Popeye the Sailor (TV series) explained

Genre:Comedy
Based On:Popeye,
Country:United States
Language:English
Channel:Syndication
Executive Producer:Al Brodax
Company:King Features Syndicate TV
Animation:
Num Episodes:220
Runtime:5–7 minutes

Popeye the Sailor is an American animated television series produced for King Features Syndicate TV starring Popeye that was released between 1960 and 1963 with 220 episodes produced.[1] The episodes were produced by a variety of production studios and aired in broadcast syndication until the 1990s.

Production

In the late 1950s, the original Popeye the Sailor theatrical shorts released by Paramount Pictures from 1933 to 1957 began airing in many television markets and garnered huge ratings.[2] King Features Syndicate, which owned the rights to the "Popeye" character, did not earn any money from the syndication of the theatrical shorts.[3] In order to capitalize on Popeye's television popularity, King Features hastily commissioned a new series of made-for-TV Popeye animated shorts.[4] Al Brodax served as executive producer of the cartoons for King Features' then-newly created television production and distribution division (known today as Hearst Entertainment, named after King Features' parent company, Hearst Communications). Jack Mercer, Mae Questel and Jackson Beck returned for this series, which was produced by several different animation companies, including Larry Harmon Pictures, Rembrandt Films, Halas and Batchelor, Gerald Ray Studios, and Jack Kinney Productions. Famous Studios, which produced the theatrical entries from 1942 to 1957, also returned, although by this point it had been renamed Paramount Cartoon Studios.[5]

The series was produced using limited animation techniques, whose production values contrasted sharply to the theatrical shorts. The artwork was streamlined, simplified for television budgets, and the entries were completed at a breakneck pace; 220 made-for-television cartoons were produced in two years. In contrast, 231 theatrical cartoons were produced over 24 years.[2] Several minor changes were made for the characters. Though World War II had ended 15 years earlier, Popeye still retained his white US Navy uniform as had been the case for post-war theatrical shorts. Olive Oyl's appearance was a hybrid of different incarnations; while her outfit reverted to the Fleischer years of a red turtleneck, long black skirt and huge shoes, her hair retained the mid/late 1940s and 1950s makeover initiated by Famous Studios. Notably, the short "Barbecue for Two" uses the designs from the earlier theatrical shorts.

The biggest change was to Bluto, whose name was changed to "Brutus". At the time, King Features believed that Paramount owned the rights to the name "Bluto", but the character had been originally created for the comic strip. However, due to a lack of thorough research, they failed to realize this and reinvented him as Brutus to avoid supposed copyright infringement problems.[4] Realizing their mistake, King Features began to promote Brutus as an entirely new character. His demeanor was altered slightly, and his physical appearance was changed from being muscular to slightly obese. In addition, his sailor uniform was replaced with a regular blue shirt and brown pants.[4] (In later years, the newspaper comic strip would bring back the original Bluto alongside Brutus, positioning them as brothers.)

Many entries lifted storylines directly from the comic strip, resulting in the inclusion of many characters not seen in the theatrical releases, including the Sea Hag, Toar, Rough House, and King Blozo.[2] Like their theatrical counterparts, the made-for-television series was also a big ratings success. Popeye the Sailor aired in syndication in the United States into the 1990s. Notably, the 1960s shorts marked the final time that Mae Questel would voice Olive Oyl in a regularly-airing production, although she did the voice in a commercial for the arcade game based on the series in 1983 and in various interviews until she retired.

Voice cast

Episodes

Larry Harmon Pictures

Note: The stories of all episodes are written by Charlie Shows.

Rembrandt Films/Halas and Batchelor

Gerald Ray Studios

Note: In this production, the animation team was composed by: Izzy Ellis, Sam Kai, Casey Onaitis, Ray Young, Bill Higgins, Barney Posner, John Garling, and Bud Partch. Finally, backgrounds and layouts are made respectively by Dave Weidman and Henry Lee.

Paramount Cartoon Studios

Home video

VHS

In the late 1990s, the Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits restaurant franchise released most of the 1960s cartoons on VHS in the Popeye Cartoon Video Collection Series promotional line. Each video in the series featured one promotional segment for Popeyes showing video footage of its fried chicken, biscuits and other products followed by the 1960s Popeye cartoons. After the cartoons, the second segment for Popeyes and two bonus cartoons were also featured.

DVD

In 2004, Family Home Entertainment released four of the 1960s cartoons on the DVD release of . The shorts included "Spinach Greetings" (a classic Christmas episode), "Popeye in the Grand Steeple Chase", "Valley of the Goons", and "William Won't Tell". 85 of the 1960s Popeye cartoons were released on DVD by Koch Vision in a three-disc DVD set entitled Popeye's 75th Anniversary.

As part of the licensing to release DVD collections of the original theatrical Popeye cartoons that had originally been released by Paramount, Warner Bros., which had come to own the shorts, also released a collection of the TV cartoons. The collection was released on May 7, 2013, and included 72 cartoons. Most of the cartoons to be released were produced by Paramount Cartoon Studios.[7] As of 2019, no further volumes have been released.

A total of 126 shorts from the series have been released across various DVD releases, accounting for cartoons released multiple times.

Streaming

A version which includes all 220 shorts, presented in 55 half-hour cartoons, can be seen on Amazon Prime Video as Classic Popeye.

Also, all the episodes are available on the Popeye And Friends official YouTube channel, either as stand-alone shorts or as part of compilations.[8]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Grandinetti, Fred M.. Popeye: An Illustrated Cultural History, 2d ed.. December 31, 2003. McFarland. 9780786426874 . Google Books.
  2. Tom Kenny, Jerry Beck, Frank Caruso, Glenn Mitchell . . Special Features: I Yam What I Yam: The Story of Popeye the Sailor . DVD. Warner Home Video . 2007 .
  3. Book: Erickson . Hal . Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 . 2005 . 2nd . McFarland & Co . 978-1476665993 . 632.
  4. Web site: Ian . Retrieved on April 27, 2009 . Straightdope.com . July 14, 2009.
  5. Web site: When Popeye was the King of Television Cartoons. September 2, 2019.
  6. Web site: DataBase . The Big Cartoon . Popeye Episode Guide -King Features Synd @ BCDB . Big Cartoon DataBase (BCDB) . 27 July 2019.
  7. Web site: Warner Archive Revives Spirit of Saturday Morning Cartoons . Home Media Magazine . 2013-04-05 . 2015-09-17.
  8. Web site: Popeye and Friends Official - YouTube . .

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