Popeye

Inspiration

The person believed to have inspired Popeye was Polish-born Frank "Rocky" Fiegel, a tough laborer from Chester, Illinois, who was always getting into fights. Some say he was a professional boxer. However, he also gave out candy and treats to children, including E.C. Segar, who remembered Fiegel when he created Popeye. Fiegel was described as "just like the fictional spinach-loving mariner ... a one-eyed, pipe-smoking curmudgeon with a jutting chin."

Fictional character and story

Popeye's story and characterization vary depending on the medium. In his debut storyline, Popeye already appeared to have superhuman endurance, being shot sixteen times in all by the storyline's villain, taking the first fifteen shots before collapsing visibly wounded and crawling away to hide. His improbable survival was augmented by the "luck" he acquired by rubbing the feathers of the head of Bernice, a magical "whiffle hen" owned by Olive Oyl's brother Castor during the storyline, which enabled him to survive the gunshot wounds for a few days until he reemerged, shrugged off another shot and knocked the villain out. The next few strips had him feeling faint and thinking he was dying of blood loss despite the whiffle hen's conferred luck, but for reasons of comedy he had completely recovered by the next strip. By the end of 1929, superhuman strength was a regular fixture of his character, first attributed in 1931 to spinach. In Segar's comic strip, Popeye's superhuman strength and near-invulnerability were permanent: only on some occasions would he need to eat additional spinach to boost his strength. It was Fleischer Studios' cartoon series that made Popeye eat a can of spinach whenever he needed to increase his strength to superhuman levels. Swee'Pea is Popeye's ward in the comic strips, but his custody is inconsistent in cartoons.

There is no absolute sense of continuity in the stories, although certain plot and presentation elements remain mostly constant, including purposeful contradictions in Popeye's capabilities. Popeye seems bereft of manners and uneducated, yet he often comes up with solutions to problems that seem insurmountable to the police or the scientific community. He has displayed Sherlock Holmes-like investigative prowess, scientific ingenuity, and successful diplomatic arguments. Over time, the character has evolved, with the use of tobacco notably reduced in modern depictions. In the animated cartoons his pipe also proves to be highly versatile. Among other things, it has served as a cutting torch, jet engine, propeller, periscope, musical instrument, and a whistle with which he produces his trademark toot. He also eats spinach through his pipe, sometimes sucking in the can along with the contents. Since the 1970s, Popeye is seldom depicted using his pipe to smoke tobacco.

Popeye's exploits are also enhanced by a few recurring plot elements. The cartoons introduced the love triangle between Popeye, Olive Oyl, and Bluto (sometimes called Brutus), and Bluto's endless machinations to claim Olive at Popeye's expense. Another plot element is Popeye's near-saintly perseverance in overcoming any obstacle to please Olive.

Comics

Thimble Theatre and Popeye comic strips

Segar's Thimble Theatre debuted in the New York Journal on December 19, 1919. The paper's owner, William Randolph Hearst, also owned King Features Syndicate, which syndicated the strip. Thimble Theatre was intended as one of several Hearst-commissioned replacements for Midget Movies by Ed Wheelan (Wheelan having recently resigned from King Features). While initially failing to attract a large audience, the strip nonetheless increasingly accumulated a modest following as the 1920s continued. At the end of its first decade, the strip resultantly appeared in over a dozen newspapers and had acquired a corresponding Sunday strip (which had debuted on January 25, 1925, within the Hearst-owned New York American paper).

Thimble Theatre's first main characters were the lanky, long-nosed slacker Harold Hamgravy (rapidly shortened to simply "Ham Gravy") and his scrappy, headstrong girlfriend Olive Oyl. In its earliest weeks, the strip featured the duo, alongside a rotating cast of primarily one-shot characters, acting out various stories and scenarios in a parodic theatrical style (hence the strip's name). As its first year progressed, however, numerous elements of this premise were abandoned (including the recurring character "Willie Wormwood", introduced as a parody of melodrama villainy), soon rendering the strip a series of episodic comic anecdotes depicting the daily life and dysfunctional romantic exploits of Ham Gravy and Olive Oyl. It could be classified as a gag-a-day comic during this period.

