Thursday, December 05, 2013

North Spinach 40

...another one?  Didn't they just do a football one?  Anyway, spreading the gospel according to Spinach is surprisingly difficult, especially amongst the young and infinks.  And even though Swee'pea's already eaten his supergreens, somehow being spoon fed a steaming serving of them by Popeye just puts Swee'pea out of the mood.  Perhaps a demonstration will do the trick?  Popeye eats it himself then flexes his arm muscle.  His arm muscle morphs into a tiny buff (faceless) bodybuilder who flexes its muscles!  I mean, his!  I hope it's a he.  And then, back to work... nope, Swee'pea's still not convinced.  Well, I guess it's storytime, then.
Popeye morphs into a younger, smaller version of himself, harkening back to a time when he played pee-wee football with his fellow Campbells Soup kids.  A young Olive cheers Popeye on in the crowd.  (Creepy!!!)  Enter Bluto and his hunks of beef for teammates.  Popeye's team is clearly outmatched.  But it hasn't gotten too bad yet.  At least Popeye doesn't get trampled when Bluto's team "intercepts" the ball!  We see a young (and thin!!!) Wimpy keeping score in a typical Fleischer way, and he doesn't even have a hamburger within reach!  How does a person turn into a glutton, anyway?  I mean, a "foodie"?
Usually Popeye displays the better creativity in these celluloid outings, but once Bluto's team gets the ball, there's no stopping them.  Only in a cartoon could a football team score as such.  Here's your favourite method they use... am I being presumptuous?  Well, I gotta live up to my name sometimes!  This one's just silly... none of Popeye's teammates could tackle any of Bluto's men as it is!  ...also, why does it make me think of Lode Runner?
And so, at this point the score is: Bluto 49, Popeye 0.  Will a pancake-shaped Popeye eat his spinach?  Of course!  Apparently spinach power is not to be distributed to the masses!  How elitist.  Will he win the game all by himself?  Probably.  I hate to sound cynical, but I'm kinduva stickler for playing by the rules.  But hey!  The Waterboy didn't exactly have good refereeing either, did it?  Anyway, for those of you out there who don't care for Popeye too much, this one's got the ending for you.  SPOILER ALERT: Swee'pea is won over by Popeye's heartwarming tale and engulfs the entire bowl of spinach in front of him in one fell swoop.  He grows strong, and kicks the crap out of Popeye!  Careful what you wish for... Classic cartoon, great animation.  Probably the best of the football-themed Popeyes, somehow.

****

p.s. ...not this Graham Place, I'm assuming?

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