Fowl Play

Popeye gives Olive Oyl the bird in the form of a parrot. Bluto comes by and tries to kill it, resulting in the inevitable fight in this funny episode of the series.

Most of the better comedy in this cartoon is provided by Miss Oyl and her outsized reactions, but there's a good bit in which she faints, and Popeye catches her, while Bluto continues to fight in the miasmic cloud by himself. Still, as I watched it, I thought it would be amusing if the parrot was the one who ate the spinach. When the formula is well-enough established that you can think of gags before they can happen, you're not producing peak comedy any more.

Still, it is funny on its own terms, and far better than the rote examples that Famous Studios would produce in the 1950s.