In mid-1922, Segar began to increasingly engage in lengthier (often months-long) storylines; by the end of the following year, the strip had effectively changed fully into a comedy-adventure style focusing on Ham, Olive, and Olive's ambitious-but-myopic diminutive brother Castor Oyl, initially a minor character yet arguably the protagonist of the strip by 1925. Castor and Olive's parents Cole and Nana Oyl also made frequent appearances beginning in the mid-1920s. By the late 1920s, the strip had likewise acquired a number of notable characters beyond the sphere of Ham Gravy and the Oyl family, including Castor Oyl's wife Cylinda (to whom he was married from 1926 to 1928), her wealthy, misanthropic father Mr. Lotts and Castor's fighting cockerel Blizzard, all of whom had exited the strip by the close of 1928 (although Cylinda eventually maritally reunited with Castor under R. K. Milholland's authorship almost a century later).

Popeye first appeared in the strip on January 17, 1929, as a minor character. He was initially hired by Castor Oyl and Ham Gravy to crew a ship for a voyage to Dice Island, the location of a casino owned by the crooked gambler Fadewell. Castor intended to break the bank at the casino using the unbeatable good luck conferred by stroking the head feathers of Bernice the Whiffle Hen. Weeks later, on the trip back, Popeye was shot many times by Jack Snork, an undercover stooge of Fadewell's, but survived by rubbing Bernice's head. After the adventure's conclusion in June, Popeye left the strip, but, owing to reader reaction, he was brought back after an absence of only five weeks.

Comic books

There have been a number of Popeye comic books, with his main series running continuously from 1948 to 1984 published in turn by Dell Comics, Gold Key Comics, King Comics, Charlton Comics, and back to Gold Key. The series was originally written and illustrated by Bud Sagendorf. In the series, Popeye became something of a crimefighter, thwarting evil organizations and Bluto's criminal activities. The new villains included the numerous Misermite dwarfs, who were all identical.

Popeye appeared in the British TV Comic, becoming the cover story in 1960 with stories written and drawn by "Chick" Henderson. Bluto was referred to as Brutus and was Popeye's only nemesis throughout the entire run.

A variety of artists have created Popeye comic book stories since then; for example, George Wildman drew Popeye stories for Charlton Comics from 1969 until the late 1970s. The Gold Key series was illustrated by Wildman and scripted by Bill Pearson, with some issues written by Nick Cuti.

Popeye comics were also produced outside the United States, as Popeye and his supporting cast of characters were licensed to foreign publishers. In Japan, Popeye had his own manga series published by Shōnen Gahōsha, written and drawn by Robotan and Marude Dameo creator Kenji Morita, which ran from 1961 to 1965. In Italy, Editoriale Metro produced Popeye comic books aimed at the European market, with some characters changed and others added, from 1963 to 1994.

In 1988, Ocean Comics released the Popeye Special written by Ron Fortier with art by Ben Dunn. The story presented Popeye's origin story, including his given name of "Ugly Kidd" and attempted to tell more of a lighthearted adventure story as opposed to using typical comic strip style humor. The story also featured a more realistic art style and was edited by Bill Pearson, who also lettered and inked the story as well as the front cover. A second issue, by the same creative team, followed in 1988. The second issue introduced the idea that Bluto and Brutus were actually twin brothers and not the same person, an idea also used in the comic strip on December 28, 2008, and April 5, 2009. In 1999, to celebrate Popeye's 70th anniversary, Ocean Comics revisited the franchise with a one-shot comic book, The Wedding of Popeye and Olive Oyl, written by Peter David. The comic book brought together a large portion of the casts of both the comic strip and the animated shorts, and Popeye and Olive Oyl were finally wed after decades of courtship. However, this marriage has not been reflected in all media since the comic was published.

Webcomics

In January 2019, in celebration of its 90 years of character, King Feature Syndicate launched the webcomic Popeye's Cartoon Club. In a series of Sunday-format comics, a wide assortment of artists depicted the characters in their own styles in one comic each, including Alex Hallatt, Erica Henderson, Tom Neely, Roger Langridge, Lar deSouza, Robert Sikoryak, Jeffrey Brown, Jim Engel, Liniers, Jay Fosgitt, Carol Lay, and Randy Milholland. At the end of the year, Milholland's Cartoon Club comic was declared the number one comic of the year on King Features' website, Comics Kingdom.

