KFS Popeye Article in "Classic Images" Options

[Russell H]

CLASSIC IMAGES NO. 379 (cover-dated January 2007) has a short but interesting article on the King Features Syndicate Popeye cartoons written by Frank Grandinetti. He includes a rundown on each of the studios that did the cartoons with pointers on how to distinguish which one did which cartoons. He concludes that many of the KFS Popeyes actually had good stories, one-liners and visual puns, but were done in by the mostly terrible animation.

The article also includes a nice reproduction of a 1961 trade-journal ad for the cartoons which I hadn't seen before.

If you have trouble finding CLASSIC IMAGES at your local newsstand or bookstore, try http://www.classicimages.com to see if single copies can be ordered.

The issue also includes good capsule reviews of the latest Disney Treasures and Disney Legacies DVD releases.

[Ray Pointer]

CLASSIC IMAGES NO. 379 (cover-dated January 2007) has a short but interesting article on the King Features Syndicate Popeye cartoons written by Frank Grandinetti. He includes a rundown on each of the studios that did the cartoons with pointers on how to distinguish which one did which cartoons. He concludes that many of the KFS Popeyes actually had good stories, one-liners and visual puns, but were done in by the mostly terrible animation.

The article also includes a nice reproduction of a 1961 trade-journal ad for the cartoons which I hadn't seen before. If you have trouble finding CLASSIC IMAGES at your local newsstand or bookstore, try http://www.classicimages.com to see if single copies can be ordered. The issue also includes good capsule reviews of the latest Disney Treasures and Disney Legacies DVD releases.

That's our "friend," FRED Grandinetti. In light of the fact that the entire POPEYE library is coming out on DVD in the coming year--an issue that he claims to have been petitioning for years, it seems this article restates what has been covered by others over the past several years. In fact, this seems to be a reprint of an earlier article by him. Since the "color remakes," not "colorization" of POPEYE happened 20 years ago, and criticisms about the results have been published since then, this is nothing new. An article on the coming of POPEYE on DVD, and the value of the cartoons in their original theatrical form as planned for this upcoming DVD release would be better timed at this point.

This post has been edited by Ray Pointer: Dec 31 2006, 05:19 PM

[Steve Carras]

That's our "friend," FRED Grandinetti. In light of the fact that the entire POPEYE library is coming out on DVD in the coming year--an issue that he claims to have been petitioning for years, it seems this article restates what has been covered by others over the past several years. In fact, this seems to be a reprint of an earlier article by him.

I remember o0ne written by him. THat may be ther one. He wrote one for an edition of ther late Animato! 9MIA since around 1999) that had a lot of Popeye articles and there were SEVERAL, I kid you not--SEVERAL,
on the varied King Feature Syndicate TV POPEYE series!

Basically I think that the stories often tended to be very good that the animation, of course, was much less
admirable even by TV standards,at least in the "Deitch/Snyder/Rembrant" ones, though Halas & Batchelor in UK--the very sam who did "Animal Farm" back in 1954!!!---did some and HAD to have done better animation--.. and also in the "Jack Kinney' ones,which were (to bring up yet another studio involved in this reviled television-project) Format Films, who then, were doing the excellent 1961 "Alvin Show" (and just WHY, kiddies, do we say Excellent--in comparision to WHAT? Why, the 1980s Ruby-Spears Chipmunks,that's what!). THe uncredited Paramount ones (Just these names..Seymour Kneitel...Winston Sharples...Anton Loeb.... etc. give you a clue as to WHO did these, except that you'll know it as "Harveytoons" or "Felix the Cat Productions" once you hear the music if you're under around 55 or so or haven't read any of the major animation history books..I know *I* was confused back in the 1960s on his.) Also involved was a UPA studio run by a "Gerry Ray", and Larry Harmon (you know, the clown what gave us Bozo..) and allegedy the Tennessee TUxedo guys Total Teleivison Productions