Popeye (cartoon): Difference between revisions

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{{quote|''[[Title Drop|I'm Popeye the Sailor Man!]] (TOOT!)''<br />

''I'm Popeye the Sailor Man!''<br />

''[[Super Strength|I'm strong to the finich,]]''<br />

''[[Power -Up Food|Cause I eats me spinach,]]''<br />

Originally a minor character in [https://web.archive.org/web/20130601114547/http://home.earthlink.net/~thimbletheatre/ Elzie Segar's newspaper comic strip ''Thimble Theater''], '''Popeye''' the Sailor quickly took over the series, edging out [[The Slacker|Ham Gravy]] as the principal suitor of Olive Oyl. He made his animation debut in a 1933 [[Betty Boop]] short produced by [[Fleischer Studios]], and continued appearing in cartoons throughout the 1940s and 1950s, when [[Famous Studios]] produced the series, and even continued on into several made-for-tv cartoons. Despite his sailor moniker, Popeye rarely ventured out to sea, instead spending his days romancing Olive Oyl and competed with Bluto for her affections.

He starred in an impressive 231 theatrical cartoons during [[The Golden Age of Animation]], lasting from [[Long Runner|1933 to 1957]], his most noteworthy short being the first of the three two-reeler, 20 minute long, full-color Technicolor specials: specifically, "[[Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad Thethe Sailor]]". This iconic short, being a precursor even to [[Disney]]'s ''[[Snow White and Thethe Seven Dwarfs (Disney film)|Snow White]]'', was extremely popular and was even billed along with the feature of the theater, above the main feature of the theater that played it, or ''even billed as the main feature of the theater itself.'' While it failed to win an Oscar (losing to the now obscure [[Walt Disney]] [[Silly Symphonies]] short "The Country Cousin"), it is still considered to this day to be one of [[The 50 Greatest Cartoons]] ever made, influencing even filmmakers like [[Ray Harryhausen]], especially on his film ''[[The 7th Voyage of Sinbad]]''.

[[Popeye (Filmfilm)|The Movie]], released in 1980 and starring a young [[Robin Williams]] in one of his first film roles, is a [[Cult Classic]]. Sony Pictures has made a deal to develop an [[All CGI Cartoon]] ''Popeye'' feature film.

* I Eats My Spinach

* Seasin's Greetinks!

=== 1934 ===

* Can You Take It?: A short that bears some similarities to ''[[BimbosBimbo's Initiation]]''.

* Shoein' Hosses

* Strong to the Finich

* Shiver Me Timbers

* Axe Me Another

* The Two Alarm Fire

* The Dance Contest

* We Aim To Please

=== 1935 ===

=== 1936 ===

* [[Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad Thethe Sailor]]: First color Popeye. One of [[The 50 Greatest Cartoons]].

=== 1937 ===

* [[Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali BabasBaba's Forty Thieves]]: Second Popeye color two-reeler. Runner-up on [[The 50 Greatest Cartoons]].

=== 1938 ===

=== 1939 ===

* Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp: The third ofand thefinal Popeye color two-reelersreel.

* Wotta Nitemare: This short is a nightmarish throwback to the early days of [[Fleischer Studios]], which is especially odd considering that theyaround werethis pushingtime, tothe imitatestudio Disneywas duringattempting thisto timecash in on Disney. period

=== 1940 ===

* Popeye Meets William Tell: The sole Popeye cartoon directed by [[Shamus Culhane]].

=== 1941 ===

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=== 1943 ===

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=== 1956 ===

=== 1957 ===

* [[An Aesop]]: The Aesop of the theatrical short "Be Kind To Animals" is...well, [[Exactly What It Says Onon the Tin]]. This lesson is repeated in the later short "Bulldozing The Bull".

* [[And Knowing Is Half the Battle]]: In the 1970s [[Hanna -Barbera]] series.

* [[April FoolsFool's Plot]]: An episode focuses on Bluto playing pranks on Popeye during April 1.

* [[Badly -Battered Babysitter]]: Tends to happen whenever Sweet Pea is involved.

* [[Beam -O -War]]: Done with water from fire hoses in "The Two-Alarm Fire".

*** As well as his [[Pre -Ass -Kicking One -Liner]]: "That's all that I can stands, I can't stands no more!"

* [[Cereal -Induced Superpowers]]: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfMLRuamQeY&feature=related In this] infamous Quaker Oats commercial, Popeye chose oatmeal over spinach for super strength. The ad was quickly pulled when people (especially the nonviolent Quakers) complained.

*** [http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_City:Crystal City,_Texas Texas|Crystal City, Texas]], an agricultural town that was based around spinach growing, actually erected a statue of Popeye in the town square.

