Saturday, July 20, 2013

"Popeye Meets Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" - (1937)


In this 1937 release Popeye continues fighting the good fight against classical villains such as Sinbad in 1936. This story has him in the Middle East where he meets up with Ali Baba and his Forty Thieves. The battle is on for our intrepid hero, as he seemingly waltzes his way through the swords and knives, armed with only his can of spinach and a wry sense of humor. They always seem to save the day for him, so he must have known something we don’t. Or maybe it wasn’t really spinach? Just athought…

So many of the early cartoons, as well as films, were based upon classical literature, which is not as common these days. The box office demands something new each week, devouring millions, but imparting very little of really classical variety; the occasional “Merchant of Venice” with Al Pacino excepted. But, those films are rare these days.

Even the earliest of the silent cartoons were set to classical music when we were kids. TV had to have soundtracks, so they largely used classical recordings without copyrights. No matter, they gave so many of us kids in the 1950’s an ear for music. No point to this post, just more ramblings from the past for consumption by others in the future. Enjoy the cartoon, and listen to Popeye closely. He says some funny stuff.

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