I Yam Love Sick (1938)
I Yam Love Sick Review
I Yam Love Sick is a 1938 animated short from Popeye the Sailor series. It is a very well crafted entry that is one of the finest in the series.
This is the kind of Popeye cartoon that I love most. We don’t get Bluto here, but he isn’t needed when you have Popeye and Olive’s relationship emphasized. I loved Olive here, she was great. But this if of course Popeye’s vehicle and he is so funny and so great here. His lines are delivered wonderfully and his actions seemed smart and perfectly executed.
There are two problems here that annoyingly affect this movie’s greatness. One is that not every gag works with a couple of them being disappointing. And the other is the use of spinach which is highly questionable here and very much wasted. But other than that, all of the other scenarios and jokes work as the film really is hilarious in some scenes. What I also loved about it is its prolonged running time and a slower pacing, both unusual for the series, but both worked definitely. Another great thing is its physics-defying gags – they are ridiculous, but that’s what makes them funny.
I Yam Love Sick is not only really well crafted, but also funny and well paced with such great scenarios and Popeye being at his best.
My Rating – 4.4
‘I Yam Love Sick’ was a favorite cartoon when I saw it a couple of times in reruns, around the age of 5 (1978). For some reason, it didn’t turn up again in those syndicated showings, so I didn’t see it, or fully appreciate it, until it turned up on Cartoon Network many years later.
I agree that the jokes are mostly first-rate(not all of the doctors’ ‘mumbling and beard- stroking’ scenes were that good, particularly that apparent ‘football huddle’ they do before approaching Popeye).
The sight gags(X-ray of ‘anchor’ skeleton) and throwaway lines(‘Now deep breathely!’) were particularly effective. My favorite line/sequence is ‘The Tickle System!’ (My 5-year-old self copied that scene many times. I always wondered why Popeye’s shoe just ‘disappears’ after that bit!) it seems to establish Opeye isn’t ticklish, although other cartoons would dispute that.
As for the ‘waste’ of spinach…that only serves to heighten the suspense by removing the most obvious/customary way to wake him up.