Olive Oyl for President

Olive Oyl for President is a 1948 entry in the Popeye the Sailor animated short subject series, produced by Famous Studios and released on January 30, 1948 by Paramount Pictures. The short is a reworking of a 1932 Betty Boop cartoon, Betty Boop for President, and depicts what Popeye imagines the world would be like if Olive Oyl were president.

Synopsis

The downtown streets of Popeye and Olive Oyl's town are flooded with crowds who have turned out to hear various presidential candidates trying to convince voters to elect them to the White House. Olive wonders aloud why no women are running for president, to which Popeye replies, "because they're too busy runnin' fer huskbands!"

Undaunted, Olive is certain what the United States needs is a female president, an idea Popeye ridicules mercilessly. Olive beans Popeye over the head with a frying pan, and snarls "Yes, if I were President..."

Unconscious, Popeye suddenly finds himself in a fantasy world where Olive herself is on stage appealing to voters in song. Olive promises luxuries such as clean streets decorated with bows, giant ice cream cones for children, and creative solutions to public transportation and housing shortages. The once skeptical Popeye now applauds his girlfriend's dream, and, to his delight, Olive wins the election. She becomes the country's first female President, and quickly tames a Congress populated with literal representations of the two major political parties: donkey Democrats and elephant Republicans).

Popeye awakens from his dream with a changed heart, and Olive Oyl soon finds herself riding a parade float, dressed as the Statue of Liberty, as an enthusiastic Popeye shouts into the crowd, "for Presidink...Olive Oyl!"

Notes and comments

Many of the gags and situations in Olive Oyl for President are reworked from Betty Boop for President, produced by Famous Studios' predecessor Fleischer Studios in 1932. Newly created Famous cartoon character Little Audrey from the Noveltoon Santa's Surprise is seen briefly licking a giant ice cream cone; Audrey's first starring short, Butterscotch and Soda, would be released six months after Olive Oyl for President. OOfP was also double-featured with the Little Lulu short, The Dog Show-Off, which was the final Little Lulu short after Famous Studios decided not to renew the license to Marjorie Henderson Buell for the Little Lulu character, and had created Little Audrey (as mentioned before). All five cartoons shared the same voice actress, Mae Questel.

Olive Oyl's version of the "If I Were President" song (an earlier version appeared in Betty Boop for President) was parodied in a track of the same name from Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde, the 1992 debut album by hip hop group The Pharcyde.

This cartoon was one of the last in the series to use the exact opening music in place since the conversion to color. In 1948, the opening bar of "The Sailor's Hornpipe" would be shortened, but through 1951, the rest of the opening theme would remain the same (that year, the theme was entirely re-recorded). The 1943-48 Popeye theme and the closing music from this particular cartoon's end Paramount title were lifted verbatim for use in the opening and closing logos of Associated Artists Productions (a.a.p.) on Popeye cartoons originally released in color.

External links

• Olive Oyl for President at the Internet Movie Database