Really like to love a good deal of Popeye cartoons and like the character of Popeye. Love Bluto more and his chemistry with Popeye has always driven their cartoons. Will admit though to preferring the Popeye cartoons from the Dave Fleischer era, the cartoons tend to be funnier and there is more originality and more risk taking in some of them.
'Out to Punch' is another late Popeye cartoon and made in Famous Studios' roughest and most variable period where budgets were much smaller in particularly the animation and deadlines and time constraints were shorter and tighter. All things considered, while there are infinitely better Popeye cartoons (especially during the Fleischer era) and there are signs of what made this period an inferior one for Famous Studios, 'Out to Punch' is not a bad late Popeye cartoon at all, actually really very enjoyable and one of the better cartoons in Famous Studios' late output.
As to be expected, the story is standard and formulaic, all it is basically is Popeye and Bluto fighting, while not being as repetitive as feared.
Inevitably there is the odd lack of finesse in some of the transitions and drawing.
What is fantastic about 'Out to Punch' is the music score, the best thing for me. It's beautifully orchestrated, rhythmically it's full of energy and there is so much character and atmosphere, it's also brilliant at adding to the action and enhancing it. The animation is also surprisingly good for late Famous Studios, colourful, nicely detailed and generally fluid on the most part, not perfect but better than most late Famous Studios Popeye cartoons.
The gags are amusing for late Famous Studios/Popeye, hilarious even, the interplay between the characters is lively and witty if in need of more variety at times and the pace is never dull. Although the fighting sequences are quite creative for this period, the highlight of the cartoon is the climactic boxing match, for me it is one of the top 3 funniest and most imaginative endings of a late Famous Studios Popeye cartoon.
The characters do a great job carrying the cartoon, Bluto being the funniest and most interesting. It is the entertaining interplay between Popeye and Bluto that really sparkles. Jack Mercer and Jackson Beck give great vocal characterisations, Beck in particular and Mercer is the voice actor that springs to mind generally for me for Popeye's voice, do like William Costello but Mercer gives the character more energy.
Concluding, very enjoyable. 8/10 Bethany Cox