Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor (1936)

The legendary sailors Popeye and Sindbad do battle to see which one is the greatest.

Directors:

Dave Fleischer, Willard Bowsky (uncredited)

Stars:

Jack Mercer, Mae Questel, Lou Fleischer

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 win.

Cast

Uncredited cast:
Lou Fleischer	...	Wimpy (voice) (uncredited)
Jack Mercer	...	Popeye (voice) (uncredited)
Mae Questel	...	Olive Oyl (voice) (uncredited)
Gus Wickie	...	Sindbad (voice) (uncredited)

Storyline

After sending his giant bird, Rokh, to wreck Popeye's boat and kidnap Olive Oyl, Sindbad forces Olive to dance for him by firing buckshot at her feet with a pea-shooter. Popeye attempts to rescue her while J. Wellington Wimpy follows a duck around with a meat-grinder. After Popeye disposes of Rokh and Sindbad's two-headed, Yiddish-accented giant, Boola, it's a battle to the "finich" between the two legendary sailors.

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Plot Keywords:

traditional animation | hand drawn animation | 2d animation | national film registry | giant | 

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Genres:

Animation | Short | Adventure | Comedy | Family | Fantasy | Musical

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 November 1936 (USA)

Also Known As:

Braccio di Ferro incontra Sinbad

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fleischer Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

16 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was the first of the "Popeye Color Specials", a trilogy of Technicolor features that were released in the 1930s. These features were over sixteen minutes each (three times as long as a regular Popeye cartoon, and so were considered big-budget adaptations), and were often billed in cinemas alongside/above the main feature.

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Goofs

After Sindbad sings to Popeye the line "Who's the most remarkable, extraordinary fellow?", the animals respond "You!", and you can then see some of them mouthing "Sindbad the Sailor", but that line is not heard. This happens again on the very next verse.

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Quotes

[first lines]
[Sindbad steps out of his island home, and slaps two lions]
Sindbad the Sailor: I'm Sindbad the Sailor, so hearty and hale / I live on an island on the back of a whale / It's a whale of an island - that's not a bad joke / Its lord and its master is this handsome bloke! Who's the most remarkable extra-ordinary fellow?
[the lions roar]
Sindbad the Sailor: Sindbad the Sailor!

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Crazy Credits

The credits are as follows:

• The Spinach Eating Sailor... POPEYE
• The Irresistible Damsel... Olive Oyl
• The Hamburger Fiend... J. Wellington Wimpy
• The Two Headed Giant... Boola
• Rokh... The Mighty Eagle
• "The Most Remarkable Fellow"... SINDBAD the Sailor

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Connections

Followed by Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp (1939)

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Soundtracks

I'm Sinbad the Sailor
(uncredited)
Music by Sammy Timberg
Lyrics by Bob Rothberg
Performed by Gus Wickie

User Reviews

Popeye in Technicolor & 3D!

'Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor' was the first of three Popeye specials in Technicolor; anticipating Disney's development of the multiplane camera for 'The Old Mill' (1937) by a year by animating its characters on glass in front of actual models lit in vivid colours. The resulting look is quite remarkable, notably during a lateral track following Popeye prowling through a cave - which along with the giant Roc and two-headed giant were probably the features that inspired the young Ray Harryhausen - and visually quite different from the results produced by Disney's multiplane camera; which instead separated flat cells into planes rather like a 3D movie.

Due to the trouble and complexity involved the 3D scenes are in fact actually used only sparingly during 'Sindbad'. The exotic setting and Pop Art colours aside, the action itself is the usual scrap between Bluto (here playing Sindbad) and Popeye; and the very occasional medium shots of its characters remind one that animated films of the 30's still tended to follow the framing in long shot favoured by Méliès.

The Fleischers' efforts were rewarded with a nomination for the 1936 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Subject; although as usual they lost out to Disney (for the Silly Symphony 'The Country Cousin'), and after two more 'specials' they went back to less technically flamboyant Popeye shorts while instead channeling their creative aspirations into their first feature, 'Gulliver's Travels' (1939), in which Popeye didn't appear.