It’s hardly worth noting that this series of Popeye cartoons is hardly classic. The eight selections compiled on this disc are taken from the 1978 Saturday morning TV show “The All-New Popeye Hour.” As such, the cartoons reflect the whole sanitized less-violent hoo-ha that cartoon studios were being subjected to at the time. These ‘toons have nothing on the original Fleischer series, apart from the fact that Jack Mercer is providing Popeye’s voice. The prints for the cartoons haven’t aged well, either, looking as cheap and uninspired as they did originally. And if you want proof as to which Popeye series is funnier with the young set, my three-year-old clamored for more of the “Popeye the Sailor: 1938-1942” collection after only watching this disc once. Comparing the two side-by-side only proves how unfunny and sadly unnecessary Popeye had become by the late ‘70s. At least if the Hanna-Barbera team was going to be behind the wheel.
