The Jeep (1938) User Reviews

Trying To Track Down Swee' Pea

[ccthemovieman-1 · 7/10 · 27 June 2008]

I enjoyed this particular cartoon, but Popeye's magical dog, "The Jeep," never did much for me. I never quite understood why he was inserted in this popular, long-running cartoon. Popeye, Olive Oyl, Bluto, Wimpy and Swee' Pea were good enough to provide tons of entertainment over the decades. What was the purpose of adding a "magical" dog that could disappear? It didn't seem to fit in with the human characters, but that's just my opinion. I see fellow reviewer "The Wolf 101" here agrees. I, too, prefer the ones (90 percent of them) in which Popeye and Bluto go at each other, or Popeye just entertains us by himself.

Nonetheless, this was a fun cartoon - not laugh-out-loud funny, but humorous and entertaining enough. Basically, we follow Jeep and Popeye on a scent, trying to find whatever happened to Swee' Pea. It appears the little tyke can't stay in his crib, and sneaks out the window of the high rise and likes to crawl along the telephone wires! Popeye, as usual, provides the humor as he mumbles his way following the dog and wondering if the Jeep will ever discover where Swee' Pea went on his latest trip.

Almost from his inception, the comic character "Popeye" has been known . . .

[pixrox1 · 8/10 · 5 September 2019]

. . . . for his propensity to Time Travel. Because I personally cannot top such tomes on this topic as SAILING THROUGH THE MULTI-VERSE WITH THE SAILOR MAN or THANKS FOR ALL THE SPINACH!, I will not waste space comparing THE JEEP to the OTHER 183 brief "Popeye" cartoons which have been singled out and recognized for their forays into the Fifth Dimension. However, having taken a year of French in Ninth Grade, I would like to allude to the moment during THE JEEP where my near-bilingualism came in handy. This telling incident takes place shortly after "Popeye" arrives at his baby-sitter "Olive's" high-rise flat, and learns that his adopted brat has turned up AWOL. During Popeye's initial search of the apartment for "Sweet Pea," America's favorite sailor looks for the troubled runaway tyke in a picture frame, paraphrasing the Parisians by muttering "Search-shay la frame." What could be more timeless than that?

Popeye without spinach

[rbverhoef · 7/10 · 2 June 2003]

This is a Popeye-short without any spinach. It was funny though. Olive is taking care of Swee'pea but he keeps getting out of his crib. Popeye comes over and he brings The Jeep, his magical dog. Swee'pea is gone again so the dog must find him, taking Popeye on a little journey.

This was a pretty funny short. I especially liked the beginning, but the other parts of it are pretty funny as well.

Whatever happened to Baby Swee'Pea

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 21 October 2019]

Fleischer Studios made many good to fine cartoons in the Popeye series (109 between 1933 and 1942, before Famous Studios took over all the way through to the late-50s), while liking a good deal of their work Popeye to me was one of their better series to feature a regular character. Speaking as someone who likes the Koko cartoons and pre-code Betty Boop. The Gabby, Stone Age and Animated Antics series don't do the studio justice.

'The Jeep' is from the series' best period (the late-30s in my opinion), yet it is not one of the best cartoons. While still enjoyable, to me it's a lesser Popeye cartoon from the year of 1938. This is not a Popeye versus Bluto cartoon, and another change of pace for Popeye, which are every bit as enjoyable and in a good deal of them even more so than the Popeye versus Bluto efforts. The premise is not an original one, so 'The Jeep' is on the formulaic side with few surprises going on, but it doesn't get too repetitive and has enough amusement.

Do agree about not getting much out of the Jeep character, not particularly funny, interesting or appealing and even not adding very much to the cartoon. This could easily have been a cartoon where Popeye searched for Popeye on his own, it happened before just fine.

It was very common for Olive to have little to do and that's the case here in 'The Jeep', did question what the point was for having her there if the cartoon was going to do so little with her. Do prefer Mae Questel voicing her too, namely because Olive is so closely associated with Questel that when anybody else voices her it doesn't feel the same, also though because Margie Hines' voice doesn't fit the character design like a glove as much as Questel's. Just my opinion though and apologies if it does come over as too nit-picky, it's just me thinking out loud.

Popeye and Swee'Pea are dead on however. Popeye is very easy to like and is is amusing yet easy to feel sympathy for, but despite being a baby Swee'Pea manages to be an even more interesting character, avoiding being obnoxious or too cute and is both adorable and funny. Their chemistry/interaction was essential for 'The Jeep' to work and luckily it is done very well, though Popeye sparkles more with Bluto because the animosity is stronger. The gags are numerous, are well timed and very amusing. Most of the best of the humour though comes from Popeye's mumblings which is something of an art form in the Popeye cartoons.

Regarding the animation, it is very good as always from this period. It's beautifully drawn and with immaculate visual detail, that doesn't ever feel cluttered or static, and lively and smooth movement. The music likewise, 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. Jack Mercer does a typically great job as Popeye, with him clearly enjoying the asides and mumblings the viewer enjoys them too.

Overall, pretty good. 7/10

The Magic Dog

[Michael_Elliott · 9 December 2016]

The Jeep (1938)

*** (out of 4)

Olive is babysitting Swee'pea and having a hard time with him. Around that time Popeye shows up with "The Jeep," which is a magical dog that can disappear and then re-appear. It's the perfect time because the baby has disappeared so Popeye and the dog go out looking for him.

This here is another winning short in the series that has a couple good laughs, some nice action and a certainly bizarre supporting character. I'm not sure who came up with the disappearing dog but it makes for a good character and the film also benefits from some nice laughs. The highlight is a cheap joke that works but it's when Popeye is knocking on the door and Olive answers but the poor sap keeps knocking.

Long before it was just another middling model shilled by a failing Italian . . .

[oscaralbert · 7/10 · 27 July 2019]

. . . automaker, THE JEEP thrived as an orchid-eating magical American pet. In fact, it was THE JEEP's comforting attributes that persuaded the G.I.'s who won World War II in nicknaming their most beloved military vehicles after it. THE JEEP can plow through brick walls and other impediments, emerging on the other side unscathed. When threatened, THE JEEP can turn itself invisible. Whether it's cruising past a pile of bricks of a heap of human hunks, THE JEEP can serve as a playful bloodhound, pointing to an important quarry while throwing in an occasional "red herring" for "comic relief." THE JEEP's perceptive tail serves as a vital bellwether, detecting whether an assumption or assertion is The Truth, or--conversely--if the speaker is stumbling blindly into the ambush of a SNAFU. Given its keen Truth-detecting abilities, talented sniffer, uncanny knack of penetrating the impervious, and wicked sense of humor, is it any shock that THE JEEP helped defeat WWII's Axis of Evil? No wonder most G.I.'s carried an orchid for good luck!