The episode begins with an aerial view of a carnival. The view pans closer, while a banner is seen that reads, "Sensational-Daring Stratosphere Jump," and a barker's voice is heard announcing "Bluto the Bravo", who is seen standing on a stage with his arms crossed in front of a crowd. Olive, who is attending the fair with Popeye, soon spots Bluto and goes to admire him while Popeye is distracted watching the champion bull.
Bluto then sees Olive and is immediately smitten. As Popeye at last notices that Olive is gone from his side, he sees her already strolling arm-in-arm with Bluto. Popeye then rushes to take Olive back, and Bluto gives a hateful stare to the sailor. Next, we see a series of vignettes where Popeye attempts to take in various attractions with his date and is sabotaged at every turn by his cunning rival, which results in humiliation for Popeye and Olive putting the blame on him, while Bluto enjoys the scenes and laughs at the sailor.
Eventually, Olive has enough and goes with Bluto, completely unaware that he was the cause of Popeye's misfortune, leaving the sailor sad and depressed. The devious aerialist then leads her into the fair's "stratosphere balloon", where he cuts the tether and Olive shrieks with alarm. As they float aimlessly into the air, Bluto pulls down a shower curtain in order to have "a little privacy". Olive realizes Bluto's true intentions and screams for Popeye's help. The sailor climbs the anchor line to save her, but Bluto makes him plummet back on the ground by dropping a bag on his head. Popeye loses his grip and plummets in a box of fireworks, where he faints while his clothes get tangled up with a rocket. As Popeye lies amidst the fireworks while Bluto pursues Olive around the surface of the balloon, the sailor's pipe accidentally ignites the rocket and he is blown back up to the balloon, interrupting Bluto's attempt to get to Olive. Bluto and Popeye then engage in a savage brawl, where they are evenly matched.
However, the rocket causes a fire on the hot air balloon. Bluto takes the only parachute on board, without care of leaving Popeye and Olive to a dire fate and gleefully ignoring Popeye yelling at him to wait. Unfortunately, Popeye does not make it in time to stop Bluto and gets accidentally dragged down with him instead, unwillingly leaving Olive on the flaming balloon. When Bluto deploys the parachute with Popeye grabbed to it, the sailor unexpectedly ends up with his head stuck in the canopy.
While Olive desperately tries to escape the burning, Bluto takes advantage of the unforeseen situation to pummel Popeye's head, as the sailor is now ensnared upside down and can do nothing to defend himself. With a taunting smile on his face, Bluto then gives a last punch to the unfortunate hero to make him fall from the parachute.
Popeye plummets from hundreds of feet high, but when the outcome of the events seems hopeless, the sailor chances to crash through a building marked "Spinach Canning Exhibit". A mechanical arm plugs Popeye's mouth full of spinach, giving the hero the necessary strength to survive the fall and stand once more. Popeye promptly proceeds to punish Bluto, whom he smashes through the skylight of a facility labelled "Hay Bailing Demonstration". With Bluto defeated, Popeye utilizes a test-of-strength pole to catapult himself back skyward to save a falling Olive Oyl. With Olive now rescued, the two now gently float back to Earth in a folding chair tied to an umbrella.
Voice cast[]
Jack Mercer - Popeye
Mae Questel - Olive Oyl
Jackson Beck - Bluto
Sid Raymond - Carnival barker
Availability[]
DVD/Blu-ray - Popeye the Sailor - 1940's - Volume 2 (2019; Warner Bros. Home Entertainment)
Trivia[]
Although Dave Tendlar's animation crew was credited for the animation, this cartoon was actually animated by Tom Johnson's crew with Johnson serving as true animation director.
All's Fair at the Fair (1947 cartoon) at the Internet Movie Database
All's Fair at the Fair (1947 cartoon) at the Internet Animation Database
