1941 was a mixed to pretty good year for the Popeye theatrical series and saw some very good cartoons, amazing considering that Fleischer Studios had lost its way quite badly in the early 40s. The very good cartoons included 'Olive's Sweepstake Ticket' and 'Olive's Boithday Presink'. There were though a couple of disappointments, those being 'Popeye Meets Rip Van Winkle' and 'I'll Never Crow Again' which had their moments but didn't feel like Popeye.
'Nix on Hynoptricks' is the last cartoon from the 1941 batch and is one of the best Popeye cartoons from that year, also one of the funniest and visually interesting. It had one of the most creative concepts of the 1941 Popeye cartoons and the execution is the opposite of ordinary while not being innovative. Have not seen a more entertaining depiction of hypnosis and its effects in quite some time and could tell that everybody involved had fun.
It's not perfect. Am another person who wasn't too crazy about the character design of the hypnotist, a bit overdone on the weirdness to me.
While having nothing against Margie Hines as a voice actress, she never quite worked for me in general as Olive (Mae Questel is the only Olive voice actress that did anything for me). While not too mature like Bonnie Poe was, Hines never quite fitted Olive's character design and lacks Questel's energy.
A lot is great. The animation is neatly and expressively drawn (especially in the hynopsis visuals) and still very much like the work that goes into the backgrounds. Even better is the music, which is fantastic throughout. It is like its own character and is so beautifully and characterfully orchestrated, it gels so well with what goes on and enhances it even (which is what has always been great about the music in the series, even later on).
Jack Mercer displays everything that shows how his voicing for Popeye being so well regarded is richly deserved, he is the most prolific of the voice actors, the one to embody his personality the most and nobody did asides and mumblings quite like him. The story, while simple, is also not as predictable as other Popeye cartoons. The gags are numerous and they are often very funny and timed beautifully, primarily Popeye's physical comedy and stunts. Pace wise, there is a lot of energy throughout and it is never dull.
Overall, very well done and one of the year's best for the series. 8/10.
