Let's Watch This: An Episode of "Popeye and Son"

You think that Popeye movie Genndy Tartakovsky wants to make will ever get off the ground? I hope so - Popeye's been sitting dormant for too long.

Anyhow, what is Popeye and Son?

Basically, after they wrapped up production on The All-New Popeye Hour (note to self: review that at some point), Hanna-Barbera and King Features Entertainment came up with the idea of finally having Popeye and Olive Oyl tie the knot and have themselves a kid... even though they technically already did with Swee'pea, didn't they? Was Swee'pea their kid? That's always the vibe I got from him.

Popeye and Son premiered on September 19th, 1987. Thirteen episodes were made, each one consisting of two segments. The show focused on the adventures of Popeye (here voiced by Maurice LaMarche), Olive Oyl (Marilyn Schreffler), and their son Popeye Junior (Josh Rodine), who inherited his father's spinach-inducing super-strength but, like all kids, hated the taste of the stuff. Junior's arch-enemy was Tank (David Markus), the son of Popeye's rival Bluto (Allan "Magilla Gorilla" Melvin)... yes, Bluto was married too, to a woman named Linda (also Marilyn Schreffler). Don't ask me what she was thinking.

Is Popeye and Son any good? I have no idea. Most of the stuff I've heard about the show online is negative, mainly because there isn't as much violence. You see, due to meddling from TV executives, Popeye and his son couldn't beat the crap out of Bluto and his son like in the original shorts (this also applied to the aforementioned All-New Popeye Hour), presumably because they were worried that kids watching the show would imitate it. Whether or not they were afraid that those kids would also assume that spinach gave you super-strength, I don't know. But is it fair to brush off a show as bad just because Popeye doesn't throw and punches? I don't think it is. Still, my expectations are kind of small, mainly because giving iconic cartoon characters kids in 1980s cartoons rarely works out.

But enough of my yammering, let's give the show a watch. We'll be checking out the fifth episode, which consists of the segments "Junior's Genie" and "Mighty Olive at the Bat", to see if Popeye and Son is strong to the finish or a waste of time. Let's set sail!

"Junior's Genie" starts off with Junior and his pal Woody...

No, not THAT Woody...

Not THAT Woody either... THIS Woody is the brown-haired kid in the screencap below:

Junior and Woody (Nancy Cartwright) are racing on their bikes to Wimpy's place. I'm kind of surprised they didn't go all-out on the "all the Popeye characters have kids!" idea and make Woody Wimpy's son. Wimpy does have a nephew here, though.

Anyway, Junior is in desperate need of a new bike, particularly before the big bike race that he's competing in tomorrow. And guess who else is doing the race? Tank, who just so happens to have a really cool, really expensive-looking bike that he's bragging to these other hoodlums about. One of the hoodlums looks a lot like Olive Oyl. Does Junior have a brother? And if so, why isn't the show called "Popeye and SONS", plural?

If that kid is not Junior's brother, methinks Olive Oyl has some explaining to do...

"If you're so tough on that dumb new bike, why don't you PROVE IT?!" Junior asks Tank. So he and Tank have themselves a little pre-bike race bike race, and even though Junior's bike looks like it's in fine condition it's actually pretty crummy, and he goes flying off and sliding down a sand dune.

A new bike, that's what Junior needs. Unfortunately, Popeye and Olive Oyl are apparently too cheap to get him one. Olive Oyl insists that practice and hard work will make Junior beat Tank... gee, I wonder what the moral of this episode is going to be...

"Sorry, Junior, I can't buy ya a new bike. I'm savin' up me money so I can buy more
identical Hawaiian shirts!"

Junior takes a walk on the beach, lamenting that Tank will make him look like a tool at the big race. Then he stumbles upon a bottle sticking out of the sand...

Junior's elbow is freaking me out...

He opens the bottle up, and sure enough, out pops a genie - a little turban-wearing guy with a mustache and the voice of Wade from Garfield and Friends.

Not exactly Barbara Eden or Robin Williams, but you can't go wrong with Howard Morris.

The genie (Howard Morris) tells Junior that his wish is his command. He also mentions that it sure is cramped in that bottle (which will give you such a crick in the neck!) and that he sure could use a vacation, hintidy-hint-hint-hint. But Junior isn't going to set him free just yet - he wants a new bike, and here he has a genie that can conjure one up in the blink of an eye. So the genie grants his wish, and presto, Junior's got a new bike.

Maybe next he can wish for some new shorts. The ones he has on now are pretty ugly...

Junior shows off his new bike to everyone at Wimpy's, then wishes for the genie to give them all presents: a milkshake machine, a video game, a surfboard, a football... all this wish-granting is wearing the genie out. "This is gonna be a long day..." he laments.

