Back by popular demand, it is time for "Matthew Rants!" Popeye the Sailor. He is one of the most celebrated icons of the 20th century. Now we all know that Popeye has to be modern. He sang the song "Man on the Flying Trapeze" in the 1930's. He fought in World War II in the 1940's. He fought aliens in the 1950's. He went into a Beatnik's club in the 1960's. He danced in a disco with Olive Oyle in the 1970's. So what is he going to happen for the 1980's? Make them yuppies. Have them settle down and have families. Let Popeye and Olive get married and have a son. Have Bluto get a wife and have a son who is a bully for Popeye's son. Now the tradition continues. This has to be the dumbest idea ever made since THE ALL NEW POPEYE SHOW added in two stories where Popeye is living the life of a caveman and Olive Oyle is in the army (!) THE ALL-NEW POPEYE SHOW (which was made by Hanna-Barbera), was known for replacing the violence (which the theatrical cartoons were known for) with the deus-ex-machina. Now this new cartoon has the two rival becoming a family and having kids and put in a few characters here and there such as Professor O.G. Whatasnozzle, Eugene the Jeep, Nana Oyle, Poopdeck Pappy, and the goons. What happened to Sweet-Pea and Popeye's nephews? Anyway, this bobera from Hanna-Barbera aired on CBS (the same channel that aired the 1978 reboot). The stories in the episodes are dumb to begin with. On the plus side the only good thing apart from the music, is when Popeye Jr. takes his spinach he gets disgusted first but through time has to accept it. This teaches kids how to accept food like spinach. All in all, this iteration of the beloved cartoon can make the 1980 movie look like an epic. As a kid, I loved it, so did my mother, but with age comes a new pair of eyes. Looking back, this is stupid with a capital S! When I told about it to my mother, she felt disgusted, or as Popeye would say, "disgustipated". She said that the show is stupid. Somethings work well on paper. No wonder the cartoon had a short run. Around that time the show was on the air, there were Quaker Oatmeal commercials with the beloved hero. This show like those commercials are on YouTube, you have been warned! Poor Popeye, he has gone through the mud just like other great heroes like Batman with his campy show during the sixties, Spider-Man with his skits on the original ELECTRIC COMPANY, The Teen Titans with their jokey cartoon on Cartoon Network (which gets too much air time), and speaking of which, The Powerpuff Girls and their jokey reboot where everything we knew and loved about it, is thrown out the window (because they want make money out of it). Bottom line: Avoid it at all costs. Rated TV-Y, but it contains some cartoon violence that happen to be downplayed.
