The Age of Commercialism

Takes itself way too seriously

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Ration Fer the Duration (1943) *** (out of 4)This here is a WWII era Popeye short that has him building a victory farm. He then has to explain to his nephews that during wartime it's best to make good and share what you have. We then go to a Jack and the Beanstalk type story.If you're a fan of Popeye and his animated shorts then you should enjoy this one as it features some good animation, a clever story and some fun action. The highlight certainly happens towards the end once we get into the Jack and the Beanstalk category and see Popeye having to battle the giant. The film has a good message that of course would have went over well during the wartime.

This is an early Famous Studios Popeye cartoon. There will be spoilers ahead:This is a World War II-themed short, done to promote recycling for the war effort. This is pretty much an average short, with rather predictable gags.Popeye, patriotic fellow that he is, is planting a "victory garden" while his nephews are planning on sneaking off to go fishing. Popeye catches them and lectures them on not helping him plant their garden. He tells them a fractured version of the Jack and the Beanstalk fairy tale and they get to work while Popeye takes a nap and dreams the fairy tale, Popeye style.The giant turns out to be a hoarder and Popeye decides to get all his hoard for the war effort, but the giant catches him. Here, the short turns into a basic Popeye cartoon, with Popeye beating the giant and getting the hoard. That's when the boys wake him up and show him their garden. The end of the short is a pun-fest, a groan-induced one at that.This can be found and is worth watching once.

Here's a classic WWII cartoon that humorously deals the the frustrations of wartime rationing via Jack and The Beanstalk, where The Giant is a hoarder and The Goose lays rubber tires instead of golden eggs. Disney had planned to do the fairy tale (it eventually become the "Mickey and The Beanstalk" section of the 1947 feature FUN AND FANCY) for a couple of years before this cartoon was released - Famous Studios beat Disney to this classic. It should be noted that the first 4 note of Beethoven's 5th Symphony can be heard in the opening and closing of this cartoon, and also when Popeye snores. The 4 notes' rhythm, "dit-dit-dit-dah," are the same as a "V" in Morse Code. During WWII the "V for Victory" campaign was to have people against the Nazis write or paint "V"s in occupied countries to let them know that their enemies were all around them. The BBC began using Beethoven's notes at the start of all their broadcasts to Europe and it became standard show of solidarity around the world for those oppresses by the Axis powers during WWII.

This was one of the better World War II Popeye cartoons because it was different. Instead of Popeye and the Japanese or the Germans fighting it out, it's about the home front during the War.It's about "Victory Gardens" and "rationing," things most of the people here on this website (including me) don't know much about.During the war, a ton of sacrifices were made by the folks at home, here in the United States (and other countries, friend and foe). This cartoon points them out via the famous fable of Jack And Beanstalk. Popeye meets up with the giant in that story and finds out the big guy is hoarding sugar, rubber and many other things. These kind of everyday products were "rationed" and people could only get so much during WWII. Those rations, and the Victory Garden, along with Popeye's nephews, all come together at the end of this story.Along the way, this was well-drawn and nicely directed. We saw some cool shots of the giant from the floor up and some overhead shots that were different.....little things that helped make this a good visual cartoon. Some of the puns in here were pretty corny but a number of them will make you smile.