* [[Cerebus Syndrome]]: In what is sure to surprise many people, ''Thimble Theater'' went from gag strip [https://web.archive.org/web/20130623012646/http://www.ncs-glc.com/GLC/ed_black/segar/segar2.html parodying vaudeville and overwrought film serials], to an adventure/comedy strip in the tradition of Roy Crane's ''[[Wash Tubbs]]'', and was quite popular. Created in 1919, it had been running (mostly in Hearst papers) for ''ten years'' when Popeye showed up. His appearance only served to make it more successful.

* [[Cock Fight]]: Whenever Olive Oyl shows up, Bluto and Popeye immediately start a competition to win her affections.

* [[Cross -Dressing Voices]]: Popeye's voice actor Jack Mercer had to briefly leave the studio to serve a tour of duty during WWII. In his absence, Mae Questel voiced Olive Oyl ''and'' Popeye, and nobody could tell the difference. Incredible.

* [[A Day Atat the Bizarro]]: The short ''It's the Natural Thing to Do'', as well as the later Famous Studios short ''The Hungry Goat'', which feels more like a [[Tex Avery]] cartoon with Popeye thrown in as an afterthought.

** The short ''Wotta Nitemare'' might also count, although the bulk of that short was one big [[Dream Sequence]]. [[PunA Worldwide Punomenon|That, and it took place at night.]]

* [[Did You Die?]]: One old cartoon features Popeye telling his nephews about one of his adventures. At one point they ask, "Did you get killed?"

* [[Door StopStep Baby]]: Swee'Pea joins the cast in this manner.

* [[EverythingsEverything's Better Withwith Spinning]]: Popeye's classic twister punch demonstrates this.

* [[Extreme Omni Goat]]: The goat in question was an oddly [[Tex Avery|Avery-esque]] [[Screwy Squirrel]] character who ended up eating the entire ship Popeye was on. A [[BLAMNon Sequitur Episode]] if there ever was one, since the character seemed as if it had stepped into the wrong cartoon series.

* [[Flexing Those Non -Biceps]]. Curiously averted, in that when Popeye has his spinach, they become huge, with objects inside like a battleship firing to show how powerful they are.

* [[Friendly Enemy]]: [[Depending Onon the Writer]], Popeye and Bluto often get along fine [[Cock Fight|til they spot Olive Oyl]], and even then, Popeye is often a very gracious winner. In one cartoon, after a [[Gold Fever|fierce fight over treasure]], Popeye gives half of it to Olive, and the other half to ''Bluto''.

* [["Growing Muscles" Sequence]]: Every time Popeye eats his spinach, with images like cannons, warships, turbines etc. superimposed over his arm for extra imagery.

** It's [https://web.archive.org/web/20141213100748/http://www.mtcnet.net/~bierly/olivefab.htm more apparent] in the Famous Studios shorts, however.

** As mentioned [http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive_oyl:Olive oyl|elsewhere]], Olive was originally conceived as a flapper, which, in 2010, is a fashion now almost a century out of date, but in general the flapper ideal was, indeed, something like Olive Oyl: skinny as a rail, with as little of a figure as a girl can possibly manage, and sort of tomboyish of attitude. They tended to be party people.

* [[Just -So Story]]: Popeye's story of why the sea is salty from one of the 60's TV cartoons, played straight, then promptly lampshaded by Swee'Pea's response.

* [[Lawyer -Friendly Cameo]]: Popeye in the ''[[The Shadow|The Shadow Strikes]]'' comic book ([http://www.pjfarmer.com/woldnewton/Articles.htm#Comic 1]), and probably others.

* [[Last -Name Basis]]:: J. Wellington Wimpy

* [[Let's You and Him Fight]]: [[Trope Namer]]; one of Wimpy's early [[Catch Phrase|Catch Phrases]]s

* [[Love Triangle]]: Popeye, Olive and Bluto. [[Depending Onon the Writer]] Olive's feelings toward Bluto vary from hatred to lust, and she sometimes gets tired of Popeye. In some episodes Popeye really deserves better than her.

** In fact, Popeye's indestructibility was his main "superpower" in the original comic strip, and spinach had nothing to do with it. In his initial adventure he was shot several times, and survived by repeatedly rubbing the head of an African whiffle hen -- Castorhen—Castor had brought her along because rubbing her head brings good luck, and he was going to an island of gambling casinos. The whiffle hen is also indestructible, and although Segar never made this explicit, Popeye had apparently managed to permanently infuse himself with these qualities.

