Warner Home Video continues its release of Popeye cartoons with two new DVD collections: Popeye The Sailor, Volume Two: 1938-1940, a two-disc set that continues the series by presenting the next 31 theatrical shorts produced by the Fleischer Studios, and Popeye & Friends, Volume One, eight cartoons from Hanna-Barbera’s All-New Popeye Hour that ran from 1978-1981 on CBS Saturday mornings.

The difference between the two products is astounding, although I am admittedly biased because I hold the Fleisher cartoons in very high esteem, so to give Popeye & Friends a fair chance I received input from my nine-year-old nephew Sobrino Poco Loco to learn how the material fares with the age group it was geared towards.

Although the amount of content is cut in half from the previous release due in part to the restoration process, Popeye The Sailor, Volume Two still finds the talented men of the Fleischer Studios producing very funny, well-drawn cartoons even with all the changes behind the scenes. The studio moved from New York to Florida for tax breaks and to get away from the union. Mae Questel didn’t want to move so other actresses took over the voice of Olive. Gus Wickie, the original voice of Bluto passed away in 1938, which likely explains the character’s absence from the first eight cartoons and his limited involvement in “Customers Wanted,” which finds Wimpy watching bits from previous shorts. Pinto Colvig, a major cast member at Disney who provided the voices for Goofy, Sleepy, Grumpy and Practical Pig from “Three Little Pigs,” replaced Wickie.

Over the course of these 31 cartoons, the series introduces more characters from E.C. Segar's Thimble Theatre. Poopdeck Pappy, the Goons, and Eugene the Jeep all made their debuts, although the Jeep is introduced twice and the stories contradict each other. Popeye introduced him to Olive in “The Jeep” (1938) explaining, “The Jeep's a magical dog and can disappear and things.” In “Popeye Presents Eugene the Jeep” (1940), Popeye receives the creature as a gift from Olive.

Aside from the usual sight gags and Jack Mercer’s hysterical ad-libs for Popeye, the humor seemed to expand its range as I couldn’t remember the fourth wall being blatantly broken in Volume One. In “Goonland” Popeye attempts to rescue Pappy from the island. During the climatic fight, the film breaks, sending the Goons tumbling away, and an animator pins it back together. In “A Date to Skate,” Popeye is without spinach until a silhouetted audience member throws him a can to save the day.