It could be worse, genie... if Junior wasn't a good guy, he would probably wish for Tank's head to explode or something.

"Come on, guys, I've sung 'Friend Like Me' three times already. Don't you want to hear
another song?"

Junior brings the genie back to his house, suggesting that he stay in the bottle until tomorrow. I guess he doesn't want Popeye and Olive Oyl to find out about the genie? Not sure why... what, does he think Popeye's gonna sell the genie to a bunch of scientists to be dissected or something? I think, if he found a genie, he'd be far more likely to wish for an unlimited supply of spinach (or wish for BLUTO'S head to explode).

The next day, Junior is about to leave for the racetrack when Popeye and Olive Oyl declare that he's gotta finish his chores first. He's gotta clean the boat AND finish painting the boathouse. That seems like a lot to make a kid do by himself. Shouldn't Popeye be helping him with the boathouse-painting at least? Lazy bum...

Geez, look at how dirty the boat and boathouse are... what, did a hurricane hit Sweet Haven
the other day?

It's a good thing Junior has a genie and can WISH for the boat to be clean and the boathouse to be painted. And it's also a good thing that this isn't one of those genies that only grants you THREE wishes. Or one of those mischievous genies that grants wishes in a way that blows up in your face. You know the kind... you wish for a million bucks, you get a gigantic herd of deer instead of currency. You wish for the ability to fly, they turn you into a sparrow. You wish for a chocolate milkshake, they dump it on you because you didn't wish for a chocolate milkshake IN A GLASS. It's those kinds of genies that give genies a bad name.

The genie fixes the boat and boathouse, meaning that Junior can head to the racetrack. But when he gets there, everybody is suddenly not too keen about him and his new bike even though they were going gaga over him sooner. I know this is obviously setting up the "hard work and practice make for better ways to win races than a magic wish-granting being" moral that they're gonna shove down our throats, but it feels kind of forced. They claim that he's acting "different", but... honestly, I'm not seeing what's so WRONG about the way Junior is acting. It'd be one thing if he started acting like a jerk, but he really hasn't - for crying out loud, he just gave one girl a MILKSHAKE MACHINE.

And shouldn't that one girl be wearing a helmet?

The racers take their places at the starting line, and Junior tells the genie he should probably sit this one out, since it'd obviously not be fair to wish for the genie to help him win the race. Oh, yeah, Junior is being soooooooooooooo much of  a tool now that he has that genie. The official waves the checked flag, and away they go-go-go. Just as Junior takes the lead, he suddenly hits a large rock and goes flying off his bike and into a pond of water.

Okay, who the heck set up this racetrack? Wouldn't it be a pretty bad idea to have a racetrack with giant rocks and ponds in it?

And if this is supposed to be Junior's comeuppance or whatever, it falls flat because
A) again, he wasn't acting like a jerk and B) what does hitting a giant rock and falling into
a pond have to do with asking a genie to whip you up a new bike?

So now, and only NOW, does Junior do anything wrong - he tells the genie he wants to be in the lead, and the genie grants that wish. There's a word for that, I believe it's called "cheating".

So Junior wins the race, but his friends are all mad at him and dub him worse than Tank. I dunno, I'd say they're about on par with each other morality-wise. Popeye urges him to make things right and get rid of the genie, so Junior wishes the genie free. And apparently freeing the genie makes him much taller.

Incidentally, why does nobody in this episode react with shock to the presence of a genie? Are there just a lot of genies in Sweet Haven, so everyone's used to them by now?

Hmmm... the main character frees a genie, and the genie dons a Hawaiian shirt and goes on
vacation... were the writers of Aladdin inspired by this episode?

Then a TORNADO shows up out of nowhere because a few seconds ago, Junior said he wanted to "turn the town upside down" (as in, throw a big party) and the genie took that literally. And he can't stop it because freeing the genie robs him of his powers. Popeye tries to fight the twister, but fails miserably at it - especially since the tornado blows away the can of spinach he's about to eat. Looks like it's up to Junior to save the day.

Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-
doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo...

Junior takes out the tornado, then goes to apologize to Woody. Woody forgives him, mainly because Junior buys him a giant milkshake. So the moral here is that using a genie to win a bike race is bad, but bribery is okay? Not to mention this whole mess could've been avoided if Popeye hadn't been such a cheapskate and bought Junior a new bike. I'm not quite sure what we've learned here.

Ah well. Maybe "Olive at the Bat" will be better...

