- Let's Sing with Popeye
Infobox Hollywood cartoon
cartoon_name = Let's Sing With Popeye
series =Screen Songs
caption =
director =Dave Fleischer
story_artist =
animator =Seymour Kneitel (unc.)
Roland Crandall (unc.)
voice_actor =William Costello (uncredited)
musician =
producer =Max Fleischer (producer)
studio=Fleischer Studios
distributor =Paramount Pictures (original release)
Official Films (re-release)
release_date =1934
color_process =Black-and-white
runtime = 2 mins
movie_language = English
imdb_id = 0025382"Let's Sing With Popeye" is a 1934 "
Screen Songs "animated short , produced byFleischer Studios and directed byDave Fleischer . It was later re-released byOfficial Films in the1950s .The song featured in this "Screen Song" was the Popeye theme song "I'm Popeye the Sailor Man", written by
Sammy Lerner . The animation for this film is taken from the first Popeye cartoon, "Popeye the Sailor", which was originally presented as part of the "Betty Boop " series.The entire cartoon is less than 2 minutes long, with over half of that given to the credits and the bouncing ball. This shorter than normal cartoon was produced as a regular weekly feature for Paramount's Saturday morning matinee "Popeye Club".
History
ummary
Popeye is singing his theme song as he strolls along the deck of a sailing ship. He punctuates the lines of the song with three demonstations of his strength. With a single punch, he reduces the ship's anchor to a pile of fish hooks. The large ship's clock meets a similar fate, ending as an assortment of watches and alarm clocks. Finally, a small mast is reduced to clothes pins.
The animated portion of the cartoon ends after about 45 seconds, and the rest of the cartoon presents the words of the song and the "famous bouncing ball" so that the audience can "Sing With Popeye".
Notes
In 1935, Paramount added to Popeyes's popularity by sponsoring the "Popeye Club" as part of their Saturday morning matinee program. "Let's Sing With Popeye" was a regular part of the weekly meetings, along with other cartoons, movies, prize giveaways and other activities. Paramount provided a manual to theatre owners, telling them how to organize a Popeye Club, but the specific details were left to the local theatre owners and varied from one theatre to another.
Availability
This cartoon with the original Paramount mountain logo opening title and the original Paramount inkwell closing title is available on DVD as a special feature on disc four of the DVD collection "Popeye the Sailor 1933-1938".
External links
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0025382/ Let's Sing With Popeye at IMDB]
* [http://www.bcdb.com/cartoon/56537-Lets_Sing_With_Popeye.html Let's Sing With Popeye at the Big Cartoon Database]
* [http://home.earthlink.net/~thimbletheatre/spotlightclub.html Paramount's Popeye Club]
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