Friday, August 21, 2020

Meet The Man Who Hated Laughter!


I am constantly amazed at what I uncover on the vast undiscovered country which is the internet. Popeye Meets The Man Who Hated Laughter was originally a TV movie of the week which offered up no less than most if not all of the famous King Features characters in one adventure.


Popeye is the captain of a cruise ship named "Hilarious" which takes the King Features funnies ( the casts of Popeye, Blondie, Snuffy Smith, Beetle Bailey, Tiger, Henry, Lil Iodine, Katzenjammer Kids, and more) on a vacation in the South Seas where they run afoul of an evil scientist assisted by Brutus who plots to eliminate laughter by ridding the world of comic characters.


Meanwhile Phantom, Mandrake, Lothar, Flash Gordon, and Steve Canyon work diligently to save their comic page comrades.


Even Prince Valiant shows up for a cameo. It's a wild brew of misadventure meant clearly to advertise as well as divert. It is a completely weirdo outing which turns out to be more entertaining than I imagined since it seems to have a rather ironic attitude toward its subject matter.


This earliest adventure of the "Defenders of the Earth" plus many is not available on DVD. More's the pity. To encounter this oddity, follow this link to YouTube.

The Man Who Hated Laughter – The Phantom

It's a gem...of sorts.

Rip Off

4 comments:

  1. I recall seeing this. It was a movie-of-the-week, but one shown on Saturday mornings, along with the other cartoons. I was in the 5th or 6th grade when it aired. The reason it sticks in my memory is at that age I was already reading Mad magazine, including writer's credits. I also read credits for animated cartoons, when possible (of course, they go by quickly) Lou Silverstone, who wrote for Mad, also wrote the Popeye movie, hence the satirical tone. One joke I remember after all these years is a meeting in Washington D.C. where some high-ranking official worries that if all the comic strip characters disappear, there will be no one left to laugh at "except for us politicians."

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    1. I first came across this several years ago and even did a post on it, this one being a revision of that with a stronger link.

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  2. Flash Gordon, Mandrake, and the Phantom made a brief cameo appearance in The King Features produced movie The Yellow Submarine.

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    1. I don't recollect that, I'll have to give that movie another look. Thanks.

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