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Popeye (cartoon)/Characters: Difference between revisions
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Popeye the Sailor Man-one of the eight wonders of the [[Newspaper Comic|Newspaper Comics]] and [[Western Animation]] world, and one of the most popular cartoon stars of [[The Golden Age of Animation]]. Initially appearing as a oneshot character in the middle of an arc Thimble Theater, the comic E.C. Segar was making at the time, was going through, Popeye quickly gained the status of [[Ensemble Darkhorse]] among the comics readers, and stayed in the comic long after his debut adventure was over, until he finally overtook the whole comic, with it being renamed Popeye and tossing out Ham Gravy as the main character and Olive Oyl's original love interest.
Part of what made Popeye such an instant hit with audiences was that, despite his odd appearance and gruff conduct, he was one of the few moral forces in the world of Thimble Theatre-Popeye also got along great with children, even going as far as to tearing apart a guys hot dog vendor once ''just because he wouldn't [[Disproportionate Retribution|give a broke kid a hot dog on credit]]'' ([[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|that, and insulting Popeye to his face]]). In other words, he was a very likable, sympathetic character despite having none of the obvious qualities of one at first sight. He was the original [[Anti
Speaking of original, Popeye was the original superhero-over a decade before [[Superman]] graced the comic pages, Popeye was blessed with inhuman strength and astounding durability and endurance, taking at least 15 bullets in his first adventure before finally being brought down.
While Popeye was already a major force in the comics, the sailor with a sock got his big break when animation pioneers [[Max and Dave Fleischer]], known for their [[Betty Boop]] cartoons, brought him to the big screen alongside Betty Boop in a six minute short subject. These Fleischer cartoons took the series to new levels not even touched by the original comics-while Popeye was already very strong in the comics, the Fleischers made Popeye strong enough to ''stop a train dead in its tracks'' and ''move entire landmasses'', as well as [[Reality Warping]] abilities--he could punch objects which would either morph them into something different or split them into multiple smaller objects--one short even had Popeye ''[[Rule of Cool|blow out the sun like a candle]]'' [[What Do You Mean
While some animation fans have criticised the series for it's "formulaic Popeye Vs. Bluto structure", in reality this was done out of necessity-the original comics had stories that went on from weeks to even MONTHS at a time, which would have been impossible to compress into six minute low budget cartoon shorts. On that note, the series didn't even rely on the Bluto and Popeye fighting as much as one would think-there were plenty of shorts the Fleischers made that experimented with other settings and stories outside of their rivalry, and even the ones that did feature the status quo pulled many, many different, creative variations of the formula-from battling on logs floating down a river to competing for the title of "King of the Mardi Gras", these shorts are still as fresh and original feeling today as apple pie. And obviously, the Fleischers love of surreal sight gags and [[Deranged Animation]] was carried over from their [[Betty Boop]] shorts, with such sights as the visual metaphors that appear in Popeye's muscles upon consuming spinach and the aforementioned reality warping powers of Popeye-none of which ever appeared in the original comics. Another odd fact was that prior to the war years, Popeye was hardly ever on ships-most of his adventures were set on dry land, only sporadically going off to sea.
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=== Tropes Used By Popeye: ===
* [[Anti
* [[Breakout Character]]
* [[Deadpan Snarker]]: It got even funnier when Jack Mercer took over as the voice and made lots of funny quips and mumbles, ''all improvised on the spot.''
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* [[Large Ham]]
* [[Made of Iron]]: Though not quite to the extent of Popeye.
* [[Out
* [[The Rival]]: Mostly in the cartoons, whenever he and Popeye have the same occupation. In the comics, Popeye claims Bluto is the only person who might be able to beat him in a fight.
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* [[Meaningful Name]]
* [[Trademark Favorite Food]]: Hamburgers. For which he'll gladly pay you Tuesday.
* [[Why Do You Keep Changing Jobs?]]: In the Fleischer shorts.
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'''Swee'pea, AKA "Scooner Seawell Georgia Washenting Christiffer Columbia Daniel Boom"'''
A [[Door
A fairly major character in the comic (especially after he learned to talk) but a pretty minor one in the cartoons -- his last appearance under the original Fleischer Studios was, fittingly, in their last cartoon, "Baby wants a Battleship" in 1942, and he would appear again in the 1950 Famous short "Baby Wants Spinach."
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* [[Jerk With a Heart of Gold]]: In all incarnations, he is grouchy and even downight hostile at times, but when it comes down to it he's not such a bad guy.
* [[Man Child]]: He's more childish than his son is.
* [["Well Done, Son" Guy]]: In his animated debut, he doesn't care about his son at all. Until he's in trouble, and eats some spinach so he can save his only son.
{{reflist}}
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