Don't listen to the negative reviews

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Popeye Meets William Tell (1940) ** (out of 4)After narrowly avoiding Popeye with an arrow, William Tell tells him that he's looking for his missing son. Soon the two are teaming up against a cruel King.POPEYE MEETS WILLIAM TELL is one of the weaker films from the series for a number of reasons but the biggest is the fact that it really doesn't contain any laughs. Basically the majority of the six-minute running time has Popeye and Tell arguing with one another and there's also no good action or anything else for that matter. Fans will find it mildly amusing but that's about it.

This a strange Popeye cartoon, one involving a famous character from history.....but this isn't history! It' revisionist history in it's most absurd form, involving a wacky English "High Governor," William Tell and Popeye. What Popeye was doing over in England and in that period of history, is never explained. There is no Olive Oyl or any of the "normal" Popeye character, just these exaggerated characters from another age.Our Sailor Man is justing by, minding his own business, when an arrow nearly takes his head off. Popeye turns back, spots this nerdy-looking little guy with a squeaky voice who turns out to be the famous "William Tell." "Well, blow me down!" says Popeye upon learning this. The two exchange verbal unpleasantries and then the story gets really weird. One thing leads to another and it winds up, with Popeye pretending to be Tell's son and standing next to a tree doing the famous shoot-the-apple-off-the-son's head-routine. All kinds of mayhem ensue with a couple of shocking surprises (including that famous arrow scene) and a few very good sight gags.It's kind of stupid and outrageous but it is fun for the most part and very entertaining. You won't believe some of the goofy material that's in this cartoon.There is a good message, however, and way ahead of it's time: it concerns the evils of smoking. Popeye evens puts that message into his usual song finale, although he never put it into practice. As far as I know, Popeye always smoked his pipe!

Popeye Meets William Tell is one of several animated shorts in which our favorite sailor meets with a classic literary or folktale character. In this one, Popeye pretends to be Tell's son after the king demands to see William's arrow-through-apple trick. There's some chuckle-inducing banter about who should hit whom. There's also a funny gag involving a photo of Groucho Marx with his trademark "moving eyebrows" and some choice "anti-smoking" punchlines that might amuse some PC watchers though some of the results may also make them cringe. Nonetheless, I enjoyed this one Popeye cartoon that James "Shamus" Culhane directed and recommend it to any of his fans.

I find this an amusing cartoon, and it does show some of the things to expect in the Fleisher studio. There is the "in-joke" of the photo of the son of William Tell (a former star at Paramount, which produced the Fleisher cartoons), and the way the characters are developed. The cruel despotic governor actually momentarily defends Popeye (pretending to be Tell's son) when Tell slaps Popeye for smoking. The governor, who is watching this hits Tell for slapping his kid! Popeye rounds it out by knocking out the governor for hitting his dad!! It was of a series of Popeye cartoons where he met Sinbad, or Ali Baba and the 40 thieves, or Rip Van Winkle. Bluto was the villain in the first two of these, but was not in the latter or this one (nor was Olive in the latter and this one). But they are not missed, as there was plenty of mileage to get out of the Tell story.Finally the townspeople resemble in dress and actions the characters in the "Gabby" cartoons, and in Fleischer's major flop, "Gulliver's Travels". The townspeople were the best things about Gulliver - and they added to the amusement of the "Gabby" cartoons as well.