079 Ghosks Is the Bunk

Title: Ghosks Is the Bunk
Studio: Fleischer
Date: 6/14/39
Credits:
Directed by
Dave Fleischer
Animated by
William Henning
Abner Matthews
Series: Popeye
Running time (of viewed version): 6:36

Synopsis: Olive scares Popeye with a ghost story, Bluto tries to scare him more, and Popeye gets him in the end until Olive engages in domestic violence.
















Comments: The title integrates into the cartoon (not quite to the extent the Columbia titles often do, but still integrated), and it even has sound effects of a fire to go along with it. Olive's reading voice sounds odd. Popeye (and maybe Olive) seem to live in a Hansel and Gretel manse in the dirty swampy south. Bluto is an excellent puppeteer. Another invisible man, tho he is fake. And then he's real. Popeye takes the view that you should try to beat the crap out of ghosts (Bluto also takes this view; Olive on the other hand takes the view that you should beat people when you are invisible, which Popeye also thinks); it's a fairly sensible idea, really. Bluto had invisible paint, but he foolishly chose to use puppet clothes for a ghost instead. Popeye and Bluto keep their hands balled into fists when simply listening to a story. Olive laughs like a mocking drunk (there's a bit of a slur to her story voice, especially on "disremembered body"). Being invisible isn't enough of an advantage for Popeye to beat Bluto; he still needs spinach.

Completing this short marks the halfway point for the shorts of 1939. This makes the shorts front loaded for the year. We've had some heavily loaded months so far, but October is especially light in the second half of the year. I'm writing this on April 14, approximately two months ahead of when it should be running.