From February through April 2020, Cartoon Club ran an additional five comics by Milholland, which was followed by an extended run from May 28 through July 6, 2020, making Milholland the first person to write a daily-update Popeye comic for King Features since 1992.

In August 2022, a new twice-weekly (Tuesdays and Thursdays) webcomic titled Olive & Popeye debuted. Milholland writes and draws the Thursday strips, which focus on Popeye and his extended family, while Tuesday strips focus on Olive and her own adventures. These were initially drawn by Shadia Amin, who was later replaced by Emi Burdge in October 2023. The two storylines run in parallel and occasionally intersect.

Thimble Theatre/Popeye characters

Characters originating in comic strips by E. C. Segar

Popeye the Sailor (introduced January 17, 1929)

Olive Oyl (introduced December 19, 1919)

Swee'Pea (Popeye's adopted baby son in the comics, Olive's cousin in the cartoons) (introduced July 24, 1933)

J. Wellington Wimpy (introduced May 3, 1931)

Bluto/Brutus (introduced September 12, 1932)

Eugene the Jeep (introduced March 17, 1936)

The Sea Hag (introduced January 6, 1930)

The Sea Hag's vultures, including her favorite, Bernard

Alice the Goon (introduced December 10, 1933) and the other Goons

Rough House (a cook who runs a local restaurant, the Rough House) (introduced May 24, 1931)

George W. Geezil (the local cobbler who hates Wimpy) (introduced November 11, 1932)

Ham Gravy (full name Harold Hamgravy, Olive Oyl's original boyfriend) (introduced December 19, 1919)

Castor Oyl (Olive Oyl's brother) (introduced January 14, 1920)

Cole Oyl (Olive Oyl's father)

Nana Oyl (Olive Oyl's mother)

Poopdeck Pappy (Popeye's 99-year-old long-lost father; also a sailor) (introduced September 26, 1936)

Characters originating in the cartoons

Peepeye, Poopeye, Pupeye and Pipeye (Popeye's identical nephews in the Fleischer Studio shorts)

Shorty (Popeye's shipmate in three World War II-era Famous Studios shorts)

Popeye Jr. (son of Popeye and Olive Oyl, exclusive of the series Popeye and Son)

Tank (son of Bluto, exclusive of the series Popeye and Son)

Other media

The success of Popeye as a comic-strip has led to appearances in many other forms of media starting with animation.

Portrayals

Billy Costello (1933–1935)

Harry Foster Welch (1934–1940s, 1946–1947, 1960s; public events and amusement parks, Pleasure Island, cartoons, Peter Pan Records records)

Jack Mercer (1934–1945, 1947–1984)

Poley McClintock (1935; Beware of Barnacle Bill)

Detmar Poppen (1935–1936; Popeye the Sailor radio show)

Floyd Buckley (1936–1937, 1945–1946; Popeye the Sailor radio show, Bluebird Records records, cartoons)

Hamp Howard (1939; additional lines in Wotta Nitemare)

Mae Questel (1945–1946; cartoons)

Candy Candido (1951; I'm Popeye the Sailor Man/The Little White Duck)

Allen Swift (1956, 1959, 1960s–1970s; Official TV Popeye Record Album, Popeye's Favorite Sea Shanties, Start commercials)

Tetsuo Nishihama (1978; Popeye the Sailorman/Olive and Bluto's Race Song)

Robin Williams (1980; Popeye)

Keith Scott (1982, 1997, 1999; Popeye commercial, Popeye & Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges, Pandemonium Cartoon Circus)

Maurice LaMarche (1987–1990; Popeye and Son)

Tex Brashear (1987; Cocoa Puffs commercials)

Jeff Bergman (1989–1996; commercials)

Animation

In November 1932, King Features signed an agreement with Fleischer Studios to have Popeye and the other Thimble Theatre characters begin appearing in a series of animated cartoons released by Paramount Pictures. The first cartoon in the series was released in 1933, and Popeye cartoons remained a staple of Paramount's release schedule for nearly 25 years. Billy Costello was the original voice of Popeye, a voice that was replicated by later performers, such as Jack Mercer and even Mae Questel. Many of the Thimble Theatre characters, including Wimpy, Poopdeck Pappy, and Eugene the Jeep, eventually made appearances in the Paramount cartoons, though Olive Oyl's extended family and Ham Gravy were absent. Thanks to the animated-short series, Popeye became even more of a sensation than he had been in comic strips, and by 1938, polls showed that the sailor was Hollywood's most popular cartoon character.

