User Reviews

Popeye and Bluto compete show Wimpy -- good to see him at any rate -- clips from older cartoons in this remake of 1939's CUSTOMERS WANTED.

The most distressing aspect of this is not the reuse of old clips to cut production costs, but the comparison of artwork from the originals -- which were released between 1946 and 1949 -- and the new sections: character design, background work, and animation were all much more involved in the earlier cartoons, even if Famous Studios had begun cutting budgets as early as 1948.

I have to admit the ending is a nice one, but like many of them, it's too little too late.

In the Fifties, the Famous Studio cartoons were mostly mediocre, with standardized story formats. Not ALL of the Famous Studios cartoons were that way. Penny Antics was an excellent remake of Fleischer's Cuskomers Wanted (1939). The story was much the same, with Popeye and Bluto as proprietors of penny arcades at an amusement park. Business was slow, until J. Wellington Wimpy happens in. Popeye and Bluto loaned Wimpy pennies (which he promised to repay Tuesday), and, as in Cuskomers Wanted, treated Wimpy to flashbacks from former cartoons: Silly Hillbilly(when Bluto was flung into washing machine), Wotta Knight (when Sir Popeye had lighted coal placed in armor by Sir Bluto), and Fistic Mystic, when Swami Bluto's attempt to turn Popeye into canary backfired. As Popeye's penny-arcade shows had Bluto getting the bad end, Bluto was teed off, so he and Popeye began slugging it; as in predecessor, Wimpy cashed in by charging admission to the boxing match. With most Famous cartoons at this time using formulas, just filling in blanks, Penny Antics really stood out, as superb remake of a former Fleischer cartoon

1955's 'Penny Antics' is interesting for two things. One is that it is a semi-remake, in colour this time, of the very good 1939 cartoon 'Customers Wanted', which to me is the better cartoon of the two. The other being that it is another compilation cartoon, which is an interesting type of cartoon but the execution has always been variable in the Popeye theatrical series and if there is anybody that questions their necessity and considering it a "cheater" that in my mind is very understandable.

Am not going to be one of those people to consider 'Penny Antics' a "cheater". Like 'Customers Wanted' it has a lot of great merits and for a Popeye compilation cartoon in my mind it's actually very good, even if it is not one of the best Popeye cartoons overall. Calling it something that sounds so derogtory and dismissive would be unfair in my humble opinion, but if anybody feels that way fair enough. Compared to most of the series' 50s output, in a very hit and miss period for the Popeye series and Famous Studios, it fares favourably though.

The framing story is admittedly very formulaic and has very little originality, not just as a remake of a pre-existing cartoon but as a Popeye cartoon overall.

If to nitpick a little too, maybe the animation quality is a little better in the clips, not uncommon in the later compilation efforts in the series.

'Penny Antics' has more good things than not so good, and the best things are brilliant. The animation is bright and colourful throughout and despite saying that the animation quality isn't quite as good in the framing story it becomes closer than most compilation cartoons in being true in style to the clips. The music is typically fantastic throughout, lots of merry energy and lush orchestration, adding a lot to the action and making the impact even better without being too cartoonish.

Gag count is high and they are all very funny, in the framing and in the clips. Speaking of the clips, they are great. Actually don't care for 'Wotta Knight' and 'Silly Hillbilly' as cartoons overall, but that didn't matter to me as a matter of fact as the clips for both were highlight scenes in their respective cartoons. 'The Fistic Mystic' is very good and represented very well in the clip inserted. 'Penny Antics' has a lot of energy and great character interaction and it was good to see a compilation cartoon where the framing story and clips were nearly equally good. Popeye and Bluto are a lot of fun as characters and exuberantly voiced as ever. Am always going to say that Jack Mercer is the definitive Popeye, evidenced by him being the most prolific of the Popeye voice actors.

Concluding, very impressive. 8/10.