personal allegory, especially with all the vapers out there. 

Someone actually vaped on my face back in High School and that was not pretty.

Here are some other Popeye gems to show you that Popeye really can take the pain like a real man.

As usual, I will have to stop here due to risks of spoiling for you guys. If you're wondering where you can find this cartoon? It's in the public domain so the Internet Archive is a great place to find Popeye cartoons to tickle your fancy and in much higher quality MP4 files too.

Maverick Quickie: FINALLY!!!

The SAG-AFTRA strikes have ended….. tentatively. 

I promised I wouldn’t post on this blog until I upgraded to my GIGABYTE EAGLE RTX 4080 graphics but I had a pay snafu the day I was supposed to buy it so why not take this as an opportunity to announce the end of the strike tentatively. How did I know? I just read it on my LinkedIn feed. If I’m wrong by tomorrow, I promise to update this post with accurate information.

Unlike with the September 27 post where I announced the end of the WGA strike, I ain’t got crap to talk about. My mental conscience has been so damaged by the strike that I need at least 3 days for myself to recover. 

Besides, I’ve got a graphics card to install in my machine so there’s that too.

So instead, here’s a sneak peak for next blogpost.

Here’s a hint: CLASSIC FLEISCHER POPEYE

The cartoon in question? 

“Can you take it?”

No seriously, that’s the title. 

We still get titles like this, just in tv shows regardless of its live action, cartoons, or anime.

FYI, I was using my iPhone 13 to make this blogpost and this might be my last made on my phone. The next post will be made on my desktop pc instead.

Peanuts Allegories: Charlie Brown security blanket and acting

I saw this old Peanuts comic strip from the 1950s where Charlie Brown asks Lucy Van Pelt why Linus always carries a blanket with him even as he aged to Charlie's age.

It's rather funny because it's very allegorical to my eyes. Take a look.

As you can see, Charlie Brown feels like an idiot trying to emulate. He even said it himself. 

For sure, this comic was printed way before Linus aged up to the point Lucy gained the brass balls to pick on her little brother.

Of course, try to steal his blanket will elicit this response:

Anyway, the above comic, what allegory can I compare this too?

Acting?

Yeah. That's sounds about right. The allegory is how you look when you see yourself acting like a cartoon character in those reference footage pieces you see so many times on your DVD/Blu-Ray featurettes on your favorite Disney, Pixar, DreamWorks, and Warner Bros animated flicks.

However, I'm not going to get into the further details on my views on reference footage for feature animation as I already have a dedicated blogpost about that which I wrote way back in February 2023:

https://maverickmartinezarchive.blogspot.com/2023/02/acting-101-acting-in-animation.html

I just wanted to point out the allegory of that peanuts comic and at the same time, restrain myself from making biased comparisons to cartoon acting vs real life acting.

I still have many other Peanuts oddities than I wanna analyze but I'll have to dive deeper in the web to find those comics.

Also, this was the Second-to-last post before I upgraded my custom built PC's graphics card on November 9 2023. I got my pay on the 7th of November 2023 and I've saved up for the upgrade. I'll still post more on this blog but in the meantime, I just want to get familiarized with my new graphics card and render a view 3D Animations using RTX rendering on Maya before I get back on making blogposts.

Starting with this sneak peak:

I dub this sneak peak "Translation from previz to final output".

It's been something I wanted to get into but lacked the necessary images and research. I do have the research but I only have these HILDA examples. 

(I do have some images of HILDA in it's original comic book form)

Well, It may be several days before I get into this topic due to researching the topic a little more as well as my RTX GPU upgrade so stay tuned.

Another Color Popeye Gem-Ali Baba's Forty Thieves

 Here's another gem in Fleischer's Popeye filmography.

One that is in color too.

It's Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's forty thieves.

Released on November 26 1937, Approximately one month before the release of Snow White.

oh.... and pretty much released 21 days after the release of THE OLD MILL.

So if you think the competition with your favorite modern cartoon is stupidly fierce? Think twice before thinking like that and imagine finding out Popeye was going up against a Silly Symphony and Disney's feature length spectacle one month later.

Anyway, Back to Ali Baba, this is another personal favorite of any Popeye cartoon, aside from Sinbad, The Paneless Window Washer, Can you take it, Aladdin and his wonderful lamp, etc.

After a beautifully rendered opening sequence...

We find another beautifully rendered scene made with 3d Models, which was created by Fleischer's Patented Setback Camera.

The skull is a dead giveaway that it's a physical 3D Model

Think twice before you say Disney revolutionized animation cameras. The reality is, Fleischer had the better camera which made them ahead of it's time.. and better yet, they've been using this 3D tabletop camera since their BETTY BOOP days.

Again, just like in Sinbad, we have Bluto as another villain. This time as Abu Hassan.

And once again, he sings a self-congratulatory song... sort of. He's singing to the audience about his impending invasion of an undisclosed location.

And look at that, He's managed to get people at his side. What a feet.

Seconds Later, 

Oh my god. I can only imagine how people reacted with awe when they see this closeup of Popeye. There were many closeups of the Sailor early on but compare that to his surly look in his earliest shorts such as CAN YOU TAKE IT?, 

Yeah, it's clear that Fleischer studios was having a field day when they found out Disney was trying to make a feature length Cartoon filled with cute characters but back then, they had the same mentality as all the critics of the 1930s had in which they thought Snow White would be Disney's Folly but when the film became a beloved triumph, that caused the industry and Fleischer to reconsider their remarks.

But yeah, Popeye was made to look much more cuter and pleasing to the eyes. They already had to tone down his surly design from when they translated his appearance from Thimble Theatre into something more cartoon friendly.

But at least Popeye kept his Beady eyes which is something that he'd drop once FAMOUS Studios took over in the 40s.

But here's Olive and her emergence of Sclera eyes.

Granted, this was only a closeup as she retained her beady eyes in the rest of the cartoon.

Poor, Poor Wimpy. Even in full 3-Strip technicolor, he still can't enjoy a nice burger.

He'll have to pay the McDonalds brothers next Tuesday before he can have his burger before the restaurant chain's opening in 1940.

I won't indulge further in these next screenshots before the next paragraph but I will say, this is one of my favorite gags in this cartoon.     heheheheh, malfunctioning seaplanes.,...

Another beautifully rendered 3D Setback Camera scene. 

With an added night shot.

Food gags anyone?

"FOOD!!!"

"ARGH!!!. The laws of the desert be a harsh mistress."

HEY!!! THIS IS NO TIME TO REST. 

AND WHO PUT THAT TRAFFIC LIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF AN EMPTY DESERT?

YEAH. YOU HEARD THE LIGHT! GO. NOTHING TO SEE HERE. MOVE ALONG.

And that's where I'll have to end this post since If I show off screenshots in chronological order, I wind up spoiling the rest of the cartoon for you.

One thing I'm happy about is the fact that I showed off a copy of Ali Baba that actually has accurate colors when compared to Sinbad where one had very minor vinegar colors while the other had gawdy RAINBOW BRITE-like colors.

Aside from a color restoration screwup in the cave sequence, which had a 3d background of all things, 

"Hey! What's with the purple rock formations here?"

This print is well restored...

Though I did see a few bits of smearing on the video. It's not the bitrate but rather it may have been AI upscaled but the upscaling is so minor and the film runs at 24 frames per second that you really can't tell the difference, unlike what happened with Fleischer's Superman Cartoons.

If you want to see the last Color Popeye made by Fleischer in this blog, whoop-dee-doo. I'm saving that for December.

But at least I will do my analysis on the other Black and White Popeyes out there.