Although Segar used spinach as a prop a few times, it was Max Fleischer who realized its potential as a trademark. In almost every Popeye cartoon, the sailor is invariably put into what seems like a hopeless situation, upon which (usually after a beating), a can of spinach becomes available, and Popeye quickly opens the can and consumes its contents. Upon swallowing the spinach, Popeye's physical strength immediately becomes superhuman, and he is easily able to save the day, and very often rescue Olive Oyl from a dire situation. It did not stop there, as spinach could also give Popeye the skills and powers he needed, as in The Man on the Flying Trapeze, where it gave him acrobatic skills. This cartoon, incidentally, was the only appearance of Olive Oyl's mother, Nana.

In May 1942, Paramount Pictures assumed ownership of Fleischer Studios, fired the Fleischers and began reorganizing the studio, which they renamed Famous Studios. The early Famous-era shorts were often World War II-themed, featuring Popeye fighting Nazi Germans and Japanese soldiers, most notably the 1942 short You're a Sap, Mr. Jap. In late 1943, the Popeye series began to be produced in Technicolor, beginning with Her Honor the Mare. Famous/Paramount continued producing the Popeye series until 1957, with Spooky Swabs being the last of the 125 Famous shorts in the series. Paramount then sold the Popeye film catalog to Associated Artists Productions, which was bought out by United Artists in 1958. Through various mergers, the rights are currently controlled by Warner Bros. Discovery.

In 2001, Cartoon Network, under the supervision of animation historian Jerry Beck, created a new incarnation of The Popeye Show. The show aired the Fleischer and Famous Studios Popeye shorts in versions approximating their original theatrical releases by editing copies of the original opening and closing credits (taken or recreated from various sources) onto the beginnings and ends of each cartoon, or in some cases, in their complete, uncut original theatrical versions direct from such prints that originally contained the front-and-end Paramount credits. The series aired 135 Popeye shorts over 45 episodes, until March 2004. The Popeye Show continued to air on Cartoon Network's spin-off network Boomerang.

Theme song

I'm Popeye the Sailor Man,I'm Popeye the Sailor Man,I'm strong to the "finich",'cause I eats me spinach,I'm Popeye the Sailor Man!

Popeye's theme song, titled "I'm Popeye the Sailor Man", composed by Sammy Lerner in 1933 for Fleischer's first Popeye the Sailor cartoon, has become forever associated with the sailor. "The Sailor's Hornpipe" has often been used as an introduction to Popeye's theme song.

In 1978, Japanese group Spinach Power released a disco version of the song, which became a hit, selling 400,000 copies. The song was used as an insert song in the Japanese film The Young Animals (Japanese: 皮ジャン反抗族, Hepburn: Kawa Jan Hankō-zoku) the same year. A cover of the theme song, performed by Face to Face, is included on the 1995 tribute album Saturday Morning: Cartoons' Greatest Hits, produced by Ralph Sall for MCA Records. A jazz version, performed by Ted Kooshian's Standard Orbit Quartet, appears on their 2009 Summit Records release Underdog and Other Stories.

Playground song parodies of the theme have become part of children's street culture around the world, usually interpolating "frying pan" or "garbage can" into the lyrics as Popeye's dwelling place and ascribing to the character various unsavory actions or habits that transform the character into an "Anti-Popeye", and changing his exemplary spinach-based diet into an inedible morass of worms, onions, flies, tortillas and snot.

Radio

Popeye was adapted to radio in several series broadcast over three different networks by two sponsors from 1935 to 1938. Popeye and most of the major supporting characters were first featured in a thrice-weekly 15-minute radio program, Popeye the Sailor, which starred Detmar Poppen as Popeye, along with most of the major supporting characters—Olive Oyl (Olive Lamoy), Wimpy (Charles Lawrence), Bluto (Jackson Beck) and Swee'Pea (Mae Questel). In the first episode, Popeye adopted Sonny (Jimmy Donnelly), a character later known as Matey the Newsboy. This program was broadcast Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday nights at 7:15pm. September 10, 1935, through March 28, 1936, on the NBC Red Network (87 episodes), initially sponsored by Wheatena, a whole-wheat breakfast cereal, which routinely replaced the spinach references. Music was provided by Victor Irwin's Cartoonland Band. Announcer Kelvin Keech sang (to composer Lerner's "Popeye" theme) "Wheatena is his diet / He asks you to try it / With Popeye the sailor man." Wheatena paid King Features Syndicate $1,200 per week.

