Popeye's Voyage: The Quest for Pappy review

Getting this in before Saberspark gets his hands on it. I mean I tried to get into him but I couldn't even make it through one video of his, and he gets his jollies off to bitching about old CGI. I'm cool with Nicktendo, I'm cool with AlphaJay, I'm cool with MrEnter, but something's turning me off from Saberspark, maybe it's the thumbnails. Believe it or not, this special and Saberspark's review habits are each relevant.

So, of all the classic cartoon characters out there, if I had to pick a favorite, it'd have to be Popeye. His voice is unmistakeable, his shorts are hilarious, and you could do a lot with him if you tried. So in 2004, whether or not people asked for it, we got this movie.

Quest for Pappy, in spite of its title, is a Christmas movie of some sort. Popeye isn't necessarily a product of its time, and maybe they just needed to give the character a little push. The film was produced by Mainframe Entertainment of ReBoot and Scary Godmother fame (which Saberspark also covered, I hate to know what he likes.), and by Paul Reiser, who did the screenplay. Reiser is best known for Mad About You and that and this share the same vanity card.

The film was released on DVD in November, but perhaps thankfully, it was shown on Fox in December, with a repeat airing the next year.

As this was primarily produced in Vancouver it has some actors indigenous to the area, namely Tabitha St. Germain and Garry Chalk who play Olive Oyl and Bluto respectively. There's also some guy named Sanders Whiting who played Whimpy, but all else he has done was roles in two anime dubs. Funnily enough, but probably owing to Reiser's involvement, we got two American actors in this as well. We have Billy West play the voice of Popeye and Kathy Bates of all people as the Sea Hag.

Given the low amount of actors and content generally being cheaper to produce in Canada, I imagine this didn't take a huge chunk out of anyone's pockets.

Premise

The film sticks with established Popeye characters, the titular hero, Bluto, Wimpy, Olive Oyl, Sweet Pea, Sea Hag and Pappy. Coming up with a new character here would've been more trouble than it was worth, so keeping with the familiar suspects was the best choice.

Popeye sets out to find his father after he had been lost at sea, bringing Olive and Sweet Pea along to make up with foregoing spending Christmas off the sea. He and Bluto are on better terms than they were in the older shorts, either weird or a sign of development on their parts. They're still rivals though. Wimpy tags along after sniffing the food Olive brought along.

Venturing into foreign sea puts Popeye in the crosshairs of the Sea Hag, who does what she could to prevent Popeye from getting to his father. What carries the movie along with the Sea Hag's attempts at taking Popeye down are the jokes, and unlike Christmas in Tattertown they actually feel bearable. I saw this movie twice and made it to the end, so that should account for something.

Among the Sea Hag's efforts to get Popeye to concede are luring him under the guise of a Siren, and using a love spell to get Olive to fall in love with Bluto. This does hold an effect as Popeye finds himself without anyone but Sweet Pea. This comes into play when they finally get to the island and Pappy dismisses Popeye outright.

But now here's the part where a contrived twist comes into play. How bad is it? Apparently Pappy purposely got himself lost so Popeye wouldn't be around for a prophecy involving the Sea Hag and a one-eyed sailor, for a botched summary. I'd give that a 50, effort's there but it leaves much to be desired, though it does help lead to an interesting climax.

Popeye begins to lose himself to the Sea Hag as he has no one left to lean on, and in trying to save him, Popeye's friends find themselves close to becoming shark food. But a can of spinach can give anyone several miles and he defeats her, with everyone congregating for a Christmas feast. I do like how in spite of Wimpy eating the food Olive brought, he is welcomed to join the feast. That is genuine by the way, would've been too easy to dismiss him or kick his ass.

The film dips between traditional Popeye humor and Mainframe-style humor, but a mesh is clear between both. Billy West nails Popeye to a tee, though I can hear West's voice dip on Pappy, Popeye is straight up perfect, even if the voice was murder on his throat. Tabitha St. Germain does a great job as Olive Oyl too, though she does have decent range to start with... fuck, they all sound on point, I don't know if the Sea Hag ever had many voice rolls before this, otherwise she'd be the worst by default.

Animation

Apparently this was supposed to be a stop-motion film by Will Vinton, but the concept was scrapped. Given the look of Vinton's stop motion, I question how well Popeye would've translated to that.

I think the characters in this translated very well to CG, with the exception of Bluto, a little bit, everyone looks on point. I mean that's all you could really say about it.

Overall

I think Popeye fans may find some enjoyment in this movie, well as long as they have an open mind. Check it out before Saberspark potentially ruins it.