Wild Elephinks (1933) User Reviews

Starting To Become More Clever

[ccthemovieman-1 · 8/10 · 5 September 2007]

They have some pretty decent sight gags in here, especially the beginning when Popeye and Olive are in their ocean raft sailing toward an island. How he makes the raft go, and provide sardines, is pretty good

Once the two get to the island, it's "Wild Kingdom" as all kinds of animals appear and none of them friendly. Can Popeye fight off an elephant (and numerous other beasts) and at the same time rescue Olive from a King Kong-type ape? That's the storyline.

Overall, this was very good and you can see the gags are getting a little more clever as this cartoon evolves. One thing that was different in this one was Olive feeding Popeye his spinach at the end. This was the sixth theatrical release.

"Popeye" always is looking for an opening to pound . . .

[tadpole-596-918256 · 7/10 · 16 July 2019]

. . . some sense into the fickle, whiny, frail, whimpering, "Olive Oyl," preferably in her kisser, and the conclusion of WILD ELEPHINKS affords him a near-perfect opportunity to do so. By this animated short's finale, Olive already has taken quite a beating throughout ELEPHINKS before her face becomes a blotter for Popeye's dominant fist. During the first half of this brief cartoon, a huge gorilla holds Olive captive for the sole purpose of being able to crack open his refreshing coconuts on HER thick skull, rather than his own. This allows the not-so-primitive primate to quaff down one "cold one" after another, without risking so much as a headache. Midway through this Popeye episode, America's favorite He-Man sends off Olive's tormentor, who departs the vicinity of the not-so-happy couple pushing a banana-vending cart. Later the lethal sailor punches the gorilla out of his skin. When the silverback's detached fur drapes like a fur coat around Olive's scrawny form, Popeye has a perfect excuse to sucker punch his ditzy dame from the rear, knowing that IF she survives his pounding, he can simply murmur "Sorry, Honey, I thought you were a fat, stinky 800-pound ape."

Popeye in the Fur Trade

[Hitchcoc · 7/10 · 27 July 2019]

Basically, Popeye and Olive find their way to a jungle where animals from every continent attack them. A gorilla kidnaps Olive for some reason. From then on it's just a matter of time before all these creatures will meet Popeye's wrath.

Classic Short

[Michael_Elliott · 25 February 2008]

Wild Elephinks (1933)

**** (out of 4)

Popeye and Olive Oyl land in the jungle and must fight off various animals including a wild elephant and a gorilla. I'm really shocked to see how much I'm enjoying these early Paramount cartoons but so far they've all been a lot of fun with this one here being one of the best. There's some great action, nice animation and a lot of funny lines including a great exchange of words between Popeye and the King of the Jungle. It seems the gorilla kidnapping Olive subplot is a homage to King Kong.

Popeye punches animals

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 29 July 2023]

Popeye and Olive Oyl are on a wooden raft with Olive's drawers as the sail. They finally land on a tropical deserted island. Olive gets kidnapped by a gorilla while Popeye punches an elephant. He battles a moose. Popeye chases the gorilla and saves Olive. He fights off various animals. The elephant comes back for a second round.

Animal lovers beware. Popeye is getting red paint splashed on him. He's punching the fur coats off the animals. It doesn't get more irksome for the PETA crowd. This is definitely one for the old times and not for the new era. That happens a lot in these oldie cartoons.

In the wild jungle

[TheLittleSongbird · 9/10 · 21 August 2018]

Dave Fleischer was responsible for many gems. Ones that were amusing and charming, though over-cuteness did come through in some efforts and the stories were always pretty thin, with appealing characters, outstanding music and visuals that were inventive and with innovative animation techniques.

'Wild Elephinks' is one of the best Popeye cartoons to me. It is extremely well done and never less than very funny, its best parts being hilarious. Have always enjoyed many of the Popeye cartoons a good deal and like Popeye very much, Fleischer's efforts were always well animated and scored with lots of entertainment value and great chemistry between the characters. 'Wild Elephinks' has everything that makes the Popeye series so appealing in its prime era and sees the characters on top form, didn't mind the absence of Bluto at all and feel that with the premise it was the right decision to not have him.

The story is an interesting and beautifully paced one, never being dull, if formulaic (not uncommon with the Popeye cartoons). The humour and gags make it even more entertaining, 'Wild Elephinks' is non-stop fast-paced wildness, boy is 'Wild Elephinks' wild, and laughter, avoiding the trap of repetition.

