
 
 When Wilco's ace guitarist Nels Cline told The Times recently that his band leader, Jeff Tweedy, was a "collage artist," one who would resurrect "treasured items," Cline was talking pop structures. Yet he apparently could have been discussing an appreciation for vintage cartoons. In what's a rare proper music video from Wilco, which is in the midst of a three-night stand in Los Angeles this week, the band's "Dawned on Me" has been re-fashioned as a tale of love and jealously centered on Popeye the Sailor Man and his familiar cast of characters. 
 
 The cartoon, a collaboration between Wilco's label dBpm Records and Blow Me Down! King Features, was directed by designer-branding guru Darren Romanelli. Said to be the first hand-drawn Popeye cartoon since 1987, the clip sees the popular spinach-eating sailor trying to distract the love of his life, Olive Oyl, from failling for Wilco's Tweedy. The girl, of course, chooses the musician (sigh). 
 
 "Dawned on Me" is one of the more lighthearted songs on Wilco's new album, "The Whole Love," although lyrically it has a slightly dark undercurrent in its midsection. Amid brightly colored guitar and keyboard textures, what at first appears to be a bouncy number about calling a loved one is revealed to be something a little more sinister when it's made clear that the couple are no longer together. 
 
 But never mind all of that. There's a cartoon to watch: ||||| Popeye meets Wilco in hand-drawn cartoon music video 
 
 [Video Link] The Wilco track "Dawned On Me" re-imagined as a classic, early-era Popeye cartoon. The song is from the band's Grammy-nominated 2011 album, "The Whole Love." They're on tour now, and should not be missed, as they are one of the greatest live acts on the planet. The animation is a collaboration with King Features, and is "the first hand-drawn Popeye cartoon in more than 30 years." Directed by Darren Romanelli. Best url ever: wilcospinach.com. 
 
 A little more about how the video came to be, below, from Wilco and Romanelli... 
 
 This collaboration between American icons is one of the first music videos Wilco has released since 1999 and it presents the band to the masses in a fresh, new way: as animated images, side-by-side with Popeye and his friends Olive Oyl, Swee’ Pea, Wimpy and Bluto. As one of the earliest animated characters, introduced in 1933 by Fleischer Studios, Popeye has become one of the most enduring and iconic cartoon characters of all time and is forever entwined in the evolution of animation. The music video marks the first new Popeye cartoon since “Popeye’s Voygage: The Quest for Pappy,” the 3-D CGI primetime TV special and deluxe DVD release produced by King Features Syndicate for Popeye’s 75th Anniversary in 2004. In what has become a primarily digital world, this new video marks the first hand-drawn, frame-by-frame rendering for Popeye cell animation since the Popeye and Son series from 1987. This certainly isn’t Popeye’s first foray into love territory: the Sailor Man first met his “goil,” Olive Oyl, in Elzie Crisler Seagar’s popular Thimble Theatre comic strip in the 1930s and their legendary love only grew and captivated the imagination of fans all over the world. The couple even made People Magazine’s list of the Greatest Love Stories of the 20th Century. 
 
 (thanks, Tara McGinley, and Darren Romanelli!)
– If you're a fan of Wilco and/or Popeye, the band's new video for Dawned on Me is must-viewing, notes Xeni Jardin at BoingBoing. The collaboration between the band and King Features results in the first hand-drawn Popeye cartoon since 1987, and it features the Popeye crew grooving as the band plays. Alas, Olive Oyl falls for lead singer Jeff Tweedy at the end, leaving both Popeye and Bluto out of luck. More about the video's creation here. A deeper look at the song comes from Todd Martens at the LA Times' Pop & Hiss blog: It's "one of the more lighthearted songs on Wilco's new album, The Whole Love, although lyrically it has a slightly dark undercurrent in its midsection." What seems at first "to be a bouncy number about calling a loved one is revealed to be something a little more sinister when it's made clear that the couple are no longer together."