** The 1972 TV special ''[[The Man Who Hated Laughter (Animation)|The Man Who Hated Laughter]]'', which teamed up virtually every popular King Features Syndicate character, even those from strips of completely different genres and art styles.

* [[Megaton Punch]]: Usually how he ends his spinach-boosted beatdown combos. Maybe the [[F -Zero|Falcon]] [[Memetic Mutation|PAWNCH]] from [[Super Smash Bros.]] was based on this ultimate finisher?

* [[Not -So -Safe Harbor]]: Sweethaven, especially in the [[Live Action Adaptation]].

* [[Once an Episode]]: Popeye gets in a life-threatening situation, pulls out a can of spinach, and summons the strength necessary to save himself -- andhimself—and, probably, Olive. Occasional variations cropped up, such as Olive Oyl saving Popeye from a hillbilly giantess in ''Hill-Billing and Cooing'', but even these variations nearly always involved the strategic use of spinach.

* [[Only Known Byby Their Nickname]]: Scooner, generally called Swee'pea

{{quote| '''Olive:''' Well I think "Swee'pea" is the worst name ever given to a baby!<br />

** She did have noticeable breasts in two shorts (''Can You Take It?'' and ''Shoein' Hosses'', never mind the ''[[Robot Chicken]]'' parody); however she was [[Off -Model]] in them, so they don't count.

* [[Poorly -Disguised Pilot]]: The Betty Boop short ''Popeye the Sailor'', making this [[Older Than Television]].

* [[Power -Up]]: ''He's strong to the finich 'cause he eats his spinach'', remember?

* [[Power -Up Food]]: Spinach, of course!

* [[Rapid -Fire Fisticuffs]]: ''[[Popeye]]'' may well be the [[Trope Maker]] in this case, as his cartoons are the earliest example of [[Rapid -Fire Fisticuffs]] anyone can find.

* [[Reality Warper]]: Big time. Popeye has altered the forms of the things he's punched, punching tigers into leopard skin coats -- thatcoats—that's right, ''tigers'' into ''leopard'' skin coats — as well as punching Indians into nickels, Bluto into bologna, a trapeze artist into a light fixture, and [[Born in Thethe Theatre|breaking the very film he was printed on]] at one point.

* [[Scenery Porn]]: Had some very elaborate architecture backgrounds, all done in perfect perspective.

* [[Sealed Good in Aa Can]]: Spinach grants super strength to ''any'' character who consumes it, not just Popeye.

* [[Slap Slap Kiss]]: Believe it or not, that's how Popeye and Olive started out. This was no [[Love At First Sight]]; they fought for weeks before they realized they loved each other. In fact, Olive's first words to Popeye were "[http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive_Oyl:Olive Oyl|Aww, shut up, you big bilge rat!]]"

* [[Spin -Off]]: Popeye first appeared in animated form in the ''[[Betty Boop]]'' cartoon ''Popeye the Sailor'' (1933).

* [[Strawman Political]]: The short ''Olive Oyl for President'' presents Congress as a room full of arguing donkeys and elephants (Democrats and Republicans, respectively) — for every proposal that Olive presents, the donkeys say, "We accept it!" in unison, and the elephants scream, "We reject it!" in response. Olive has to call her Secretary of Love - ie, Cupid - to resolve the issue, and ''even he'' has to swap his love-inducing bow and arrows for ''a machine gun version'' to quell the argument. Political polarization is [[Older Than They Think]].

* [[Theme Music Power -Up]]: "Popeye the Sailor Man" plays in the background of every "spinach strength" scene.

** It's a nautical series; he's named after the [http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/Poop_deck:Poop deck|poop deck]].

* [[Why Won't You Die?]]: A crook and conman shoots Popeye fifteen times, but he refuses to go down.

* [[Wicked Witch]]: The Sea Hag, a cadaverous old woman who menaced ships and stalked Popeye. She was said to have "a face that sank a thousand ships." Her slave, Alice the Goon, was a terrifying figure who reportedly gave kids nightmares, until Segar revealed that [[Monster Is a Mommy|Alice only worked for the Sea Hag because the Sea Hag was holding her baby hostage.]] Rescued by Popeye, Alice became Swee'Pea's babysitter. The Sea Hag had a crush on Wimpy, and among other things once [[Attack of the 50 -Foot Whatever|made him grow to giant size]].

* [[With Friends Like These...]]: Wimpy certainly qualifies.

* [[WorldsWorld's Strongest Man]]: Popeye

[[Category:NewspaperPopeye Comics(cartoon)]]

[[Category:PopeyeWestern Animation of the 1930s]]

[[Category:ComicWestern StripAnimation of the 1940s]]