''You're a Sap, Mr. Jap'' is a 1942 one-reel Popeye the Sailor

animated cartoon Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anima ...

short subject A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

released by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

on August 7, 1942. It was the first cartoon short to be produced by

Famous Studios Famous Studios (renamed Paramount Cartoon Studios in 1956) was the first animation division of the film studio Paramount Pictures from 1942 to 1967. Famous was founded as a successor company to Fleischer Studios, after Paramount seized contro ...

. It is one of the best-known World War II propaganda cartoons.

Plot

The short opens with the song "You're a Sap, Mr. Jap", which the short is named after. Popeye is riding in his boat and looking around through his binoculars. Popeye spots a small Japanese boat, so he throws his anchor at the Japanese boat. A Japanese man is fishing on the boat, and another Japanese man comes out from inside the boat. They present Popeye with a

peace treaty A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, which formally ends a state of war between the parties. It is different from an armistice, which is an agreement to stop hostilities; a surr ...

. As Popeye signs the treaty, the Japanese hit Popeye with a giant mallet. Popeye turns around and continues signing the treaty, and one of the Japanese men sticks a firecracker in a hole at the bottom of Popeye's shoe and blows on it, causing it to explode. He then jumps on Popeye's foot, and kicks it. The Japanese give Popeye a bouquet with a lobster hiding inside of it, which punches Popeye and breaks his pipe. Popeye then walks up to one of the Japanese and corners him while holding the bouquet close to his head. The lobster pops out and punches the Japanese man, then cuts off his hair. The Japanese man then slips through his kimono (it is revealed that he is wearing a military outfit underneath) and runs into the

hull Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...

, alerting his crewmates to emerge the rest of the boat out of the water. The Japanese boat is now shown to be much larger than it initially appeared. The Japanese ship blasts a cannon at Popeye's boat. While Popeye hangs to his boat's

mast Mast, MAST or MASt may refer to: Engineering * Mast (sailing), a vertical spar on a sailing ship * Flagmast, a pole for flying a flag * Guyed mast, a structure supported by guy-wires * Mooring mast, a structure for docking an airship * Radio mast ...

, two other Japanese sailors saw the mast which causes Popeye to drown. Typical among Popeye cartoons, Popeye is seemingly about to lose but eats his trademark spinach. He blows through a tube on his boat which causes it to rise back to the surface. He attacks the same two Japanese sailors who cut his boat's mast, which causes them to fall into the water. Popeye then swims to the Japanese boat and gets the anchor, then bends it to use to pull out the cannons. Popeye then runs to the other side of the ship and finds a group of Japanese sailors hiding inside the remains of a cannon, so he kicks them into the water. The Japanese boat then begins to fall apart. From inside of the boat's hull, a Japanese Naval Officer talks to himself and contemplates committing suicide because he is losing against Popeye. He drinks gasoline and eats firecrackers, and the explosions from inside his body cause him to jump out of the boat. Popeye looks in his mouth and notices that he has gas in his stomach, which means that he could explode. Popeye then throws him back under the boat before jumping back to his boat and sailing as far away as he can. Popeye looks through his binoculars and watches the Japanese ship explode and sink into the water. As the boat sinks, the sound of a flushing toilet is heard.

Production notes

''You're a Sap, Mr. Jap'' is one of the few ''Popeye the Sailor'' cartoons not to feature

Bluto Bluto, at times known as Brutus, is a cartoon and comics character created in 1932 by E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar as a one-time character, named "Bluto the Terrible", in his ''Thimble Theatre'' comic strip (later renamed ''Popeye''). Blut ...

, Olive Oyl, or

Wimpy Wimpey may refer to: *Wimpey Homes, a defunct housebuilding company based in England * Taylor Wimpey, housebuilding company based in England Wimpy may refer to: *J. Wellington Wimpy, a hamburger-loving character from the Popeye cartoons *Wimpy ( ...

. A version of this cartoon was presented by Associated Artists Productions, Inc. in the 1950s. The film title gets its name from a novelty song written by James Cavanaugh, John Redmond and Nat Simon. Although ''You're a Sap, Mr. Jap'' was released after Famous Studios was established on May 25, 1942, it was released before the final

Fleischer Studios Fleischer Studios () is an American animation studio founded in 1929 by brothers Max and Dave Fleischer, who ran the pioneering company from its inception until its acquisition by Paramount Pictures, the parent company and the distributor of i ...

cartoon ''

Terror on the Midway ''Terror on the Midway'' (1942) is the ninth of seventeen animated Technicolor short films based upon the DC Comics character of Superman, originally created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. It was the final Paramount cartoon short by Fleischer S ...

'', featuring

Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...

, released on August 30. The film was unavailable for commercial release for years due to its racially offensive caricaturing of the Japanese.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0153998 1942 short films 1942 animated films 1940s American animated films 1940s animated short films 1940s English-language films Films about race and ethnicity Popeye the Sailor theatrical cartoons American World War II propaganda shorts American black-and-white films Paramount Pictures short films American animated short films Japan in non-Japanese culture Film controversies Race-related controversies in animation Race-related controversies in film Ethnic humour Anti-Japanese sentiment in the United States Stereotypes of East Asians American comedy short films

Plot

Production notes

See also

References

External links