So much average

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Problem Pappy (1941)*** (out of 4)Highly entertaining short has Popeye going into Pappy's room to check on him and realizing that he's not there. Popeye goes out looking for him and finds in on top of a skyscrapper doing stunts for money.Obviously people were enjoying seeing Pappy as his character was making a lot more appearances during this period of the animated series. It's not hard to see why since he was pretty much an older version of Popeye and it was fun getting to see the two of them fight. The battles here are actually pretty funny and especially because of how ruthless they are towards one another. They really don't care if the other dies and we get some very funny fight scenes and stunts where the characters are put into danger. If you're a fan of the series then you'll certainly enjoy this one.

Problem Pappy, (which showed a question mark with the title and copyright date MCMXLI[1941]), was very fittingly titled. It showed just how cantankerous Popeye's 99-year-old father was, as did several other Fleischer produced and directed cartoons of the 1940-41 period. At half past noon time, Popeye, loving son as he was, knocked on Pappy's bedroom door to find a note: "I wuzzent in last night. Pappy". Popeye made a frantic search, found the salty old sailor sitting and juggling on a flagpole atop a skyscraper! Popeye sternly warned him to come down "..before I sends for a hospital to come and get you!" (By that, he meant committing Pappy to a mental hospital, which, in the 1940's, could be done more easily than today.) Pappy refused, so Popeye said "If you ain't coming DOWN, I'M COMING UP! Pappy still refused, and greased the flagpole. Only an electrical storm, accompanied by score from Rossini's William Tell Overture, led Pappy to come down, with a lightning bolt opening spinach can for Popeye, who swung with his father on lightning bolts to safety. Popeye tucked the cantankerous old man in bed, and brought milk but found Pappy sleeping on a flagpole! An excellent example of how cantankerous Poopdeck Pappy was.

"Raising parents is a problem," mutters Popeye after he goes upstairs to tuck his pappy into bed. (Popeye is a loving son, always looking after his rambunctious 99-year-old (or something like that) pappy. Popeye's miffed because the bed is empty and there is a note attached to the bedpost which reads, "I wazzunt in last night.""Yikes," says Popeye, "Pappy's new childhood is making an old man out of me!" What ensues is a wild five minutes of Popepe trying to get his dad off the top of a flagpole that is perched on top of a skyscraper. What's worse is that the old man is juggling bowling pins while he's balancing on the ball thousands of feet up from the ground.Popeye goes to death-defying feats to save his daddy, who doesn't want to be saved. It's only through a thunderstorm which features human-like lightning in which progress is finally made.This cartoon features a lot of good sight gags, funny lines and is nicely drawn. The restored artwork also makes it look pretty impressive. It's the lead-off cartoon in the "Popeye the Sailor: 1941-1943 Vol. 3" DVD.