1939 was not the best and most consistent year for the Popeye series (do prefer the cartoons from the 1935-1938 years), although the late-30s was one of Fleischer Studios' better periods for the Popeye series and overall. Pretty much all of the 1939 cartoons in the series range from between above average to great having said that, 'Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp' which is among the best Popeye cartoons (like the other Arabian Nights Popeyes) being my personal favourite.
'Leave Well Enough Alone' is one of the Popeye series' changes of pace, which for Fleischer and Famous Studios varied in the quality stakes but were mostly good, with it having no Bluto and none of Popeye and Bluto's love rivalry and fighting (plus Olive not being his girlfriend). None of those worked against 'Leave Well Enough Alone', they rarely did in the change of pace cartoons and besides why not have something different once in a while, and to me it was one of the better 1939 Popeyes.
Didn't really see the need for Olive's, again as said in a rare non-girlfriend appearance, presence here, other than being the owner she has next to nothing to do and certainly not anything that's interesting. She actually has more presence when Popeye's love interest but even then too many cartoons underuse her and give Popeye and Bluto far more interesting material.
Popeye's comic timing however shines as always, especially in those asides that Jack Mercer clearly enjoyed bringing to life, and his kind heart and good intentions make him very easy to endear to here. The parrot though is one of few supporting characters in the Popeye cartoons to steal the show from under Popeye in my opinion, very funny and never annoying. 'Leave Well Enough Alone' is very funny, with plenty of gags and a lot of energy, but it also is warm-hearted and teaches a valuable lesson without preaching and one that Popeye and the viewer learns from.
As ever, the animation is nicely drawn, neat and the attention to detail never came over as simplistic or cluttered. The music really adds to the energy, the orchestration is typically beautiful and the instrumentation clever. The title song is a scream and one of 'Leave Well Enough Alone's' highlights. The voice acting is dependably good, Mercer never disappointed as Popeye, he was the most popular and longest-serving voice actor for Popeye and for good reason as nobody else delivered Popeye's asides and mumblings quite like Mercer.
In summary, great and well worth checking out and not worth leaving alone. 9/10
'Leave Well Enough Alone' is one of the Popeye series' changes of pace, which for Fleischer and Famous Studios varied in the quality stakes but were mostly good, with it having no Bluto and none of Popeye and Bluto's love rivalry and fighting (plus Olive not being his girlfriend). None of those worked against 'Leave Well Enough Alone', they rarely did in the change of pace cartoons and besides why not have something different once in a while, and to me it was one of the better 1939 Popeyes.
Didn't really see the need for Olive's, again as said in a rare non-girlfriend appearance, presence here, other than being the owner she has next to nothing to do and certainly not anything that's interesting. She actually has more presence when Popeye's love interest but even then too many cartoons underuse her and give Popeye and Bluto far more interesting material.
Popeye's comic timing however shines as always, especially in those asides that Jack Mercer clearly enjoyed bringing to life, and his kind heart and good intentions make him very easy to endear to here. The parrot though is one of few supporting characters in the Popeye cartoons to steal the show from under Popeye in my opinion, very funny and never annoying. 'Leave Well Enough Alone' is very funny, with plenty of gags and a lot of energy, but it also is warm-hearted and teaches a valuable lesson without preaching and one that Popeye and the viewer learns from.
As ever, the animation is nicely drawn, neat and the attention to detail never came over as simplistic or cluttered. The music really adds to the energy, the orchestration is typically beautiful and the instrumentation clever. The title song is a scream and one of 'Leave Well Enough Alone's' highlights. The voice acting is dependably good, Mercer never disappointed as Popeye, he was the most popular and longest-serving voice actor for Popeye and for good reason as nobody else delivered Popeye's asides and mumblings quite like Mercer.
In summary, great and well worth checking out and not worth leaving alone. 9/10