Popeye the Sailor Man

I can't believe nobody made a thread about Popeye the Sailor Man. Seriously, what ever happened to the famous "Spinach, eating sailor?" We haven't seen him since 2004. And Popeye, made me like Spinach.

edited 16th Sep '12 7:14:09 AM by brb1006

He made lots of people want spinach. There's a statue of him in some spinach-growing community.

There's a CGI movie about him in the works. By the guy who made Samurai Jack. I'm waiting for that one!

IIRC he's got a critically praised comicbook series going on right now.

I'm surprised I needs me Spinach hasn't become a euphemism for I'm about to kick your ass.

That's how much influence Popeye has. You know you're fucked when he opens up a can.

Literally.

edited 16th Sep '12 12:08:20 PM by HandsomeRob

I dunno...I like Popeye and all, but he's been out of the public eye for awhile now; the special from 2004 notwithstanding, I don't think he's had much of a TV presence since "Popeye and Son" back in the late 80's, and that only lasted one season. They showed his older cartoons on CN for a good while, but usually late at night. I'm afraid a large percentage of the population is going to be unfamiliar with him, and because of that he's going to feel VERY dated. This isn't to say that talented people couldn't do something great, it just depends on who the copyright holder's want to get to handle him...

I love Popeye - in fact, he's one of my favorite examples of The Hero when it comes to animation, particularly early animation. The underdog nature of his adventures, though incredibly formula, pretty much always works, and his steadfast nature makes him constantly endearing.

Also, "On Our Way To Rio" is in my top five favorite cartoons of all time. It's a casual hobby of mine to occasionally look for a copy of the music in it.

Random question: does anyone remember the name of the early Popeye cartoon where Olive takes him to a crooked teacher (Bluto) to learn to become a gentleman - and in the end Popeye ends up fighting him while pretending to act like a gentleman?

edited 16th Sep '12 2:06:37 PM by KnownUnknown

Was that the one where Bluto's name was spelled "Bluteau"? If so, then I think I just found it on Youtube in Spanish!

Yes it is. It is called "Learn Polikeness" (intentional misspelling.) Here it is in English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8r2JX6IXiY

You know, one of the things that makes Popeye unique is that, for a fairly well known and loved hero, he's ugly and uncouth. Yet he still is kind (sometimes to his own detriment) and, while he has a reputation of solving things with violence, its usually circumstances that force him to use it- it isn't his first choice.

edited 16th Sep '12 9:01:13 PM by Sijo

There's actually a book about the Famous Studios Popeye cartoons in which the author admits he liked Bluto better than Popeye, citing that Bluto was better looking and generally more "suave." He seemed to think Bluto's primary character flaw was impatience; clearly, this guy has no appreciation for the underdog-hero nature of Popeye. One has to wonder if he was watching the same cartoons as the rest of us...

...Gendy Tartakovsky's directing a Popeye movie? That...that's got to be amazing.

The Popeye short I've seen the most recently was Popeye Meets Sinbad, and I have to say it was simply amazing. In some ways, Popeye was like the original action comedy, with a rare case of a borderline Action Hero as opposed to a Screwy Squirrel, Guile Hero or The Everyman, as was common for the era. And really, the fight at the end of the aforementioned short holds up very well even to this day.

It also helps that a good portion of Popeye's dialouge was improvised, which gave it a certain spontaneous quality, even if it was at the cost of his lines often having no lip-synching.

Well, at the very least, the animation in Hotel Transylvania looks awesome. Really has a sort of Dover Boys in CG look that I've rarely seen used in the medium.

Plus, I imagine that Popeye would be closer to the works he's most known for, especially with the potential for some spectacular fight scenes.

I think the same thing about the guy. I think the first time it ever hit me how much of a gruff but genuinely nice guy Popeye was generally written as was in that older cartoon where he's forced into a bullfight and initially totally refuses to do it. And then ends up making friends with the bull (after beating the crap out of it, of course).

Have memories of the shorts appearing on Cartoon Network every morning. It was mostly the later ones with the more fluid Warner-esque animation, though I have seen a few of the earlier more rubbery ones (had a VHS of the Ali Baba and Sinbad ones).

I liked how they sort of got around the slapstick "Invincible Hero thrashes Harmless Villain" dynamic that was so common with Golden Age shorts by making Popeye dependant on a certain MacGuffin to overpower his enemies, which, while making his shorts kind of predictable, allowed Popeye to remain an underdog and not get outshined in sympathy or charisma by enemies like Bluto (however amusing they may be). He would usually spend the majority of the short shying away from a fight out of good nature or getting pushed around by the bad guy, making his comeback with the spinach very satisfying.

edited 17th Sep '12 8:31:35 AM by Psi001

I liked Popeye and Son.

Now lynch me.

I only have vague memories of Popeye and Son, though from what I can remember, while gimmicky, it wasn't awful.

I remember seeing one of the shorts myself. I think it was a 50s one since it was on a videotape with other oldies like Little Lulu skipping school, Casper episodes with Ferdie (WHHHHYYYYYY) and "Skip-toodaloo my darlin'" and the Bugs Bunny episode where he was outsmarted by the gremlin on the plane.

edited 17th Sep '12 9:56:02 AM by vedjf

Odd, I think I had a compilation VHS with almost the exact same shorts. It had the Cinderella Popeye short in it.

That doesn't sound right. I think the one on mine was focused on cars or taxis or something.

Yeah, the "That's all I can stand, and I can't stands no more" bit was always pretty satisfying. He only fought when circumstances became intolerable, or to save/protect someone else.

Anyone else remember all the words to the Popeye the Sailor song? Both the "Strike up the band" song, and the "I'm Popeye the Sailor Man" song?

I remember a few of the variations that follow from "I live in a garbage can..."

As far as I can remember, the lyrics are:

I'm Popeye the Sailor Man
I'm Popeye the Sailor Man
I'm strong to the finich
Cause I eats my spinach
I'm Popeye the Sailor Man (toot toot)
I'm one tough gazooka
What hates all palookas
That ain't on the up and square
I biffs and I boffs 'em
And always outrough's 'em
But none of 'em get nowhere.
If anyone dasses to risk me fisks
It's bop and it's wham understan'?
So keep good behavior
It's your one lifesaver
With Popeye The Sailor Man
Yes, I'm Popeye the Sailor Man
I'm Popeye the Sailor Man
I yam what I yam\\ And that's all what I yam
I'm Popeye the Sailor Man.

I've got some appreciation for Popeye(watched a lot of his cartoon when I was at my grandmother's house). I think he, Donald Duck, and Bugs Bunny were sort of this trio which ushered in a different stage of cartoon characters. They were flawed, but they ultimately widened what could be done with heroes.

I grew up with the Popeye shorts. They're as vital to my childhood as the original Looney Tunes/ Merry Melodies and Walt Disney's movies.

I remember two of my favorite episodes being the ones in which Olive Oyl is "stolen" by "The Young Daring Man on the Flying Trapize" and the one in which Bluto and Popeye battle for a barber shop clean cut because Olive wants a "Clean Shaven Man"

She ends up with a long bearded Wimpy at the end of the episode.

edited 18th Sep '12 2:56:41 AM by PippingFool