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6.4/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 6.4/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Adventures of Popeye remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
Only if you are a completionist for animation history or have a very specific interest in 1930s live-action experiments. If you're looking for a coherent story, you'll probably hate this. It’s disjointed, strange, and the live-action kid is acting like he’s reading lines off a chalkboard just off-screen. 🤨
The whole thing kicks off with this bully stealing a comic from a smaller kid. It feels like a PSA from a timeline where they didn't have real actors. Then, suddenly, Popeye is there. It’s not smooth. It’s barely even functional.
Once you get past the awkward intro, you’re just watching four old shorts strung together. Some of them hold up okay, but the framing device makes the whole experience feel like homework. It’s like when you watch Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp, you just want the magic, not the person explaining it to you.
It makes me think of Mickey's Service Station, where the chaos feels earned. Here, the chaos is just a technical limitation. You can tell they just wanted to push some back-catalog content out the door. It’s a relic, really.
I found myself zoning out during the transitions. The cartoons themselves are fine, but the movie *really* wants you to care about the bullying plot. I just didn't. It felt more like a distraction from the actual animation work. 🌀
If you've seen Liberty, you know that physical comedy needs space to breathe. This movie gives it no space at all. It’s just clip, clip, clip, and then a quick moral lesson. It’s not deep, but it’s definitely something you won’t forget, mostly because of how odd the whole setup is.
Honestly? Just watch the cartoons individually if you can find them. The wrapper here is just… kind of dusty.