11 things you didn't know about Popeye the Sailor

If we start thinking about comic strip characters, quite a few might come to mind. However There is one who recently turned 90.. He is a sailor with well-developed forearm muscles, with some anchor tattoos And he also smoked a pipe. So, yes, as you can imagine, we're referring to Popeye the Sailor.

He is always accompanied by his beloved Olivia, of your baby Cocoliso, in addition to frequently encountering his enemy Blutus. And in his outlandish stories, he always managed to come out on top. Often thanks to the power he gained from eating spinach.

It was really fun to see every time He ate the spinach, and as his muscles grew larger, he tapped his pipe.. Then he acquired superhuman strength, which helped him in dangerous situations.

Over the years, countless comics, films, cartoons, and a good number of other products have been based on it. Therefore, its impact has been so great that Popeye can be considered one of the first superheroes. Obviously, all this was to promote good values, although sometimes force had to be used if necessary.

Now, we'll summarize eleven facts you might not know about this fun character. From his beginnings, through the comics, to the latest news celebrating his ninetieth birthday.

1. Did you know what Popeye means?

First of all, we've been hearing its name for a long time, but do we really know where it comes from? Well, it's formed by combining two English words. “pop” and “eye”. Thus, his A literal translation would be bulging eye, to emphasize his closed or sleeping eye.

2. Who was its creator?

He was running year 1929 when Elzie Crisler Segar He came up with the idea for the character, appearing on January 17, in the well known King Features Daily. It initially appeared temporarily in the comic strip Thimble Theatre and later took the name of Popeye.

3. Real-life inspiration

Reportedly Popeye, was inspired by Frank “Rocky” Fiegel dChester, Illinois, Fiegel, who was born in 1868, had a prominent chin, a muscular body, and a unique skill in fistfighting. He died on March 24, 1947, and his tombstone bears an image of the character. Furthermore, historian Michael Brooks asserts that Segar periodically sent Fiegel money.

On the other hand, in 2009, in an investigation carried out by Jim Harris, published under the name of “Santa Monica Pier: A Century of the Last Great Pleasure Pier” He mentions that Segar found inspiration for his character while living in Santa Monica. When he was in California, he created the character based on the features of Olaf Olsen.

On the other hand, in 2015, businessman Greg Morena rejected this idea. He said that the inspiration from Reap, It belonged to a Norwegian sailor named Olaf Olsen, as Harris mentioned years ago.

4. How Popeye and Olive Oyl met

The comic strip of Thimble Theater was published from 1919 by The New York Evening Journal, and in 1929 is the first appearance of Popeye And from there, perhaps, the long-lasting romance began.

In that comic strip Popeye is hired by Ham Gravy and Castor Olivo to steer a ship and capture a magic hen. They all set sail together with Castor's sister and Ham's girlfriend, Olivia Olivo.

After this, with the passage of time and due to the success achieved, Popeye ceased to be a temporary character and became the protagonist. Later, Olivia Olivo leaves Ham Gravy and falls in love with the sailor.

5. Bluto or Brutus

Popeye's well-known rival, who always sought to make her life impossible and take away her Olivia's girlfriend, it's Bluto. Although it has been called both names, that is how it appeared from the beginning in the comics of Thimble Theatre.

Then when King Features produced the animated television series They mistakenly called him Brutus. In other words, they renamed it because of the studies. Fleischer They had created the character, therefore Paramount owned the rights.

Thus, it was called Brutus for a few years, before resuming its original name of Bluto, But always maintaining the same traits and boastful personality, which drive more than one person crazy.

6. How did Cocoliso get here?

Did you know that The baby that Olivia and Popeye had arrived by mail.. And he was given that name because of his lack of hair. Since his arrival in 1933, he has captivated more than one fan.

7. Their powers come from…

Popeye gets his superhuman powers from two different sources. It is worth noting that one of them became more deeply ingrained in the memory of fans than the other.

