Popeye the Sailor Man

In 1933 Max and Dave Fleischer of Fleischer Studios adapted Popeye and his cast of characters into a series of cartoon shorts for Paramount Pictures. Popeye was introduced to the big screen in a Betty Boop Cartoon. Popeye the Sailor was released on July 14, 1933. Once again Popeye stole the show. Betty Boop faded into the woodwork while Popeye the Sailor Man and his cast of characters remained in the public eye through 1957.

Popeye relied on the vitamins and minerals in a can of spinach to get himself out of a tight spot. It makes sense considering spinach is packed with iron and calcium. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, a serving of spinach contains 6.43 mg of iron, while a hamberger patty only contains 4.42 mg.

So toss the burger to Wimpy, pop a can of spinach, and maybe Olive Oyl will drool over you instead of Popeye.

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Except for during the World War II era, Popeye was depicted as a middle-aged sailor. In most films he's missing one eye, but in a few he's just squinting. How he lost his eye is never actually revealed, but Popeye claimed in one film that he lost it in "the mos' arful battle." The anchor tatoos on his forearms were standard as was his thinning red hair and corncob pipe.

Olive Oly was the star of the original Thimble Theatre Comics, but stepped aside when Popeye's popularity became obvious. Many of the original cast carried over to the cartoon although some of their rolls changed. Swee Pea was Olive Oyl's cousin in the comic strip but Popeye's adopted son in the cartoon. Ham got the boot when Olive Oyl's affection turned toward Popeye. He wasn't happy about that. Nobody wants to be an EX.

The Popeye the Sailor Cartoons remained in production until 1957. There were a total of 125 cartoons produced during the 24 year run. Spooky Swabs was the last short seen on the big screen. The Popeye film catalog changed hands several times in the intermitting years finally ending up in Turner Entertainment's hands in 1986. The black and white cartoons were shipped to Korea and converted to color. The colorized versions were aired during the Tom & Jerry and Friends show and later syndicated. They went off the air for good in the early 1990's.

In 1980 the original Popeye the Sailor was turned into a live action-film with comedian Robin Williams playing the part of Popeye and Shelley Duvall as Olive Oyl. It was the final hurrah. Popeye is no longer on the big screen or the TV. When I mention Popeye, the kids give me a funny look...

They don't know what they're missing.

Popeye was, and always will be a hero.