All the characters are great, Olive Oyl is not underused and she charms and amuses. Those two are spot on and their chemistry drives 'Wild Elephinks' and has so much energy. Popeye is always amusing and likeable and the animals are distinct in personality and have such entertaining chemistry with the two leads, stealing the show even.

Furthermore, the animation is beautifully drawn and with enough visual detail to not make it cluttered or static and lively and smooth movement. The music is also outstanding, lots of merry energy and lush orchestration, adding a lot to the action and making the impact even better without being too cartoonish. Fleischer's direction is always accomplished and his style is all over it.

Voice acting is dynamic and of very good quality, Mae Questel is a good fit for Olive Oyl, the voice that most sticks in my mind for the character and who voiced her the best, but William Costello adds a lot of character as Popeye.

Concluding, splendid. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Rewatched

[sothisismeow · 7/10 · 19 January 2019]

I used to watch it when I was little and now I'm kinda annoyed by seeing animals were turn into fur coats... but I'm pretty sure I still love it, especially after Olive was hit when wearing ones :)))

What weird place is this?!

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 13 June 2014]

Aside from some INSANE geography and biology, this is a very good and enjoyable cartoon. And, fortunately, it does NOT feature Bluto--making this sixth Popeye cartoon a nice change of pace.

Popeye and Olive are on a raft out to sea. Soon they spot land and come ashore. You can only assume it's at an abandoned zoo or that the filmmakers were drunk, as EVERY sort of animal arrives--even though they are often from different continents! Popeye battles moose, elephant, tiger, bear, gorilla and MANY other species! Perhaps folks weren't that astute back in the day, but I assume many of them must have known that they come from three different parts of the world. Regardless, a gorilla kidnaps sexy Olive (??) and Popeye beats the stuffing out of him. In reaction, the rest of the animals attack Popeye and he manages to do what he usually does! A bit predictable but an otherwise very entertaining and well animated cartoon.

How Did They Get On That Raft?

[boblipton · 8/10 · 30 July 2023]

When the cartoon starts, Popeye and Olive Oyl are on a raft. Soon they debark onto a desert island populated by lions, gorillas, snakes, moose, giraffes, and elephinks. Er, elephants. As Popeye takes on the animals in order to the tune of "The Tiger Rag", the large assortment of gags ordered by director Dave Fleischer continues to tickle the audience's fancy.

When I write that Dave Fleischer was the director, I mean he was credited as such. In actual fact, his role seems to be that of producer. The director was done b Willard Bowsky, who directed many of the Popeye cartoons for the Fleischers through 1941. He died in 1944 at the age of 37.

Popeye vs the jungle

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 26 December 2018]

"Wild Elephinks" is an American cartoon from 1933, so a really old one as this has its 85th anniversary this year. The title sounds to me more like a Pink Panther short, but nope, this being a Fleischer Studios production with Dave in charge of co-directing makes this another black-and-white Popeye short, a really short one indeed as it barely makes it past the 6-minute mark, no comparison to some of the others, especially those in color. Anyway, no Bluto sadly in this one which makes it weaker already, but instead Popeye with Olive ends up on a deserted island, well deserted in terms of humans, but packed with animals that do not have the best intentions when it comes to Popeye. If you see what happens with some of these animals like the elk or basically every animal at the end turning into a coat (PETA won't be amused), then you will find the slightly more savage Popeye humor style in here. It is easily identifiable. Olive once again is not relevant at all with the only difference that, in a mix-up between Popeye and King Kong, she helplessly gets abducted by a savage monkey or ape I don't know. And Popeye has to take a break from bating the crap out of a big elephant in order to rescue his girl. Oh well, when he fights that elephant and also all kinds of other animals like lions, other predators, huge snakes... he has not eaten his spinach yet. Guess he just got enough sleep the night before because it was surprising how fit and strong he is in his human state in which he normally gets beaten up by Bluto. Oh well speaks for Bluto I assume. I have seen many Popeye cartoons and I don't think this is among the better let alone best. Stuff like the giraffe bridge scene just won't cut the cake anymore these days, but yeah I may be a bit biased as I have never been too big on the world's most known animate sailorman. Still I give it a thumbs-down and say watch somethign else instead.