Popeye – Hits &
Missiles & Other Fun Fan Favorites (Koch)
Picture: B-
Sound: B- Extras: D Animated shorts: B
Hits & Missiles is one of three new single DVDs
Koch has issued for fans of Popeye, particularly those who missed out on the
terrific 75th Anniversary set of the 1960-61 TV shorts, as
reviewed elsewhere on this site. There
are still copies out there, some still brand new, but if you cannot find that
set or did not want to spend the money on the set, these singles are fine
alternatives. The titles for this set
are:
1) Hits
& Missiles
2) Plumbers
Pipe Dream
3) Jeep
Tale
4) Popeye’s
Pop-Up Emporium
5) Love
Birds
6) Golden-Type
Fleece
7) Coffee
House
8) Mueller’s
Mad Monster
9) Popeye
Spinach Stalk
10) After The Ball Went Over
11) Popeye’s Car Wash
12) Muskels Shmuskels
13) Ski-Jump Chump
14) Popeye & The Dragon
15) Hamburger Fishing
16) Childhood Daze
17) Jingle Jingle Jungle
18) Incident At Missile City
19) Fashion Fotography
20) Sea No Evil
21) Popeye’s Junior Headache
22) What’s News
23) Voo-Doo To You Too
24) Matinee Idol Popeye
25) Popeye & The Giant
26) Mississippi Sissy
27) Sea Serpent
28) Little Olive Riding Hood
29) Invisible Popeye
The titles are as funny as they are politically incorrect,
yet the shows are not offensive or problematic. Despite the fights between Popeye and his opponents, these are
literally TV safe and as good as any later incarnation of the characters. The only other set we can recommend at this
time is VCI’s collection of the original theatrical Fleischer studios shorts,
including all three original color shorts that went from the studios through
Paramount Pictures at the time. This
set runs about 160 minutes long.
The shorts are presented in their original ratio of 1.33
to 1, but cel dust is still visible with some print flaws here and there. At least Koch did not over-digitize and
manipulate the detail and color quality out of them. There is also a the small amount of interlacing errors that show
up from time to time as they did in the set.
The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is also better than you would expect for any
TV material from the early 1960s. The audio levels remain balanced
throughout here as well, proving that these are the same transfers as the
original set. After all, why change
them? Some companies often degrade
titles when they re-release them, but that did not happen here. Now, you have new options in how to get them
without compromise.
- Nicholas Sheffo
