The Man on the Flying Trapeze (1934)

Director:

Dave Fleischer

Release Date:

16 March 1934 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Short | Comedy | Family | Musical

Plot:

Popeye comes to ask Olive out, but finds she's gone off with the title character. Popeye goes to the circus (ringmaster Wimpy) looking for her, to find she's part of the act; an aerial battle ensues.

Plot Keywords:

Popeye | Sailor | Circus | Ringmaster | Mother

Cast

William Costello	...	Popeye (voice) (uncredited)
William Pennell	...	Jules Leotard (voice) (uncredited)
Mae Questel	...	Olive Oyl / Nana Oyl (voice) (uncredited)

Also Known As:

El trapecista volador (Argentina) [es]

Runtime:

7 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

Argentina:Atp

Company:

Fleischer Studios

Trivia:

"The Daring Young Man On The Flying Trapeze" did have a name, contrary to popular belief: Jules Leotard. He was a former law student who ran away from home and joined a circus as an adolescent. Young Jules was the first performer to wear the skin-tight suit of clothes that would later be named after him; he died of tuberculosis aged only twenty-eight, and the man in the cartoon is obviously modeled on him. In the song, a young man is bemoaning the fact that Jules has just run off with his fiancée.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Popeye: [singing] I yam what I yam, / And that's all what I yam. / I'm Popeye the sailor man. / I'm Popeye the sailor man. / I'm strong to the finitch / 'Cause I eats me spinach. / I'm Popeye the sailor man.

Soundtrack:

The Man on the Flying Trapeze

Good Short

Man on the Flying Trapeze, The (1934)

*** (out of 4)

Unusual Popeye cartoon has him sailing in to ask Olive Oyl out but she's left him for the title character. Popeye then goes to the circus to see the man and gets into a battle. This is a rather unusual short because the majority of the dialogue comes from singing. The songs in the film are very good and most of the charm comes from them. There's your typical nice animation and some very good direction in the storytelling and that includes some very good fight scenes in the air. There's also a funny sequence with a woman whom I'm guessing is Olive's mother. we also get Wimpy as the announcer at the circus. This isn't the best Popeye short I've seen but the strange musical numbers make it work watching.