The first one is the magic hen named Bernice, which they capture in the first comic strip where Popeye appears. When Castor gets the idea to break the casino bank with the luck that the bird granted by rubbing the feathers on its head.

Once they come back, our sailor is shot several times. Therefore, the bird grants him superhuman strength in return for the care provided. by him during the crossing.

Although, in the Popeye comic strips said he didn't like vegetables.. Later in the Cartoons, since 1933, were the first to show the consumption of spinach to obtain their enormous strength. Then in the 1954 short film, Greek Myrthology, the sailor's family is shown tasting the vegetables.

According to the Fleischer's choice of spinach, It was due to some erroneous studies on iron content. Because someone placed a decimal point where it didn't belong, giving it a value ten times higher, and it was in 2012 that this measurement was corroborated.

8. Beginning of the comics

Our beloved Popeye has had two versions of comic strips. One for newspapers and one in comics. The fascicles themselves are a compilation of newspaper publications.

Comic strips have been published since 1919 by various artists, from their creator to other renowned cartoonists, including:

• EC Segar from 1919 until his death in 1938.
• Doc Winner between 1938 and 1939.
• Tom Sims and Bela Zaboly They took command from 1939 until 1955.
• Continuous Bela Zaboly along with Ralph Stein from 1955 to 1959.
• Then Bud Sagendorf I took responsibility from 1959 for about 35 years until 1994.
• Bobby London He was there from 1986 to 1992, while he was producing the daily comic strip during those years. Sagendorf was doing it for the weekly edition.
• Finally, in 1994 I joined this select group, Hy Eisman, remaining so far as the only cartoonist.

Regarding the Comics were published from 1931 to 2014, with more than 450 issues, with the daily comic strips. They also published a series of albums compiling the weekend strips, with more than 50 volumes.

9. Short films, animated series and feature film

Popeye It's been very active, considering they've produced everything from comics to movies, and believe it or not, the actor who took on the role was the famous Robin Williams.

Now then, the short films They began to be produced from the beginning of the thirties in two stages. The vast majority of them are black and white jewelry. From 1933 to 1942, Fleischer Studios It produced 108 episodes. Later from 1942 to 1957 126 chapters were produced by Paramount Pictures.

Regarding the animated series, which are more recent, from 1960 onwards and were called Popeye the Sailor. It consisted of 220 episodes produced in just two years, with simple, under-detailed animation. Both the short films and cartoons were based on the comic strips. Then, in the late seventies and eighties, the CBS and Hanna-Barbera Productions, They aired three series.

And finally the The 1980 film, which was a musical starring Robin Williams as Popeye. Being the director Robert Altman and the screenwriter Jules Feiffer, a fan of the sailor comic strips.

It was launched by Paramount Pictures and Walt Disney Productions. As a curious fact, the set for the film was built in Anchor Bay on the Island of Malta, It is still standing and continues to receive tourists. Recently in 2010, Sony announced that it would make a new film, but in 2015 it cancelled the project.

10. Did you know that statues exist?

Believe it or not, there are several statues of one of the world's most famous sailors. There are a total of 5 spread across several cities in the United States.

There is one in the hometown of its creator, Segar, in Chester, Illinois. Another one in the city of Crystal City, in reference to the increase in large-scale spinach production.

Likewise, 2 more statues in Alma, Arkansas, headquarters of the Allen Canning company, which is responsible for marketing the canned vegetable under the name Popeye.

And a fifth statue at Universal Orlando Resort's Islands of Adventure theme park. Because several attractions are inspired by the character.

11. Celebrating 90 years

In January 2019, King Feature Syndicate I launch the webcomic of Popeye's Cartoon Club, With new posts every week, we'll see the work of a long list of talented and established artists and illustrators. It's an excellent initiative to commemorate the birthday of a globally recognized character with millions of followers who has brought laughter to so many.

Finally, tell us: Did you know all these things about Popeye? Have you seen the short films or cartoons? Did you, like a good kid, start eating spinach because he does?

Image: Information Plan