So in this fun, longer than usual Popeye cartoon it's strangely Olive herself who dreams the whole thing up while trying to write a movie script for the studio she works at, which is probably why it has Popeye as Aladdin and herself as the princess, and she even calls him Popeye at one point and then corrects herself, in an early example of breaking the fourth wall that is pretty neat. The look of the version I watched was very faded and bleached of a lot of the colour, but I still couldn't miss the richness of the details in some of the scenes, especially the moonlit palace with the full moon behind it, very dramatic and beautifully done. As always in just about any animation he ever lent his quirky voice talents to, big props to Jack Mercy and his wonderfully odd pun-filled mutterings that keep things moving along and provide some of the biggest laughs. I just love the gross evil vizier who Popeye has to eat multiple cans of spinach before he can beat, his manic leering expressions and villainous theatrics are so funny and of the certain style that could only ever have come out of the Fleicher studios! I didn't like the overly camp genie though, he was an obnoxious bad stereotype, but it was still cool how Popeye was having a blue genie doing goofy hijinks over fifty years before we had Robin Williams delivering his classic performance! There is quite a few unmistakeable precursors to the Disney movie in this.. For me this isn't quite a gem like the Sinbad Popeye special was but it's fun and entertaining enough nonetheless, well worth checking out! X