Popeye, Junior, and their friends are practicing their baseball for the big father/son baseball game that they're participating in, and Popeye's the pitcher... until one pitch winds up turning his arm into a Slinky. This is something that should be funny but really just looks rather painful.

"It's a good thing I'm made of Silly Putty, or I'd be in horrible pain right now!
Ugh-gug-gug-gug-gug-gug-gug-gug-gug! Ow..."

Popeye and Junior go to Olive Oyl for her opinion, and she wraps Popeye's arm up in a cast. Now Popeye can't play in the game. "Baseball doesn't look so hard. If it's so important, why don't I take his place?" Olive Oyl suggests. Junior says she can't play in the game because it's a father/son tournament and she's a guuuuuuuuuuurl. Hmmm, I wonder if this episode's moral is going to be that girls are just as good at sports as boys are...

Also, hello, Fat Albert.

"Hey, hey, hey!"

Olive Oyl demonstrates that she's quite possibly the lousiest baseball player since Lucy Van Pelt, and just to make things worse, Bluto and Tank show up to mock them and demonstrate how much better THEIR team is. If only there was a genie nearby (then they could wish for Bluto's head to explode).

Later, Olive Oyl overhears Junior and Popeye talking about what a crappy baseball player she is. Popeye encourages Junior to give her a chance, she's doing the best she can, blah-blah-blah. "I didn't know this meant so much to him," Olive Oyl says to herself. "Well, if we lose tomorrow, it won't be because we didn't try!"

Olive Oyl was horrified to discover what Popeye does when he thinks no one's looking...







PICKING HIS NOSE.

(And you thought it was going to be something far dirtier, didn't you?)

She spends all night practicing with Eugene the Jeep. Yep, he's in this show too.

Doesn't his presence in the show make the genie kind of redundant? Then again, I don't think
Jeeps can grant wishes...

So now it's the day of the big baseball game, and Junior is sure they can take down Bluto and Tank... just as soon as Olive Oyl wakes up. Junior's team is good, but they can't top Tank's team, and soon the score is 3-2. But then Olive Oyl turns into Elastigirl and catches a fly ball that Bluto just hit, then throws it to Woody, who throws it to Fat Albert, who throws it to Woody's dad, who throws it to a bespectacled kid with glasses. "A quadruple-play!" Junior exclaims.

But now it's Bluto's turn to pitch, and he's a really, really, really, really good pitcher. A baseball pitcher, that is, not a pitcher of water... though that's a pretty amusing mental image.

Fortunately, Junior manages to hit the ball when he's up to bat. Unfortunately, it's Olive Oyl's turn to bat next. But after failing to hit the ball the first two times, she gets a home run. Junior's team wins, Olive Oyl's a hero, and Popeye's arm heals as soon as he guzzles down some spinach.

Wait, if that's all it took, why didn't he do that before?!

Fin.

What's the Verdict?

I went into Popeye and Son expecting another generic "gang of kids" show that just so happened to have Popeye's name attached to it. So in some ways, the show exceeded my expectations - I was pleasantly surprised to see Popeye and Olive Oyl actually given things to do, as opposed to Potato Head Kids' reducing Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head to minor characters or Pink Panther and Sons' having the Pink Panther show up briefly at the beginning and then drive off and leave the episode. The voice actors all do a fine job, Maurice LaMarche is an alright Popeye (not as good as Billy West's or Jeff Bergman's, but better than Floyd Buckley's if nothing else) and it's hard to go wrong with Howard Morris.

Now, what DON'T I like about it? Well, honestly, Popeye Junior isn't that interesting of a character, and as a whole the show just lacks that fun, energetic feeling that makes Popeye shorts fun to watch. I feel like most of that is on the animation... Hanna-Barbera must not have had the budget to do more fluid, rapid-moving animation like in the shorts that would've really brought this to life. I also think the moral of "Junior's Genie" could've been pulled off better - instead, I'm not sure WHAT the moral was supposed to be. Everyone was giving Junior a hard time BEFORE he started acting like a tool, which makes their reactions to him actually acting like a tool lack impact. But as a whole, Popeye and Sons is okay. If you want to watch it yourself, you can find every episode on YouTube.

Nowadays, Popeye is one of those cartoon characters nobody seems to want to do anything with. Genndy Tartakovsky's movie has been cancelled TWICE. I can't remember the last time the character's appeared in a commercial (there was a Bank of America ad with Popeye in 2014, but that was years ago). The closest he's come to getting a new TV show is that Popeye's Island Adventures webseries, but I don't even know if that's still going on. We have to keep characters like Popeye alive for new generations to enjoy. Hopefully kids are at least seeing the reruns of his cartoons on Boomerang and MeTV and rediscovering the character themselves...