Evolution of POPEYE THE SAILOR - 90 Years Explained | CARTOON EVOLUTION

CARTOON EVOLUTION #7

To celebrate his 90th Anniversary, I take a look at the history and evolution of POPEYE THE SAILOR MAN, the rough ‘n’ tough seaman with a heart of gold and Spinach-fuelled powers - arguably, the first ever superhero.

Created by E.C. Segar, Popeye was, essentially, a happy accident – an intended one-off character who gained unanticipated popularity in comics, leading to an insurmountable success in cartoon shorts, rivalling even the likes of Mickey Mouse. Initially produced by the Fleischer Studio and Paramount Pictures between the 1930s and 1950s, Popeye cartoons would later cross into the television era under the likes of Hanna-Barbera and Gene Deitch. Unfortunately, Popeye found himself victim of the modern times, with various reboots and reimaginings – each more watered down than the last – struggling to uphold his popularity through the decades.

I take a look at how Popeye has evolved from script to screen, discussing the most important changes in his design and personality and in the stylistic and narrative structures of his productions prevalent across a near-century of media.

Here's my look at Popeye the Sailor through the years!

#Popeye #PopeyeTheSailor

CLASSIC POPEYE SHORTS:
Popeye the Sailor Meets Betty Boop
Yam What I Yam
Blow Me Down!
Wild Elephinks
Strong to the Finish
The Two-Alarm Fire
The Dance Contest
Adventures of Popeye
Beware of Barnacle Bill
We Aim to Please
King of the Mardi Gras
Shiver Me Timbers
The Hyp-Nut-Tist
The Spinach Roadster
What -- No Spinach?
Can You Take It
Shoein’ Hosses
Vim, Vigor and Vitality
Cops Is Always Right
The House Builder-Upperer
Goonland
Dizzy Divers
I Wanna Be a Lifeguard
A Clean Shaven Man
Brotherly Love
Seasin’s Greetinks
Axe Me Another
Be Kind to Animals
For Better or Worser
Can You Take It
Let’s You and Him Fight
Meets Sinbad the Sailor
Meets Ali Baba’s Forty Thieves
Aladdin and his Wonderful Lamp
The Mighty Navy
Fleets of Strength
Blunder Below
Olive Oyl and Water Don’t Mix
Baby Wants a Bottle Ship
You’re a Sap Mr. Jap
Scraps the Japs
Alona on the Sarong Seas
Cartoons Ain’t Human
Her Honor the Mare
Puppet Love
All’s Fair at the Fair
The Royal Flour-Flusher
House Tricks
The Anvil Chorus Girl
Klondike Casanova
The Fistic Mystic
and the Pirates
Safari So Good
She-Sick Sailors
Shape Ahoy
The Island Fling
Jitterbug Jive
Shaving Muggs
A Haul In one
Hillbilling and Cooing
Mister and Mistletoe
Cookin’ With Gags
The Ace of Space
Nearlyweds
The Crystal Brawl
With Little Swee’Pea

OTHER POPEYE MEDIA:
Popeye the Sailor (1960 - 1962)
The Man Who Hated Laughter
All-New Popeye Hour / Popeye and Olive Comedy Show
Valentine Special: Sweethearts at See
1980 Live action, Robin Williams
Popeye and Son
The Popeye Show
Popeye’s Voyage: The Quest for Pappy
Sony Animation Test
Popeye’s Island Adventures

OTHER MEDIA:
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit - Carnival Capers
Bosko - The Doughboy
Silly Symphony - Flowers and Trees / King Neptune / Goddess of Spring
Mickey Mouse - Mickey’s Gala
Flip the Frog - Fiddlesticks / Milkman
Farmer Alf Falfa - Bedtime Story
Out of the Inkwell
Talkartoons - Bimbo’s Initiation / Dizzy Dishes / Bimbo’s Initiation
Betty Boop - Stopping the Show / The Betty Boop Limited / Snow White / Boop-Oop-A-Doop / Betty Boop’s Bizzy Bee
Porky Pig - Porky’s Garden / Porky’s Hero Agency
Merry Melodies - The Major Lied Til Dawn
Gulliver’s Travels
Mr. Bug Goes to Town
Superman
Donald Duck - Fall In Fall Out /How to Have an Accident at Work
Daffy Duck - Daffy the Commando
Bugs Bunny / Daffy - The Abominable Snow Rabbit
Stone Age Cartoon - Granite Hotel
Animated Antic - Triple Trouble
Gabby - Alls Well
Casper the Friendly Ghost - Not Ghoulty
Modern Madcap - The Robot Ringer

Find me on Twitter and Instagram: @daveleedwnundr

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Between 2016/17, channel was previously: Disney Dave Down Under

[DaveLeeDownUnder]

Ok, forearms not biceps... got it the first 1, 000 times...

