The fact that this kind of classic is so undervalued means there is something very wrong with the world. This shouldn't be in a dollar bin with some generic 'klassic kartoons for kids' label, it should be in a velvet-lined boxed set with Max Fleisher's name printed in big gold letters on the package.
The effect that man has had on the world, and nobody but animation students knows his name. It's a crime.
The reason it's available so cheaply is because it's public domain. Pretty much anybody can put out a version of this, of whatever quality they damned well please.
Right up there with the Sistine Chapel, as far as artistic achievements go. The rotating diorama table behind the cells was a stroke of genius that really set the early Popeye cartoons apart from Disney and Warners.
I never noticed how incredibly creepy J. Wellington Wimpy is. Dude carries his own meat grinder.
As a child I would march around the house singing 'Whose a most remarkable, extraordinary fellow...', and my younger brother would cower in the corner, knowing this song always ended with an enormous wedgie.
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