Popeye the Sailor: 1938–1940, Volume 2 is the second of a series of DVD sets released by Warner Home Video collecting, in chronological order, the theatrical Popeye cartoons originally distributed by Paramount Pictures. Originally planned as a four-disc set like Volume 1, Volume 2 was announced and reduced to two discs during planning and released on June 17, 2008.
Contents
Release
The collection features 30 regular one-reel black-and white Popeye cartoons, and also the last of the three two-reel Technicolor Popeye Color Specials, Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp. The cartoons were produced by Fleischer Studios and cover the period when the studio moved from New York City to Miami, Florida.
Shortly after the release of the set, Warner Home Video reported that two of the cartoons on disc one, Customers Wanted and Hello-How Am I, have incorrect opening sequences. The other cartoons on the collection have their Paramount Pictures production logos and original opening credits restored; Customers Wanted and Hello-How Am I feature opening titles prepared by Associated Artists Productions for television syndication in the 1950s. These mistakes were repaired in later pressings of the disc, and a disc replacement program was initiated for those who already owned the set.
As with Volume 1, the original Paramount production logos were restored to the cartoons on the set. Cartoons from Customers Wanted on have their opening title cards restored as well, as these cartoons feature a "Paramount presents" byline in place of the Max Fleischer presents or "Adolph Zukor presents" used on earlier cartoons. These include the special opening titles prepared for Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp, as well as four other 1939 cartoons - Wotta Nitemare, Ghosks is the Bunk, Hello-How Am I, and It's the Natural Thing to Do. The latter four use an opening title card style unique to those films instead of the then-standard "ship-door" opening Popeye titles, and were originally restored for television broadcasts on Cartoon Network's The Popeye Show in the early 2000s.
DVD listing
All cartoons are one-reel (six- to eight-minute) cartoons in black and white unless otherwise noted. Dave Fleischer received director credit on every cartoon in this set.
1938
1939
Special features
Popeye Popumentaries:
1939
1940
Special features
Popeye Popumentary: Men of Spinach and Steel
From the Vault: