Saturday, July 27, 2013

From Comics To Toons: Popeye's High School Daze (1979)

From season 2 of The All-New Popeye Hour.

Retconning is the theme here, as Popeye (Jack Mercer) & Olive (Marilyn Schreffler) flash back to the 50's when they, along with Bluto (Allan Melvin) & Wimpy, were all in high school.

SAY WHAT?!?

The idea, obviously, is to parody "Grease", complete with an analogue for American Bandstand. However, the producers were a little too cheap to hire actors to voice the younger versions of the characters. Like, didja really think Popeye always had that pipe in his mouth and fractured the English language? Of course not. The other mistake here, in "Popeye's High School Daze", is that while Popeye, Olive, and Wimpy are all younger (and Popeye has a full head of hair), Bluto isn't, as he looks the same as a teenager as he does as an adult. That kills the vibe, cats.



Yeah, there's also a little nod to "Rebel Without a Cause" in there, early on. However, there wasn't enough imagination in the writing, and that's what hurts this story.

Rating: C. Not one of Popeye's best from his Hanna-Barbera run.

2 comments:

magicdog said...

Well, Grease was the word in '78, so it made sense to have a bunch of 50s era rips by '79.

If it wasn't ripping on the 50s nostalgia, then it had to rip the Disco vibes of Saturday Night Fever. Somehow I can't see Popeye working Tony Mannero's white suit!

hobbyfan said...

Neither can I.

No matter what era, there were always a few clunkers in the lot with Popeye. I'm glad I found one to share.