Rating: 
Summary: What A Rip....Thanks King Features TV Sydicate
Review: I was very disappointed when I began to view this boxed set. I was expecting, had I thought to read reviews I would not have, the well made Fleischer cartoons. But I in fact was fooled into buying complete rubbish. I suppose if one grew up watching these low grade films they may indeed enjoy them but for anyone who wants down right excellently written and well animated Popeye cartoons I would suggest not buying this poor excuse for Popeye animation, And to speak frankly "Coffee House" is an insult to earier Popeye Cartoons. I am yet to make it through all of the episodes. Not to downplay the DVD's at all but the Popeye Trivia included was definitely worth the 35 friggin' dollars, because as far as I'm concerned that was all I recieved - a fancy case to carry a couple of crummy questions in. One again, thanks King Features TV Syndicate. Horrible, simple horrible.
Rating: 
Summary: These are the Popeye cartoons I know and love
Review: I've been waiting for these 1960's versions that I grew up with and they are everything I remember. I absolutely love them. Fantastic. My brother and I have referenced lines from these for over 30 years now. When something is taking forever, we say is it ready yet, and reply not yet! in a real exasperated tone in reference to the Popeye's Cool Pool episode. I haven't seen it since then and it was great to see all of these again. Can't recommend highly enough.
Rating: 
Summary: Selective Viewing
Review: If your favorite TV Popeye cartoons from the 1960-61 period
feature Brutus speaking with Popeye's voice, an extra eye
growing on Olive's face or missing limbs, then this DVD set is
for you. Some of the worst TV Popeyes produced have been selected to appear on this DVD ("Popeye's Tea Party", "Old Salt
Tale" and "Popeye and the Giant" are a few examples). While
there are several of the better animated cartoons also on this
DVD, this is not a set you will be able to sit back and watch
for pure enjoyment. The mistakes you didn't notice when you
were five are the ones you will pay attention to now. This could
have been a fine collection of the best of the King Features
TV-cartoons, if only someone at King Features knew what they
were or bothered to ask an animation historian to find out.
This set is also an insult to the many millions of fans still
waiting for the classic Max Fleischer, black and white cartoons to be released. Watch the cartoons featuring Winston Sharples' music scores and browse through the rest on this DVD.
Rating:
Summary: Childhood Daze
Review: It's a real shame that the very best of the 220 produced TV
Popeyes could not have been selected for this DVD set.
Some of the choices are just unwatchable due to the poor (very
poor) animation. Others, are well animated but this set will make you think "why couldn't they all have been this way?" That's because King Features hired 5 different animation studios to crank out these TV toons, fast, because the Max Fleischer films were so popular on the small screen.Which makes us wonder, when will those great Fleischer cartoons
get released on DVD? Will this mixed bag of Popeye cartoons be
the best way to introduce new generations to the swab or rekindle
fond memories in babyboomers. Let's hope not!
Rating:
Summary: An excellent value
Review: Ok, rather than go on about what I, as a middle-aged man think of these cartoons, how about some useful information about this product? Fine. This 3-DVD set comes in a colourful gatefold digipack-style book with a cardboard slipcase. The spindles held the discs firmly, and they got through shipping without coming off and getting scratched. There is a short booklet with some trivia and brief history of Popeye, but it's main use is as the index of what cartoons are on what disc. The overall picture quality of these cartoons is suprisingly good. Although there are plently of small scratches and print artifacts, (as well as some limited compression evident) they are quite sharp and colourful. They certainly look much better than they did on broadcast. The menus are simple and easy for your kids to navigate. At 85 cartoons for under 30$ it's certainly enormous bang for the buck, and at least a major release company level of quality. As to all the complaining about the worth of the cartoons themselves, It's difficult for me to say since I'm a grown man. I am not one of these poor geeks who still read comic books at thirty, so I bought them for my 6 year-old daughter, who has fallen in love with them. I mean head over heels. We actually use them as a carrot for finishing her homework. Unless you are one of the afore-mentioned socially-impaired "spent my prom at the Star Trek convention" critics, I am assuming you are considering these for your children, in which case I think you'll be very pleased. Unlike the purists, these 60's versions are the ones I watched when I was a kid every morning before school hovering over a bowl of Frankenberry, not the obscure, strange 30's versions, and if you are 30-40 you probably did too. We loved them, and so will your kids I'm sure. Of course my daughter didn't get the "Beatnik" episode "Cool daddy-o", but she didn't seem to mind :)
Rating:
Summary: WARNING! GREAT LOOK, WRETCHED CONTENT.
Review: One could argue (and I would) that the Fleischer Popeye cartoons of the 1930s are among the finest animated cartoons ever produced. With their inventive animation and storylines that are still amusing they are still great fun. When I saw this set I was excited that someone had at last produced the quality DVD set of these masterworks that I had been waiting for. Alas, these are NOT the Fleischer cartoons. Instead they are the very limited animation King Features cartoons of the very early 1960s. Both the animation and the writing is extraordinarily disappointing. The only bright spots are the voice work and that the cartoons look terrific. They probably did not look this good when I watched them on television as a small boy. Unless you were a huge fan of those 1960-61 King Features cartoons I would not recommend this set. It's a shame really as they have done a very good job of cleaning them up. Unfortunately the cartoons - unlike the Fleischer cartoons - just do not hold up.
