The House Builder-Upper (1938) User Reviews

No Fisticuffs, Just House Building

[ccthemovieman-1 · 8/10 · 20 October 2007]

This is another of those unusual Popeye cartoons in which there is no Bluto and no fisticuffs.....just a story of trying to build a house.

It begins with Popeye and Wimpy - "The Volunteer Firemen" - arriving too late to save Olive's house. All that is left is a bathtub sticking up in the air on the second story. Olive and her pets are on the front steps sobbing their eyes out. Her man, however, comes to rescue by volunteering to build her a new house. The three begin immediately. (Olive is actually helping, and so is Wimpy - in between bites on his unlimited supply of hamburgers.)

We then witness the strange way the crew goes about trying to build this house. (If only wallpapering was as easy as it is portrayed here.) It's laugh-out-loud material but it's continually humorous with a couple of twists at the end. Overall, the best parts were some of the drawings in here and the sight gags of these "house builders."

Popeye's house building

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 9 September 2018]

Dave Fleischer was responsible for many gems. Ones that were amusing and charming, though over-cuteness did come through in some efforts and the stories were always pretty thin, with appealing characters, outstanding music and visuals that were inventive and with innovative animation techniques.

'The House Builder-Upper' is not quite classic Popeye the Sailor. It is still very well done and never less than very funny if not quite hilarious. Have always enjoyed many of the Popeye cartoons a good deal and like Popeye very much, Fleischer's efforts were always well animated and scored with lots of entertainment value and great chemistry between Popeye, Olive Oyl and Wimpy. 'The House Builder-Upper' has much of makes the Popeye series so appealing in its prime era and does nothing to waste the three main characters or make them less interesting.

The story is an interesting and beautifully paced one, never being dull, if slightly formulaic (not uncommon with the Popeye cartoons). The humour and gags make it even more entertaining and there is a lot of good nature and charm here. A lot of the content is more creative than usual.

All three characters are great, though Olive Oyl's material is not quite as great as Popeye and Wimpy's. The three are spot on and their chemistry drives 'The House Builder-Upper' and has so much energy. Popeye is always amusing and likeable enough but for me Wimpy is here the funnier and more interesting character.

Furthermore, the animation is beautifully drawn and with enough visual detail to not make it cluttered or static and lively and smooth movement. The music is also outstanding, lots of merry energy and lush orchestration, adding a lot to the action and making the impact even better without being too cartoonish. Fleischer's direction is always accomplished and his style is all over it.

Voice acting is dynamic and of very good quality on the whole, Mae Questel is a good fit for Olive Oyl, the voice that most sticks in my mind for the character and who voiced her the best. Jack Mercer is the Popeye most familiar to me and he fits the character perfectly.

All in all, very good. 8/10 Bethany Cox

"There's no need for crying, 'cause I'll keep on trying . . . "

[oscaralbert · 8/10 · 2 July 2019]

. . . sings a representative American home construction industry wannabe at the conclusion of this timely expose, THE HOUSE BUILDER-UPPER. The whole point of this whistle-blowing exercise, of course, is to inform U.S. citizens that there is PLENTY of reason to weep! Since the late 1800s, "Wood Shop" has fallen out of the curriculum of many if not all taxpayer-funded high schools. The main reason for this astoundingly short-sighted lapse is that Wood Shop is not considered to be a trendy "STEAM" (aka, "STEM") subject. Of course, since Common Sense suggests that given the fact that a house is required for every 2.7 Americans, it's in our vital national interest that about 3 of every 100 Americans MUST BE CARPENTERS (considering how unlikely it is that a single carpenter could build MORE than 100 homes in a year!), THE HOUSE BUILDER-UPPER is cleverly constructed to show what disasters loom when a nation is remiss in its obligation to train an adequate supply of wood workers. When frills such as "Science" and "Foreign Languages" replace obligatory classes in wood shop, pipe fitting, welding, and wiring, every Tom, Dick, and Popeye suddenly becomes a do-it-yourself freak, usually with the cataclysmic results illustrated in THE HOUSE BUILDER-UPPER. No kid should be allowed to graduate from a taxpayer-funded American high school without AT LEAST 12 credit hours in wood-working, along with an equivalent amount of training in such related core subjects as pipe-fitting, welding, and wiring. Such a trip back to the future can kill a couple of albatross with one rock, as it will steer kids clear of such troublesome anti-social pastimes as "inventing" derivatives, cyber currencies, social media, and "scam likely" bots!

No Fighting But A Lot of Fun

[Michael_Elliott · 5 April 2016]

The House Builder Upper (1938)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Popeye and Wimpy are volunteer firefighters who are rushing to the scene of a fire. Once there they realize it's Olive Oyl and her house is a complete loss so they decide to build her a new one.

THE HOUSE BULDER-UPPER is a very, very rare Popeye short in regards to the lack of violence. The series is loved by so many because of the fast-action and often violent fights that would break out but that is missing here. Instead of fighting we're given some pretty fun and creative scenes of Popeye and Wimpy trying to build a house without too much success. One highlight is when Wimpy pants himself into a corner and has to find a way out of the house. Another fun moment happens when Wimpy builds a door that's led into a brick wall. Fans of the series will enjoy the musical nature and charm of this short.

What kind of wench would allow two casual acquaintances . . .

[tadpole-596-918256 · 8/10 · 28 September 2019]

. . . displaying an encyclopedia of ineptitude to squander the proceeds of her home owner's insurance policy while slapping together a ramshackle replacement "house of cards" which collapses not once, but TWICE during the misconstruction process? What sort of "damsel in distress" would not notice these unworkable men painting themselves into corners, sawing unnecessary holes in her rebuilt domicile, and wallpapering HER onto the walls of her own prospective living room?! What ilk of ditsy dame would not put her foot down upon the initial rebuilding collapse, and send out an immediate distress call for certified professionals? THE WIZARD OF OZ may have convinced "The Scarecrow" that he had possessed a brain all along during his ordeals, but after viewing THE HOUSE BUILDER-UPPER, it's highly unlikely that anyone will be able to accuse "Olive" of retaining such an organ of thought!