Popeye

Popeye is a comic strip and cartoon character created by Elzie Segar in 1929 for his comic strip, Thimble Theatre.http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/532638/Elzie-Crisler-Segar He is a sailor who gains strength from eating spinach.http://www.popeye.com/ Many of his adventures include rescuing his girlfriend, Olive Oyl, from his nemesis Bluto.http://www.popeye.com/

Thimble Theatre featured a woman named Olive Oyl and her brother, Castor.http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1494443/Olive-Oyl?anchor=ref1070853 In his comic strip debut, Popeye played a nameless character, who helped Castor with a job.http://www.kingfeatures.com/features/comics/popeye/about.htm As Popeye became a regular character, Olive's original boyfriend, Ham Gravy, was written out of the strip.http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1494443/Olive-Oyl?anchor=ref1070853 Segar gradually shifted the focus of the comic strip to Popeye.http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1494443/Olive-Oyl?anchor=ref1070853 Within a few years, the name of the comic strip was changed to Thimble Theatre, Starring Popeye.http://www.awn.com/mag/issue2.4/awm2.4pages/2.4langerpopeye.html

In 1933, Popeye made his film debut in a Betty Boop cartoon.http://www.kingfeatures.com/features/comics/popeye/about.htm Produced by Max Fleischer of Fleischer Studios, the episode "Popeye the Sailor" shows Popeye attending a carnival with Olive Oyl while Bluto tries to lure her away.http://www.kingfeatures.com/features/comics/popeye/about.htm Fleischer Studios created many episodes of Popeye until 1942 when Paramount took control of the studio and renamed it Famous Studios.http://www.popeye.com/

Famous Studios continued creating animated shorts of the sailor and his friends.http://www.kingfeatures.com/features/comics/popeye/about.htmHowever, Famous Studios sold the film rights in 1955 to King Features Syndicate, the company that brought the sailor man to television.http://www.popeye.com/ By 1960, more than 150 stations were airing Popeye cartoons.http://www.popeye.com/ As demand for television content grew, several studios were hired to create more Popeye episodes.http://www.popeye.com/

In 1978, Hanna-Barbera licensed the animation rights from King Features. The company created the All New Popeye Hour, which remained part of its Saturday morning cartoon lineup for four years.http://www.popeye.com/ By 1980, the sailor character was played by Robin Williams in the feature film Popeye. The movie also starred Shelley Duvall, who played Olive Oyl.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081353/ The Popeye character was made into a 3D character in the CGI (computer-generated imagery) cartoon Popeye's Voyage: The Quest for Pappy, which aired in 2004.http://www.popeye.com/

"I yam what I yam, and that's all what I yam." — Popeyehttp://www.popeye.com/

"Well, blow me down!" — Popeyehttp://www.popeye.com/