Popeye decides to buy a bearskin fur coat for Olive's birthday. Popeye first tries to deal with a cheating furrier, who tries to pass off a rabbit-skin fur as bearskin until (in probably the cartoon's best gag) a cute little bunny muzzles the coat and pleads, "Mommy? Mommy?"
Popeye decides to hunt for his own bearskin. Once Popeye encounters a bear, the cartoon turns into a variation on Warner Bros.' Looney Tunes hunting epics, with the wily bear doing Bugs Bunny and the usually savvy Popeye standing in for clueless Elmer Fudd. (Tedd Pierce, a long-time Warner Bros. story man, gets a story credit here, possibly explaining the similarities. For an interesting contrast, check out the Bugs cartoon Hare Brush [1955], which pulls a similar switcheroo, even including an unruly bear.)
That said, it's a pretty funny outing, particularly when Popeye suffers a guilt trip as the bear's family pays him a teary farewell visit.
My rating:
© 2009, Steve Bailey.
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