[juliansalinas]

Sony made a huge mistake for canceling Popeye for the Emoji Movie

[JinxProductions]

I really hope the Sony Animation Popeye film is released someday. That test footage is absolutely gorgeous and truly captures what Popeye is (except for his pipe, which is a staple of the character that needs to return)

[williamneill]

Those strips from the 1920s and ‘30s are so well drawn. I love that style. George Herriman’s Krazy Kat was the best of the lot.

[FatMarioHeads]

Heck, Popeye is the main inspiration for Mario, the most iconic video game character of all time. The sailor deserves better, I hope Tartakovsky's movie does get made some day, but I doubt it ever will.

[LowellLucasJr.]

Superman: Yknow... I was the Very 1st Superhero, Olive!
Popeye: Hold my can of Spinach!

[LowellLucasJr.]

WHOSE THE MOST THE MOST REMARKABLE EXTRODINARY FELLOW? The most famous Tough guy in all media that's who! Thanks Dave!! POPEYE is the greatest!!!!

[mechajay]

_As someone who was confused by his design changing from each short, this video helped a lot. I always like the character, he almost convinced me to eat spinach with how he gained his strength from them. It's really disappointing how Sony shelved CGI movie by Genndy Tartakovsky. The animation look stunning compare to Popeye's first CG feature. Also Happy Birthday E. C. Segar._

[Ryusuta]

To me, the Fleischer era shorts have aged by far the best out of everything, and still hold up astonishingly well today. I grew up with Popeye, and he was my hero as a kid. To this day, the Fleischer Popeye still embodies the lessons of being tough, being confident, and standing up to bullies. Yet, it also taught the valuable lesson of trying to solve things with words first and only fighting back if someone attacks you first.

Popeye is a paragon of strength and justice, and there is a reason he has survived as long as he did..

[ethanallen]

Popeye was my first role model as a young boy.... I am short....got picked on.
Popeye taught me self confidence, courage, and bravery.

[KilamajaroKen]

Popeye was the original Urkel. A one-off character that became the main character.

[lazlow]

I was a HUGE Popeye fan as a kid. I saw dozen of the old shorts and newer shows on Cartoon Network, ABC Family, and home video. The movie with Robin Williams I didn't care for too much. As I got older I started to lose interest but would occasionally come back to the series for nostalgia. I never read any of the comics either as they were long before my time. I would truly love to see Popeye return someday, maybe the 2020s will mark his true return. Thank you for exploring the history of my favorite childhood cartoon hero.

[omechron]

I think Popeye could be an amazing Netflix series. You can never have enough action comedies, especially while Cartoon Network is killing it with Mao Mao.

[ACarpenter]

Popeye is the reason I joined the Navy after high school

[PollyBonanzas]

I really hope the Genndy Tartakovsky film gets made. The short made for it looked so good.

[vincentfranklin]

It's a shame. We could have had a CGI movie that might have introduced Popeye to a new generation... Instead, we got that crappy Emoji Movie!

[martincraw]

There definitely needs to be another tv series of Popeye and one that’s done right like that series of Mickey Mouse cartoons for Disney channel

[SuperSupersenior]

I would love to see Popeye make a comeback because he was one of my inspirations for enlisting in the navy.

[talkaboutcinema]

Thanks for discussing Popeye's comic strips origin. That's an area of his career that often gets overlooked.


The best Popeye cartoons are the ones by Fleischer and the early Famous Studios ones. The later Famous Studios shorts aren't bad, but they do feel pretty watered down compared to the earlier ones.


While it is interesting to see the comic strip characters having finally appeared in Popeye media, none of the Popeye TV cartoons could really compare to the theatrical ones. The Hanna-Barbera ones at least looked more consistent and a bit nicer than the 1960s ones, but unfortunately Popeye was a real victim of the changes in what was considered acceptable for TV cartoons. The new ones aren't good...but, hey, at least they're doing something with the character, which shows a more promising future for the character compared to 10 years ago.

[davaotripsters]

22:49
Popeye was initially owned but remained formerly by Paramount Pictures for Theatrical rights and United Artists Television under a.a.p. (Associated Artists Productions) for TV Syndication rights at that time and currently, Warner Bros. now controls the current ownership of the entire Popeye cartoons through Turner Entertainment, as part of it's shares from MGM/UA library prior to May 23rd, 1986.