The show was next broadcast Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 7:15 to 7:30pm on WABC and ran from August 31, 1936, to February 26, 1937 (78 episodes). Floyd Buckley played Popeye, and Miriam Wolfe portrayed both Olive Oyl and the Sea Hag. Once again, reference to spinach was conspicuously absent. Instead, Popeye sang, "Wheatena's me diet / I ax ya to try it / I'm Popeye the Sailor Man".

The third series was sponsored by the maker of Popsicles three nights a week for 15 minutes at 6:15 pm on CBS from May 2, 1938, through July 29, 1938.

Of the three series, only 20 of the 204 episodes are known to be preserved.

Feature films

Director Robert Altman used the character in Popeye (1980), the first film centered on the character, who was played by Robin Williams in this film. This live-action musical feature film was a co-production of Paramount Pictures and Walt Disney Productions, and it was filmed almost entirely on Malta, in the village of Mellieħa on the northwest coast of the island (the set is now a tourist attraction called Popeye Village).

The U.S. box office earnings were double the film's budget, making it a financial success. While the film received mostly negative reviews at the time, critical opinion has improved over the years.

The 1988 Walt Disney/Touchstone Pictures film Who Framed Roger Rabbit featured many classic cartoon characters, and the absence of Popeye was noted by some critics. Popeye (along with Olive Oyl, Bluto, and Wimpy) actually had a cameo role planned for the film, with him and Bluto as pallbearers at Marvin Acme's funeral. However, Disney could not obtain the rights in time and Popeye's cameo was dropped from the film.

In March 2010, it was reported that Sony Pictures Animation was developing an animated Popeye film, with Avi Arad producing it. In November 2011, Sony Pictures Animation announced that Jay Scherick and David Ronn, the writers of The Smurfs, are writing the screenplay for the film. In June 2012, it was reported that Genndy Tartakovsky had been set to direct the feature, which he planned to make "as artful and unrealistic as possible." In November 2012, Sony Pictures Animation set the release date for September 26, 2014, which was, in May 2013, pushed back to 2015. In March 2014, Sony Pictures Animation updated its slate, scheduling the film for 2016, and announcing Tartakovsky as the director of Hotel Transylvania 2, which he was directing concurrently with Popeye. On September 18, 2014, Tartakovsky revealed an "animation test" footage, about which he said, "It's just something that kind of represents what we want to do. I couldn't be more excited by how it turned out." In March 2015, Tartakovsky announced that despite the well-received test footage, he was no longer working on the project, and would instead direct Can You Imagine?, which was based on his own original idea, but it too was cancelled.

Nevertheless, Sony Pictures Animation stated the project still remained in active development. In January 2016, it was announced that T.J. Fixman would write the film. On May 11, 2020, it was announced that a Popeye movie was in development at King Features Syndicate with Genndy Tartakovsky coming back to the project. However, on July 21, 2022, Tartakovsky said the project was cancelled. An animatic for the film was leaked onto the internet the following day.

Video and pinball games

The 1981 Nintendo video game Donkey Kong, which introduced its eponymous character and Nintendo's unofficial company mascot Mario to the world, was originally planned to be a Popeye game. However, when Nintendo experienced difficulty portraying the characters within the limits of the game's hardware, it decided to create original characters instead. Popeye was replaced with Mario (then known as Jumpman), Bluto was replaced with Donkey Kong, and Olive Oyl was replaced with the character Pauline.

When Donkey Kong, which was originally conceived as a Popeye video game by Shigeru Miyamoto, proved to be a big success, King Features agreed to license the characters to Nintendo to create a Popeye arcade game in 1982. It was later ported to various home gaming platforms, including the Commodore 64, Intellivision, Atari 2600, Atari 8-bit computers, ColecoVision, Odyssey2, and Nintendo Entertainment System. The goal was to avoid Brutus and the Sea Hag while collecting items produced by Olive Oyl such as hearts, musical notes, or the letters in the word "help" (depending on the level). Hitting a can of spinach gave Popeye a brief chance to strike back at Brutus. Other characters such as Wimpy and Swee'Pea appeared in the game but did not affect gameplay. A board game based on the video game was released by Parker Brothers.

