''Ancient Fistory'' is a 1953 animated American short film directed by

Seymour Kneitel Seymour Kneitel (March 16, 1908 – July 30, 1964) was an American animator, best known for his work with Fleischer Studios and its successor, Famous Studios. Early years Kneitel was born in New York City where he graduated from P.S. 10 in Man ...

and starring

Jack Mercer Winfield B. Mercer (January 31, 1910 – December 7, 1984), professionally known as Jack Mercer, was a prolific American voice actor, animator and TV screenwriter. He is best known as the voice of cartoon characters Popeye the Sailor Man and F ...

in multiple roles (including

Popeye Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar.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 January 30, 1953. It was based on a gender-reversed

parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its su ...

of the fairy tale

Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...

and a possible inspiration for the 1960 film "''

Cinderfella ''Cinderfella'' is a 1960 American semi-musical comedy film adaptation of the classic ''Cinderella'' story, with most characters changed in gender from female to male and starring Jerry Lewis as Fella. It was released on November 22, 1960 by Par ...

''" starring

Jerry Lewis Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch; March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, singer, filmmaker and humanitarian. As his contributions to comedy and charity made him a global figure in pop culture, Lewis was nickn ...

Premise

It is the Middle Ages: a Grand Ball is being held in which

Princess Olive Olivia Serres (3 April 1772 – 21 November 1834), known as Olive, was a British painter and writer, born at Warwick. She is also known as an English impostor, who claimed the title of Princess Olive of Cumberland. Origins and early career Ol ...

will choose her husband. At

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

's Beanery, the owner leaves to go to the ball leaving all duties to his overworked, raggedy employee, Popeye. The latter's lamentations are ended by the appearance of his Fairy Godfather, who asks for a

spinach Spinach (''Spinacia oleracea'') is a leafy green flowering plant native to central and western Asia. It is of the order Caryophyllales, family Amaranthaceae, subfamily Chenopodioideae. Its leaves are a common edible vegetable consumed eith ...

can which to turn into an anachronistic car for Popeye and then gives him princely robes. Popeye thanks him. But, his Fairy Godfather warns him to return home by midnight or he'll change back to rags again, right before he disappears and Popeye leaves. Meanwhile, at the ball, Princess Olive trips while gracefully descending the stairs and is helped by Bluto - who also tries her crown on for size. Yet the princess is not attracted to him and seems much more interested in the newly arrived "''Cinderfella''". The two men begin to fight for the fair princess, but she breaks the quarrel and chooses archery as the contest for her hand. Bluto blatantly cheats by lifting the target to achieve bullseye, then sabotages Popeye's arrow to make it go out a castle window where it gives a bovine a black eye, thus also achieving "''ye real bullseye''". The rivals then go on a duel with pistols, where not only does Bluto shoot early but does so with a cannon, firing his opponent all the way to his car chariot to be left unconscious. Olive is then harassed by the disgusting man that wants to forcibly kiss her, and chased all through the castle as she cries "''Saveth me, help!!''" Popeye is too late to return home, as midnight strikes and he loses his luxury vehicle and clothes. However, this allows him to eat the contents of his former ride and gain a knight's armor and a horse. He swings a mighty fist at the predator, whose own armor remains then trap him in a stove. The townsfolk celebrate as their princess announces her betrothed, Popeye. They ride together while kissing tenderly but, as the short reaches the end, his helm visor falls on her nose.

Cast

The cast consists of: *

as Popeye / Fairy Godfather / Guest Announcer / Bull *

Mae Questel Mae Questel (born Mae Kwestel, September 13, 1908 – January 4, 1998) was an American actress. She was best known for providing the voices for the animated characters Betty Boop (from 1931) and Olive Oyl (from 1933). She began in vaudeville, ...

as Olive Oyl *

Jackson Beck Jackson Beck (July 23, 1912 – July 28, 2004) was an American actor best known as the announcer on radio's '' The Adventures of Superman''Dunning, John. (1998). ''On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio''. Oxford University Press. . Pp. 1 ...

as Bluto

External links

*
Watch ''Ancient Fistory'' in fully restored HD at Laugh Bureau Vintage
* * 1953 animated films 1953 short films 1950s English-language films Popeye the Sailor theatrical cartoons 1950s American animated films Paramount Pictures short films 1953 comedy films American comedy short films American animated short films American parody films Fairy tale parody films Films based on Cinderella {{short-animation-film-stub