July 14, 1933…Popeye Comes To The Silver Screen
July 14, 1933…Popeye Comes To The Silver Screen
This is the first of 109 cartoons Popeye starred in from 1933 until 1942. Newspaper cartoonist E. C. Segar is the man who created Popeye, but before he came along, Olive Oyl had been the star of his “Thimble Theater” comic strip, and had been since the strip debuted December 19, 1919…10 years before Popeye was created on January 17, 1929. The sailor man was an instant hit and Segar’s creation character became one of the top funny paper characters in the country.
When Popeye came to the silver screen, he needed a voice and for the first two years, that was done by Billy Costello, but he was replaced in 1935 by Jack Mercer. Olive Oyl was originally voiced by none other than the voice of Betty Boop, May Questel, but when producer Max Fleischer moved operations to Miami from New York in 1938, Questel didn’t want to move, so Margie Hines took over. In 1943, Paramount moved the operation back to New York and May Questel once again became the voice of Olive.
William Pennell was the original voice of Bluto, but he too declined to move to Florida, but when Paramount moved the operation back to NYC, he took over again. While they were in Miami, Gus Wickie was the voice of Bluto.
Thanks to the animated shorts, Popeye became even more of a sensation than he had been in comic strips. As Betty Boop gradually declined in quality as a result of Hays Code (movie sex police) enforcement in 1934, Popeye became the studio’s star character. By 1936, Popeye began to sell more tickets and became the most popular cartoon character in the country in the 1930s…beating Mickey Mouse. Well blow me down! -Bobby Ellerbee
Jack Mercer on “To Tell the Truth”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8VCYKkrwuE
In Pittsburgh, the daily Children’s show was “Capt. Jim’s Popeye Club”.
They weren’t in this episode but my favorite part of the old cartoons are the little mumblings that he would say to himself. They were hilarious.
I yam whit I yam
I think it’s a really cool movie. I’d own it if I ever get off the couch and go on Amazon. They are both super in this film, and I love those bad guys, too.
I love this story! I had thought Mae Questal was the only Olive Oyl, then noticed no more Mae. Good to know she’s the one they went to later. She was so cute, reminds me of a friend of my mother’s when I was a kid.
I remember they made a Popeye movie in the 80’s starring Robin Williams as Popeye.
Most ‘kids’ of my generation grew up with some sort of local Popeye show and the Max Fleischer created shorts. Our version in Indianapolis was ‘Happy Herb the Sailor’ circa 1959, on WTTV-Channel 4.
I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for the syndicated Popeye cartoon package. My folks met while both working at WRVA-TV in Richmond, VA. My dad worked in the production department and my mother in traffic. The Sailor Bob Show, originating from the TV Schooner was the vehicle for the Popeye cartoons and LIVE local advertising, and was a ratings winner from January 1959 to April 1969.
“I yam what I yam and that’s all that I yam.”
Hilarious…the kiddies today couldn’t stand the ultra-violence, they would need a “safe place”…lol.
What was the ‘Hays Code’? I could look it up, but it might be interesting if it was posted here.