Nintendo also released two Game & Watch units featuring Popeye.

Nintendo created another Popeye game for the Japanese Famicom, Popeye no Eigo Asobi, in 1983. This was an educational game designed to teach Japanese children English words.

A different Popeye game was developed for the ZX Spectrum by Don Priestley and first released by DK'Tronics in 1985. The game achieved critical success due to its huge, colorful sprites; amongst the largest seen on the Spectrum platform. This distinct graphical style was due to King Features' insistence that any game had to include fair representations of the central cartoon characters. The game was ported to Commodore 64 and Amstrad CPC in 1986. After releasing the budget version of this game, Alternative Software developed another two licensed games, Popeye 2 (1991) and Popeye 3: Wrestle Crazy (1992) on the same platforms.

Sigma Enterprises published two Popeye games for the Game Boy. The first, titled simply Popeye, was released exclusively in Japan in 1990, while Popeye 2 was released in Japan in 1991, North America in 1993, and Europe in 1994 by Activision.

Cultural influences

Marketing, tie-ins, and endorsements

From early on, Popeye was heavily merchandised. Everything from soap to razor blades to spinach was available with Popeye's likeness on it. Most of these items are rare and sought by collectors, but some merchandise is still produced.

Games and toys

Mattel produced a variety of Popeye-related toys in the latter half of the 1950s. In 1957, the Popeye spinach can (which contains a trigger to reveal Popeye's head with a squeaker) and the Popeye crank guitar (which plays his theme song on a crank) were released. Unlike most crank guitar models Mattel had made since 1956, Popeye's crank guitar also contains his pipe which a person using it would play the guitar as well with it. A year later in October 1958, Popeye had his own Mattel jack-in-the-box, which also played the same tune as the guitar. In some models, the toy either comes with or without an update feature from the company's Popeye's spinach can toy.

In 1961, Paramount Cartoon Studios produced a commercial for Soaky, featuring Popeye, Olive, and Bluto and advertising Popeye and Bluto's own bubble bath figurines. For the first time, Popeye and Bluto both fight for an item instead of Olive herself, and punch themselves on-time during the commercial. Both characters later fought over Popeye's own video game in a commercial for Popeye's ColecoVision port 22 years later in 1983, animated by Mark Kausler at Pacific Motion Pictures.

In 1991, Kinder produced Popeye Kinder Surprise Figures.

Beginning in 2001, Mezco Toyz makes classic-style Popeye figures in two sizes.

Kellytoy produces plush stuffed Popeye characters.

In 2009, Popeye, Olive, and Bluto were used as (Happy Meal) toys in Brazil's Habib's fast-food company restaurants.

Theaters

In 1994–2004, Popeye, Olive, Swee'Pea and Bluto appeared in some Dickinson Theatres gift-certificate advertisement trailers, animated by Bill Reeds at Willming Reams Animation (also known as Preshow Productions). Popeye is a former mascot of Dickinson Theatres, a decade before the theater chain went out of business.

Films and TV

Popeye makes a one-second appearance in an unfinished production Bring Me the Head of Charlie Brown by the California Institute of the Arts in 1986. He is seen punching Rocky Balboa in the face.

In 2025, when Popeye started becoming public domain in the US, the character was the subject of several live-action horror films that reimagined the character as a murderous antagonist:

Popeye's Revenge, a British horror film directed by William Stead and produced by ITN Studios. It was the first live-action horror film centered on Popeye, played by Steven Murphy. The film was released in the US on February 13, 2025, on VOD before being made available on Amazon Prime Video on February 19, 2025.

Popeye the Slayer Man, the first live-action horror film centered on Popeye to be produced in the United States. The film, distributed by Vantage Media, revolves around a group of friends who sneak into an abandoned spinach factory, but are now haunted by Popeye, played by Jason Robert Stephens. The film was released on March 21, 2025.

Shiver Me Timbers, a British horror comedy film centered on a monstrous version of Popeye, played by Tony Greer. Gravitas Ventures released the film on April 1, 2025.

Comics

Parody versions of Popeye and Bluto make an appearance in Solo Ex-Mutants #2 (Eternity Comics, 1988).

