Reading the synopsis of 'Gift of Gag' on first watch, a large part of me was very conflicted. Despite really liking Popeye and having always found him a fun and easy to like character, the nephews were more variable depending on how strong or weak their material was. The scenario is a good one but there was conceptually nothing special about the story whatsoever. Decided to rewatch 'Gift of Gag' on rewatch as someone who likes the series on the whole.
'Gift of Gag' didn't do much for me on first watch and still didn't on rewatch. It is far from a terrible cartoon and has its moments and good things, but there is next to nothing new or inspired here and all the characters have been a lot stronger in other cartoons. And it was a good example of how hit and miss the Popeye series and Famous Studios' output in general had become by this relatively late stage or at least was starting to, which does sadden me a good deal.
There are good things. The animation still looks like effort and care was being made, there may have been more budget and time limitations at this point but unlike the late-50s that is not as obvious here. There are rough moments in the drawing but the backgrounds have a lot of vibrant colour and meticulous detail. The music is one of the consistent high points of the 50s Famous Studios output (Popeye and overall), and it is one of the best things here. The lively character of it is just infectious and it has an energy that the rest of the cartoon lacks, while the orchestration is as beautiful as ever.
Furthermore, the voice acting is very good. Especially from the definitive voice actor for Popeye Jack Mercer. Who is an engaging character here and it is easy to appreciate highly the nephews' good intentions. Although the conflict is very seen it all before it has moments where it is fun and tense. The final third is amusing and energetic and there are nice affectionate western touches.
Which unfortunately cannot be said for the rest of 'Gift of Gag'. The story is far too formulaic and has a very tired feel. Popeye feels underused and plays second fiddle to the nephews. While there are moments of amusement, they are infrequent in a cartoon that really lacks freshness and imagination. Rather by the numbers and one can tell that the series was running out of ideas. The attempts at sneaking the gift could have done with more creativity.
Excepting the final third, the energy just isn't there due to the material being so predictable and the nephews are still not very well animated, animation-wise to me they never transitioned easily to colour. The chemistry between them and Popeye is not always there.
All in all, rather mixed feelings here. 5/10.
'Gift of Gag' didn't do much for me on first watch and still didn't on rewatch. It is far from a terrible cartoon and has its moments and good things, but there is next to nothing new or inspired here and all the characters have been a lot stronger in other cartoons. And it was a good example of how hit and miss the Popeye series and Famous Studios' output in general had become by this relatively late stage or at least was starting to, which does sadden me a good deal.
There are good things. The animation still looks like effort and care was being made, there may have been more budget and time limitations at this point but unlike the late-50s that is not as obvious here. There are rough moments in the drawing but the backgrounds have a lot of vibrant colour and meticulous detail. The music is one of the consistent high points of the 50s Famous Studios output (Popeye and overall), and it is one of the best things here. The lively character of it is just infectious and it has an energy that the rest of the cartoon lacks, while the orchestration is as beautiful as ever.
Furthermore, the voice acting is very good. Especially from the definitive voice actor for Popeye Jack Mercer. Who is an engaging character here and it is easy to appreciate highly the nephews' good intentions. Although the conflict is very seen it all before it has moments where it is fun and tense. The final third is amusing and energetic and there are nice affectionate western touches.
Which unfortunately cannot be said for the rest of 'Gift of Gag'. The story is far too formulaic and has a very tired feel. Popeye feels underused and plays second fiddle to the nephews. While there are moments of amusement, they are infrequent in a cartoon that really lacks freshness and imagination. Rather by the numbers and one can tell that the series was running out of ideas. The attempts at sneaking the gift could have done with more creativity.
Excepting the final third, the energy just isn't there due to the material being so predictable and the nephews are still not very well animated, animation-wise to me they never transitioned easily to colour. The chemistry between them and Popeye is not always there.
All in all, rather mixed feelings here. 5/10.
