The Fistic Mystic (1946) User Reviews

fun Popeye short

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 12 June 2021]

Popeye and Olive Oly arrives in the city of Badgag on a camel. They watch Bluto performing magic trick and he lures Olive like a snake. Popeye has to compete to win back his girl.

This is actually pretty good with less than expected disturbing racism consider the times. The worst is the monkey-like caricature riding the camel with Popeye and Olive. I really like the baseball bit. This ends up with Bluto taking on the Arab villain type. It has lots of fun.

The king of snake charming

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 11 November 2019]

1946 started off the post-war Popeye period quite well. None of the cartoons from the series that year were classics and they had pretty much similar strengths and flaws. They did suffer from not being particularly original, with some previous Popeye cartoons being remade and somewhat too faithfully and Popeye had a temporary voice change that never quite clicked with me, plus Olive tended to be wasted. They were though well made, scored and were entertaining enough.

Found 'The Fistic Mystic' to be one of the better 1946 Popeye cartoons, 'Rodeo Romeo' (quite unique for Popeye) being my personal favourite. None though of the previous 1946 cartoons were less than enjoyable, all above average and more though only 'Rodeo Romeo' in my view was great. 'The Fistic Mystic' is not a classic, but it is well animated, scored and entertaining, with great character interaction and it executes a nice concept more than competently.

The conflict can be a little predictable and easy, the outcome never in doubt.

When it comes to Popeye's voice, if comparing the most prolific voice actor Jack Mercer and his temporary replacement Harry Welch it is a no-brainer as to who is better. Popeye's trademark asides and mumblings have a lot more impact voiced by Mercer, though Welch does give it a good stab considering that he had big shoes to fill.

Popeye though is as amusing and likeable as said, while Bluto is even funnier and even more interesting. Their chemistry really carries 'The Fistic Mystic' and has considerable energy and sees a lot of funny out-smarting moment between them. Olive serves more purpose to the story than just being the love interest/damsel in distress and proves to be useful in how the cartoon resolves. When it comes to the gags, there is hardly a shortage of them, quite the opposite. All of it works and the use of the snake charming and magic tricks are very imaginative and funny. While the story may be a somewhat formulaic one, it is elevated by the chemistry between Popeye and Bluto.

Moreover, the animation is bright and colourful with beautifully detailed backgrounds. The music is typically on point, lots of merry energy and lush orchestration, adding a lot to the action and making the impact even better without being too cartoonish.

Concluding, very entertaining. 8/10

"Popeye wanna cracker?"

[tadpole-596-918256 · 7/10 · 20 June 2021]

. . . asks the Statue of Liberty after Olive's drawers have been ransacked by a thoughtless swordsman. Of course, Popeye has been downsized to the size of Polly's cage mate, so Liberty's query is perfectly logical. The cutting-edge lingerie, on the other hand, probably needs a thorough washing, due to the statute of limitations running out. (No, the five-second rule should NOT apply here!) This is one case where the laundry should be kept IN the basket, and the washerwoman OUT!

Badgag?

[Hitchcoc · 6/10 · 13 June 2021]

When Popeye ends up on the desert with Olive Oyl, who should show up but Bluto, who has a gift for mesmerizing. He manages to turn Popeye into several, including a donkey and a parrot. At some point, Spinach comes on the scene. The results are a bit predictable.