The Dance Contest Review

The Dance Contest is a 1934 animated short film from Popeye the Sailor series that is one of the better entries of the time.

It follows Popeye and Olive in a dance contest. Popeye fails to impress, but upon eating spinach, he becomes a much better dancer. This flick had potential for greatness, but it just ended up being good. It is never as funny as it definitely could have been and it isn’t that entertaining. But it still has many fun and also funny parts that make it quite a good entry.

Bluto is great here and what he does with Olive here is very funny. Popeye is naturally superb with the line about sex appeal being so funny and such an unexpected moment. I had never expected him to say something like it and that surprise factor made the moment work. But Wimpy is easily the highlight here as he is so incredibly funny. The way he gets rid of the dancers is great, but his sandwich obsession is absolutely hilarious and I am glad that they brought this character back after his long absence. He makes the films much better and I hope they bring him along much more frequently from this point on.

The Dance Contest could have been funnier, but it is still one of the better entries of the time with an excellent use of Wimpy and Bluto and a couple of very amusing moments.

My Rating – 4.1