Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional character created by Elzie Crisler Segar, first appearing on January 17, 1929, in the daily King Features comic strip Thimble Theatre. The strip was in its tenth year when Popeye made his debut, but the one-eyed sailor quickly became the lead character, and Thimble Theatre became one of King Features' most popular properties during the early 1930s. Popeye became the suitor of longtime Thimble Theatre star Olive Oyl, and Segar introduced new supporting characters such as adopted son Swee'Pea and friend J. Wellington Wimpy, as well as foes like the Sea Hag and Bluto. Following Segar's death in 1938, Thimble Theatre (later renamed Popeye) was continued by several writers and artists, most notably Segar's assistant Bud Sagendorf.
Adaptations (2)
Popeye has been adapted into 2 films, from 1980 to 2004. The most recent is Popeye's Voyage: The Quest for Pappy (2004).
Popeye1980 · film · 114 min · dir. Robert Altman · IMDb ↗Popeye, a squinty-eyed, corn cob pipe smoking, spinach hating, mumbling sailor man with overly muscular forearms partly the result of genetics, has just arrived in the port town of Sweethaven. He has been sailing the seven seas in search of his father who abandoned him when he was two. He is viewed suspiciously by many in town, with an exception of Wimpy, who will become friends with anyone who will buy him a hamburger, he otherwise paying for said hamburger on Tuesday if he can get it today. One who does view him suspiciously is Olive Oyl, the lanky, work boots wearing daughter of his rooming house landlords. Due to the changing situation, including they discovering an abandoned infant boy who Popeye names Swee'pea in honor of the town and who they decide to raise, Popeye and Olive fall for each other, Olive in the process leaving who was to be her fiancé, Bluto, the town bully who rules Sweethaven on behalf of the mysterious Commodore. Bluto does not take this emerging situation lying down, he using Swee'pea as a pawn in getting Olive Oyl back. What happens in this situation in Popeye fighting for both Olive Oyl and Swee'pea is partly affected by discovery of what happened to his father.
Popeye's Voyage: The Quest for Pappy2004 · film · 44 min · dir. Ezekiel Norton · IMDb ↗IMDb5.5After a wild dream, Popeye, along with Bluto, Olive, Wimpy, and Swee'pea, takes to the seas to rescue his long-lost absent father for the holidays, while the dastardly Sea Hag tries to stop the rag-tag crew from breaking a mysterious and fateful prophecy.