In EC Comics' original Mad comic book, the satire "Poopeye" had him set up to fight other comic characters, even defeating Superman in the end.

Culturally, many consider Popeye a precursor to the superheroes who eventually dominated U.S. comic books.

In medicine, the bulge indicating a bicep tear is called the Popeye sign.

In 1973, Cary Bates created Captain Strong, a takeoff of Popeye, for DC Comics, as a way of having two cultural icons – Superman and (a proxy of) Popeye – meet.

Sports

Starting in 1940, Popeye became the mascot of Clube de Regatas do Flamengo in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The mascot of the soccer club is currently a cartoon vulture.

In 1978–1985, Popeye was used by Japan Airlines as a mascot for their "JAL Ski Tour Hokkaido Campaign".

During the 2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series, two racing cars displaying Popeye characters were driven by Kasey Kahne (No. 9) and Jeremy Mayfield (No. 19), to promote Popeye's 75th anniversary.

The Popeye dance

The Popeye was a popular dance in the dance craze era of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Originating in New Orleans around 1962, the Popeye was performed by shuffling and moving one's arms, placing one arm behind and one arm in front and alternating them, going through the motion of raising a pipe up to the mouth, and alternate sliding or pushing one foot back in the manner of ice skating, similar to motions exhibited by the cartoon character. According to music historian Robert Pruter, the Popeye was even more popular than the Twist in New Orleans. The dance was associated with and/or referenced to in several songs, including Eddie Bo's "Check Mr. Popeye", Chris Kenner's "Something You Got" and "Land of a Thousand Dances", Chubby Checker's "Popeye The Hitchhiker", Frankie Ford's "You Talk Too Much", Ernie K-Doe's "Popeye Joe", Huey "Piano" Smith's "Popeye", The Sherrys "Pop Pop Pop-Pie", and Harvey Fuqua's "Any Way You Wanta". A compilation of 23 Popeye dance songs was released in 1996 under the title New Orleans Popeye Party.

Spinach

Initially Popeye's chief superhuman characteristic was his indestructibility, rather than super strength, which was attributed to his having rubbed the head of Bernice the Whiffle Hen numerous times after being shot. Popeye later attributed his strength to spinach. The popularity of Popeye helped boost spinach sales. Using Popeye as a role model for healthier eating may work; a 2010 study revealed that children increased their vegetable consumption after watching Popeye cartoons. The spinach-growing community of Crystal City, Texas, erected a statue of the character in recognition of Popeye's positive effects on the spinach industry. There are also statues in Springdale and Alma, Arkansas (which claims to be "The Spinach Capital of the World"), at canning plants of Allen Canning, which markets Popeye-branded canned spinach. In addition to Allen Canning's Popeye spinach, Popeye Fresh Foods markets bagged, fresh spinach with Popeye characters on the package. In 2006, when spinach contaminated with E. coli was accidentally sold to the public, many editorial cartoonists lampooned the affair by featuring Popeye in their cartoons.

A frequently circulated story claims that Fleischer's choice of spinach to give Popeye strength was based on faulty calculations of its iron content. In the story, a scientist misplaced a decimal point in an 1870 measurement of spinach's iron content, leading to an iron value ten times higher than it should have been. The error was not a slipped decimal point but a measurement error that was corrected in the 1930s; however, the myth of extraordinarily high iron content persisted. Additionally, in one 1932 episode Popeye claims he eats spinach because it is "full of Vitamin A" without mentioning its iron content.

Word coinages

The strip is also responsible for popularizing, although not inventing, the word "goon" (meaning a thug or lackey); goons in Popeye's world were large humanoids with indistinctly drawn faces that were particularly known for being used as muscle and slave labor by Popeye's nemesis, the Sea Hag. One particular goon, the aforementioned female named Alice, was an occasional recurring character in the animated shorts, but she was usually a fairly nice character.

Eugene the Jeep was introduced in the comic strip on March 13, 1936. Two years later the term "jeep wagons" was in use, later shortened to simply "jeep" with widespread World War II usage and then trademarked by Willys-Overland as "Jeep".

Events and honors

The Popeye Picnic is held every year in Chester, Illinois, on the weekend after Labor Day. Popeye fans attend from across the globe, including a visit by a film crew from South Korea in 2004. The one-eyed sailor's hometown strives to entertain devotees of all ages.

