Brotherly Love (1936) Review: Popeye tries being a pacifist and fails

Is this worth watching today? Yeah, definitely. It's only seven minutes long and the animation has that gritty, bouncy energy you only get from the old Fleischer studios.

If you like old-school slapstick or just want to see what people thought was funny during the Depression, you'll dig it. If you hate high-pitched singing or cartoons where the solution to every problem is a punch to the face, maybe skip it. 🥊

It starts with Olive Oyl singing. She’s on the radio or a record, I couldn't really tell, but her voice is piercing. She’s singing about "Brotherly Love" and how we should all be kind. Popeye is just sitting there, totally mesmerized.

It’s kind of funny seeing him so soft. He decides right then and there to go outside and be a good samaritan.

The first thing he does is help a horse. The horse is pulling a wagon that looks way too heavy, and the driver is being a jerk. Popeye doesn't fight him, though. Not yet.

He just unhooks the horse and carries the wagon himself. The horse looks so confused. The way the horse is drawn is weirdly expressive—it has these big, tired eyes like it’s seen too much work. 🐴

Then Popeye finds a dog. Or maybe the dog finds him. He tries to be sweet, but the dog just bites his finger. It’s a small moment, but the timing is perfect.

The movie really gets going when he finds the big fight. There are two gangs, the Gas House Boys and the Boulevard Boys. They are just wrecking each other in the middle of the street.

The animation here is super fluid. Their arms look like they're made of cooked spaghetti. It’s that classic rubber-hose style where physics doesn't really matter as long as it looks cool.

Popeye walks right into the middle of the brawl. He’s got this big, goofy smile on his face. He starts reciting Olive’s lyrics about love.

One of the gang members—a huge guy with a tiny head—just stares at him for a second. Then he just clocks Popeye. It’s a brutal little hit.

I noticed something weird in the background of the street scene. There's a poster on the wall that looks like it says something about a boxing match, which is ironic considering Popeye is trying to stop the fighting. Or maybe I misread it, the print is kind of fuzzy.

Popeye keeps trying to be nice, but they just keep beating him up. He gets flattened, twisted, and tossed around. It’s actually kind of sad if you think about it too much.

The message seems to be that being a pacifist in this neighborhood is a great way to get killed. It reminded me a bit of the chaos in Too Much Progress for Piperock, but with more sailors and less dirt.

Eventually, Popeye has had enough. He realizes his "Brotherly Love" isn't working. He pulls out the spinach.

I love the way he eats the spinach in this one. It’s fast and messy. As soon as it hits his stomach, his pipes start whistling. ⚓

The whole mood shifts. He’s not being nice anymore. He decides to force them to love each other.

He starts punching both gangs at the same time. He knocks their heads together. He turns them into a human pile. It’s absolute madness.

The funniest part is the ending. He gets the two leaders of the gangs to shake hands. But they only do it because they are terrified of him.

They’re shaking hands and trembling at the same time. It’s a very dark take on "peace through superior firepower."

I wonder if the writers realized how cynical that was? Or maybe they just thought it was a good way to end the gag. It doesn't feel like a deep message, just a funny way to wrap up seven minutes of chaos.

The music is great, too. It keeps the rhythm of the punches perfectly. If you've seen something like Momotaro's Underwater Adventure, you know how important that beat is for these old shorts.

There's one shot where Popeye's pipe disappears for a split second. It’s just gone. Then it pops back in. I love finding those little animation errors.

It makes the whole thing feel more human. Like someone actually sat there and drew every frame and just got tired toward the end of the day.

Overall, it’s a solid Popeye short. It’s not the most famous one, but the joke about him trying to be a pacifist really works. It’s much better than some of the later stuff where they got lazy with the backgrounds.

If you have a few minutes, go find it on YouTube or wherever. It’s a good reminder that Popeye is at his best when he’s slightly unhinged. Even when he's trying to be a saint, he's still a brawler at heart. 👊

One last thing—the way Olive Oyl looks on the cover of the sheet music or whatever Popeye is looking at is so different from how she looks in the cartoon. Her nose is way smaller. Just a weird detail I noticed.