Rating:
Summary: Don't Listen to the Reviewer From New York
Review: Please, do not listen to the guy from New York who posted twice in the same day, giving these horrendous animated films 5 stars twice. He must be some KFS agent, or employee. These cartoons are some of the WORST Popeye pictures that have EVER been made. I would show these films to my kids only if I wanted to torture them for not finishing their homework. VCI Entertainment is releasing an alternate Popeye collection with some GREAT Public Domain Fleischer Studios cartoons, transferred from the best existing prints available out there. The renowned historian, Jerry Beck, worked on that collection and provided his commentary for the cartoons. DO NOT BUY this KFS trash !!! These cartoons will kill your children's brain cells !!! KFS, the corporation trying, with all its powers, to prevent the release of the original theatrical Fleischer & Famous Studios "Popeye" cartoons (now owned by Warner Bros), will want you to think that this is a great "Popeye" collection. In reality, these cartoons are pure garbage !!! Look for the VCI 75th Anniversary Collection with some of the greatest "Popeyes" ever !!! Do yourself and your kid a favour and ignore this trash.
Rating:
Summary: The great early 60s Popeye cartoons!
Review: Popeye and Brutus are definitely two of the greatest cartoon characters ever created! This set will also bring you Olive Oyl, Swee'Pea, Wimpy, the Sea Hag, Alice the Goon, Eugene the Jeep, King Blozo, Rough House, Geezil, Poop-Deck Pappy, and all the others from the King Features shorts of 1960-1963.
Some of the reviewers here sound like cultural snobs. And anyone who claims that they thought this set would be the earlier B&W cartoons and feel that Koch was deceptive in their packaging, should examine said packaging more closely before making impulse purchases that they will later regret. The cover clearly states that the cartoons date from 1960 and 1961. I have been waiting years to find these great shorts on DVD. When I found it in a store, I couldn't believe it was true. When I got it home and opened it and looked at the title listings, I still couldn't believe it. When I played the discs and saw all my favorite childhood Popeye cartoons in such a high quality transfer, I was amazed! This set contains so many classics -- like Popeye as a lifeguard, Popeye and Olive's trip to the moon, Popeye as Jason bringing the Queen the golden fleas, and the holy grail of early 60s animation, "Coffee House" with Brutus and Olive as beatniks and Popeye having to eat spinach to make himself "cool"! Are you going to tell me that when Popeye did his sailor dance while strumming the guitar in the coffee house with all of the patrons snapping their fingers and saying, "Cool...cool...cool" that you didn't laugh??
Yes, there are some inconsistencies in some of the stories, some of the original editing could have been smoother here and there and there are mistakes, but for goodness sake, the producers did 230 of these cartoons in a little over three years! And if you don't remember the background music by Winston Sharples and Ken Lowman, you will remember it when you hear it. These various themes have haunted me for years. The brassy "Brutus" theme is one of the best cartoon soundtracks ever!
You know that this set doesn't contain the original 1930s Popeye shorts, so if that's what you're looking for, don't buy this. But if you grew up watching these early 60s gems on local television, you will love this set. Frankly, I can't see how any self-respecting Popeye fan wouldn't want to own this even if he is partial to the Max Fleischer orginals.
These cartoons ROCK!!
Rating:
Summary: Like opening a can of rancid, spoilt spinach
Review: Some of the worst cartoons ever made. No, check that, some of the worst ANYTHING every made. For $30, I'll come to your house and do Popeye and "Brutus" sock puppets and be fifty times as entertaining, I promise you. On the other hand, VCI Entertainment has just released an alternate "75th Anniversary Collector's Edition" 2-disc set of POPEYE THE SAILOR MAN classic cartoons, and it's worth having. That set contains 9 Fleischer brothers shorts, including the three Technicolor 2-reelers created by Max and Dave Fleischer in the later 1930s, POPEYE THE SAILOR MEETS SINDBAD THE SAILOR, POPEYE THE SAILOR MEETS ALI BABA's FORTY THIEVES, and ALADDIN AND HIS WONDERFUL LAMP. These are three of the grandest, most colorful, and most imaginative cartoons of the golden era, and they've been restored and color-corrected and look - while not perfect - at least better than they have in a long while. And certainly tens of kazillions of light years better than anything on THIS set. Buying this Koch set for your children is tantamount to animated abuse.
Rating:
Summary: Missing the point
Review: The "Viewer from New York" and others are missing the point and are lacing their "reviews" with insults to all of us that have a negative comment of this product. The Popeye cartoons began back in 1933, when cartoons were for adults as well as for kids. Many of us appreciate, and are collectors, of these older, well crafted and creatively conceived cartoons. This would inclued the early Popeye cartoons made by the Fleischer and Famous Studios. This DVD was titled: Popeye, 75th Anniversary Celebration Collector's Edition. Most reasonable people, without any additional information, would assume that this was a retrospective of Popeye cartoons from the beginning. Amazon, for whatever reason, chose not to provide any additional information regarding the content. As a consequence, I, along with many people, was not happy with this DVD when it arrived and I had time to examine it. The King Syndicate was, for many years, a maker of trash product aimed it the youth market. I have no problem with this. This is America where you are entitled to make something and see if it will sell. I only ask that the seller inform me as to the content of a DVD. Look at this thing! 85 cartoons in two years? How good could they be? If you are looking for a few hours of entertainment for your yourger children, go for it. If you are interested in the earlier, quality Popeye cartoons, pass on this and wait for a better product.
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