Shiver Me Timbers! (1934)
Article 5989 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 7-11-2021
Directed by Dave Fleischer and Willard Bowsky
Featuring the voices of William Costello and Mae Questal
Country: USA
What it is: Popeye vs. Ghosks

Popeye, Olive Oyl and Wimpy board a pirate ship and are set upon by spooks and skeletons.

Here’s a Popeye short that doesn’t need the spinach excuse to argue its inclusion in fantastic cinema; the wealth of ghosts and skeletons does that. It’s also nice that it’s one of the earlier cartoons of the series when the quality was somewhat higher. The gags are typical of the genre but rather creative at times. It also made me wonder more about the power of spinach in these cartoons; you’d think the increase in physical power wouldn’t have much of an effect on non-physical entities, but it apparently does seem to give Popeye the power to battle of the winds; at least that’s the interpretation I put on the appearance of a character appearing from the stormy ocean. This is definitely one of the better Popeyes.