Popeye the Sailor: Volume 1: 1933-1938 (DVD), Warner Archives, Kids & Family

Great theatrical stories as the songs are so catchy. The message that Popeye provides inspiration. The story is perfect for all ages.

"Popeye The Sailor: 1933-1938 Vol. 1" is an excellent compendium of the early black-and-white Max Fleischer Studio cartoons featuring Elzie Segar's sailor. It starts with the character's introduction to the screen in a Betty Boop cartoon, and continues through the entire pre-Paramount run, including the two Popeye two-reeler adventures in color. Even though this only DVD resolution, the cartoons look great -- not too cleaned up but sharp and watchable, presenting the fluid, rhythmic, surreal style of the Fleischer cartoons in fine form. There's also a lot of great supplementary material - informed commentaries on many of the shorts, and some fine documentary material sprinkled throughout the collection. These cartoons have rarely looked and sounded this good, and they hold up extremely well, fun to the finish!