The new Popeye cartoon on YouTube features substandard animation, no dialogue, no punching, a pipeless Popeye, and a beardless Bluto, but we do see Bluto’s ass crack. Commenters call this cartoon cheap, childish, and PC, but they miss the point. Popeye serves as a valuable corporate property; who cares about the quality of his adventures, as long as someone can merchandise him, making consumers feel nostalgic for characters whose animated high point occurred in the 1930s—ancient times? (I watched those cartoons on Pittsburgh TV as a teenager; black and white didn’t intimidate me.) (Also, PC doesn’t necessarily mean bad.)
Copyright © 2019 by David V. Matthews
DAVID V. MATTHEWS 