I Told You There Ain’t No Ghosts

A basic, but neat, little trick is used in a fight scene in the Popeye cartoon “Shiver Me Timbers!” (1934).

Popeye, Olive and Wimpy mix it up with some ghosts. The drawings of multiple heads and body parts are nice to begin with. But instead of using them in some kind of cycle, not only are the drawings mixed up a bit, and shot on both ones and twos, the drawings are in positive and negative. It’s an efficient use of the artwork and looks like the fight is flashing on the screen.



Williard Bowsky and Bill Sturm receive the animation credits. Of note is this is the first cartoon where the opening title card reads “Adolph Zukor presents”. It wasn’t until many years after childhood that I learned that Adolph Zukor had nothing to do with the making of these cartoons.

As usual with an early Fleischer Popeye, the gags in the climax fight come at you quickly. Popeye kicks some bony skeleton butt to the tune of “The Stars and Stripes Forever,” which is always a plus for me. Is it any wonder kids liked Popeye over Mickey Mouse? It’s like comparing Elliot Ness to Lassie.