Popeye – Cookin’ with Gags (1955) Bluto plays a series of April Fool’s pranks on Popeye during a picnic, but Popeye gets the last laugh. Director: Izzy Sparber, Thomas Johnson Screenplay by: Carl Meyer Produced by: Famous Studios Starring: Jackson Beck as Bluto (voice) Jack Mercer as Popeye (voice) Mae Questel as Olive Oyl (voice) Production Company: Famous Studios Distributed by: Paramount Pictures Release Date: January 14, 1955 Runtime: Approximately 6 minutes Country: United States Language: English Genres: Animation, Comedy, Family ------------------------------------------------------------ Synopsis - Popeye and Bluto take Olive Oyl on a picnic, but Bluto uses the opportunity to prank Popeye repeatedly. - Bluto tricks Popeye with an exploding cigar, a fake beehive, and gasoline-soaked firewood, causing chaos. - Olive laughs at Bluto’s jokes, unaware of the trouble Popeye is enduring. - Bluto escalates his pranks, swapping Popeye’s spinach can with a joke can containing a toy snake. - Popeye finally turns the tables by scaring Bluto with an inflatable sea monster, proving that there’s no fool like an April Fool. ------------------------------------------------------------ Key Themes & Highlights - April Fool’s Day Pranks The cartoon revolves around Bluto’s relentless practical jokes on Popeye. - Classic Popeye Humor Slapstick comedy and exaggerated reactions make this short a lively watch. - Public Domain Status *Cookin’ with Gags* is widely available due to its public domain status. - Technicolor Animation One of the later Popeye cartoons, featuring vibrant color animation. ------------------------------------------------------------ Trivia - This cartoon is one of ten Popeye shorts featured in the video game *The Darkness* (2007). - Some public domain versions replace the original Paramount logo with the a.a.p. logo. - The cartoon humorously plays with the theme of April Fool’s Day, making Bluto the instigator of chaos. - Popeye does not eat spinach in this short, making it one of the few cartoons where he wins without his signature power-up. ------------------------------------------------------------ Hashtags #PopeyeCartoon #CookinWithGags #ClassicAnimation #BlutoVsPopeye #OliveOyl #PublicDomainCartoon #FamousStudios #TechnicolorAnimation #ParamountPictures #VintageCartoons