I LIKE BABIES AND INFINKS (1937)
Article 5283 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 10-27-2016
Directed by Dave Fleischer and Seymour Kneitel
Featuring the voices of Jack Mercer, Mae Questel, Gus Wickie
Country: USA
What it is: Popeye cartoon

When Swee’Pea goes on a crying fit, Popeye and Bluto get into a competition to see who can make him laugh.

Since the characters in the Popeye cartoons are more or less human, they can’t usually rely on the presence of anthropomorphic animals to supply the fantastic content, but they do have an ace in the hole – spinach and the super-powers it grants. But how do you contend with a cartoon like this one in which no spinach is consumed? Yes, this is a cartoon where no one eats spinach, although it does get referenced. However, in terms of fantastic content, it gets by; as the pranks put on by Popeye and Bluto get more and more outrageous, we get scenes of Popeye and Bluto riding invisible vehicles and Popeye turning himself into an airplane by using his pipe as a propeller, so it does verge into the fantastic. A lot of the humor arises from the silliness of the pranks, so this one is a lot of fun.