In honor of Popeye's 75th anniversary, the Empire State Building illuminated its notable tower lights green the weekend of January 16–18, 2004 as a tribute to the icon's love of spinach. This special lighting marked the only time the Empire State Building ever celebrated the anniversary/birthday of a comic strip character.

Popeye & Friends Character Trail

Chester, Illinois, Segar's hometown, erected a statue of Popeye in Segar's honor in 1977 and began the Popeye & Friends Character Trail in 2006, adding new statues honoring the other Thimble Theater characters each year.

This Character Trail is spread throughout Chester and includes (with unveiling dates):

Popeye (1977)

J. Wellington Wimpy (2006)

Olive Oyl, Swee'Pea, and Jeep (2007)

Bluto (2008)

Castor Oyl and Whiffle Hen (2009)

Sea Hag and Bernard (2010)

Cole Oyl (2011)

Alice the Goon and her Goon-child (2012)

Poopdeck Pappy (2013)

Professor Wotasnozzle (2014)

RoughHouse (2015)

Pipeye, Pupeye, Peepeye, and Poopeye, Popeye's four nephews (2016)

King Blozo (2017)

Nana Oyl (2018)

Popeye's Pups (September 2019)

Sherlock & Segar (December 2019)

Toar (2020)

Harold Hamgravy (2021)

Oscar (2022)

Filmography

Theatrical

Popeye the Sailor (1933–1942, produced by Fleischer Studios, 109 cartoons)

Popeye the Sailor (1942–1957, produced by Famous Studios, 122 cartoons)

Popeye (1980, produced by Paramount Pictures and Walt Disney Pictures, directed by Robert Altman; live-action)

Television

Popeye the Sailor (1960–1962, first-run syndication; produced by Larry Harmon Pictures, Rembrandt Films, Halas and Batchelor, Gerald Ray Studios, Jack Kinney Productions, Paramount Cartoon Studios and Corona Cinematografica for King Features Syndicate, 220 cartoons)

The All New Popeye Hour (1978–1983, CBS; produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, 167 cartoons) Known as The Popeye and Olive Comedy Show for its final season.

Popeye and Son (1987–1988, CBS; produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, 26 cartoons)

Television specials

Popeye Meets the Man Who Hated Laughter (1972, ABC; produced by Hal Seeger Productions)

The Popeye Valentine Special: Sweethearts at Sea (1979, CBS; produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions)

Direct-to-video special

Popeye's Voyage: The Quest for Pappy (2004; produced by Mainframe Entertainment for King Features)

DVD collections

Theatrical cartoons

Popeye the Sailor: 1933–1938, Volume 1 (released July 31, 2007) features Fleischer cartoons released from 1933 through early 1938 and contains the color Popeye specials Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor and Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves.

Popeye the Sailor: 1938–1940, Volume 2 (released June 17, 2008) features Fleischer cartoons released from mid-1938 through 1940 and includes the last color Popeye special Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp.

Popeye the Sailor: 1941–1943, Volume 3 (released November 4, 2008) features the remaining black-and-white Popeye cartoons released from 1941 to 1943, including the final Fleischer-produced and earliest Famous-produced entries in the series.

Popeye the Sailor: The 1940s, Volume 1 (released December 11, 2018) features the first 14 color Popeye shorts produced by Famous Studios. The set was made available on Blu-ray and DVD, and the shorts were sourced from 4K masters scanned from the original nitrate negatives.

Popeye the Sailor: The 1940s, Volume 2 (released June 18, 2019) features the next 15 color Popeye shorts produced by Famous Studios. The set was made available on Blu-ray and DVD, and the shorts were sourced from 4K masters scanned from the original nitrate negatives.

Popeye the Sailor: The 1940s, Volume 3 (released September 17, 2019) features the next 17 color Popeye shorts produced by Famous Studios. The set was made available on Blu-ray and DVD, and the shorts were sourced from 4K masters scanned from the original nitrate negatives.

TV cartoons

Popeye the Sailor: The 1960s Classics, Volume 1 (released May 7, 2013) A DVD-R release by Warner Archive Collection consisting mostly of made for TV cartoons produced for King Features Television by Paramount Cartoon Studios and Gerald Ray Studios.