In this Popeye short, the smack-talking sailor joyously heads out to buy a bearskin coat for Olive's birthday. When he has a bad experience with the dishonest furrier Geezil, Popeye heads out into the woods to hunt down his own bear.
Like most fans, I like my Popeye cocky and muttering under his breath instead of the do-gooder he transformed into in later shorts. This short plays his character between the two extremes. The gags when Popeye has the bear cornered on the cliff are ingenious, making me laugh every time I see them. In addition, the final gag is a perfect closing note. It’s kind of funny though that a short with Olive's name in the title never features Popeye's slender beau.
Put into a contemporary context, the short can be read in PC terms as sympathetic to the anti-fur movement. I love the touch of subversion in the gag that exposes Geezil as a fraud. For fans of history, the story smacks a bit of the Teddy Roosevelt Teddy Bear legend. That being said, there's no doubt that Popeye gets what he was after in the end. Like great Bugs and Daffy battles, the bear might get one up on Popeye, but in the end the sailor is chomping on the carrot and the adversary is naked.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
