Popeye the Sailor (1960s TV series)

Popeye the Sailor
Genre	Animation Comedy
Based on	Popeye, created by E. C. Segar
Directed by	Jack Kinney (for Jack Kinney Productions) Seymour Kneitel (for Paramount Cartoon Studios) Gene Deitch (for Rembrandt Films/Halas and Batchelor) Paul Fennell (for Larry Harmon Pictures)
Voices of	Jack Mercer Mae Questel Jackson Beck
Theme music composer	Sammy Lerner (Original) Winston Sharples (Intro and Outro)
Composer(s)	Ken Lowman (for Jack Kinney Productions) Winston Sharples (for Paramount Cartoon Studios) Štěpán Koníček (for Rembrandt Films/Halas and Batchelor) Gordon Zahler (for Larry Harmon Pictures)
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of episodes	220
Production
Executive producer(s)	Al Brodax
Producer(s)	Jack Kinney Paramount Cartoon Studios William L. Snyder Larry Harmon Gerald Ray
Editor(s)	Joe Siracusa, Roger Donley, and Cliff Millsap (for Jack Kinney Productions) Dan Milner (for Larry Harmon Pictures) Norm Vizents (for Gerald Ray Studios)
Running time	5–7 minutes
Production company(s)	King Features Syndicate TV
Distributor	Hearst Entertainment
Release
Original network	Syndication
Original release	1960 – 1961
Chronology
Preceded by	Popeye the Sailor (1933–1957)
Followed by	The All New Popeye Hour (1978–1983)

Popeye the Sailor is an American animated series produced and syndicated by King Features Syndicate TV that was released in 1960 with 220 episodes produced.^[1] The episodes are grouped by the production studios of Larry Harmon Pictures, Rembrandt Films/Halas and Batchelor, Gerald Ray Studios, Jack Kinney Productions, Paramount Cartoon Studios, and Italy-based animation company Corona Cinematografica.^[2][3]

Production

In the late 1950s, the original Popeye theatrical shorts released by Paramount Studios from 1933 to 1957 began airing in many television markets and garnered huge ratings.^[4] King Features Syndicate, who owned the print rights to the "Popeye" name, did not earn any money from the syndication of the Paramount theatrical Popeye films. In order to capitalize on Popeye's television popularity, King Features hastily commissioned a new series of made-for-television Popeye cartoons.^[5] 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, the Hearst Corporation). Jack Mercer, Mae Questel and Jackson Beck returned for this series, which was produced by several different animation companies: Gerald Ray Studios, Jack Kinney Productions, Rembrandt Films/Halas and Batchelor, and Larry Harmon Productions).

Famous Studios, which produced the theatrical entries from 1942 to 1957, also returned, although by this point they had been renamed Paramount Cartoon Studios. The series was produced using the limited animation technique, whose production values contrasted sharply to their Popeye theatrical counterparts. 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 in 24 years.^[4] Several minor changes were made for the characters. Though World War II had ended 15 years prior, Popeye still retained his white Navy uniform (except in "Barbecue for Two", in which he wears his original clothes). Olive Oyl's appearance was a hybrid of different incarnations; while her outfit reverted to the Fleischer years of a red turtleneck, long black dress and huge shoes, her hair retained the mid/late 1940s and 1950s makeover initiated by Famous Studios (except in "Barbecue for Two", in which she is portrayed in her Fleischer/early Famous Studios design, and "Hits and Missiles", in which she wears her later Famous Studios clothes).

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". King Features actually owned the name, as Bluto 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.^[5] 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 morbidly obese. In addition, the sailor/Navy uniform was replaced with an enormous blue shirt and black pants.^[5] 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.^[4] 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 would mark the final time Mae Questel would voice Olive Oyl.

List of episodes

Larry Harmon Pictures

Note: The story of all episodes are made by Charlie Shows.

• "Muskels Shmuskels" - Popeye runs afoul of circus heavyweight Brutus.
• "Hoppy Jalopy" - Popeye races to save Olive, against Brutus who places death traps around the track.
• "Dead-Eye Popeye"
• "Mueller's Mad Monster" - Popeye and Olive tangle with a mad scientist's monster.
• "Caveman Capers" - Popeye remembers his prehistoric ancestor's discovery of spinach.
• "Bullfighter Bully"
• "Ace of Space"
• "College of Hard Knocks"
• "Abominable Snowman"
• "Ski-Jump Chump"
• "Irate Pirate"
• "Foola-Foola Bird"
• "Uranium on the Cranium" - Popeye and Brutus race to an island containing uranium.
• "Two-Faced Paleface
• "Childhood Daze" - Popeye has to protect Olive from Brutus, while he's changed into a baby.
• "Sheepish Sheep-Herder" - Popeye and his Pappy clash with rustlers.
• "Track Meet Cheat"
• "Crystal Ball Brawl" - Brutus tries to steal a crystal ball in Popeye's possession.

Rembrandt Films/Halas and Batchelor

• "Interrupted Lullaby"
• "Sea No Evil" - To keep making quick bucks, Brutus steals many parts of Popeye's boat.
• "From Way Out"
• "Seeing Double"
• "Swee'pea Soup" - King Blozo's subjects demand that he step down and install Swee'pea as King.
• "Hag-Way Robbery"
• "The Lost City of Bubble-lon"
• "There's No Space Like Home"
• "Potent Lotion"
• "Astro-Nut"
• "Goon with the Wind"
• "Insultin' the Sultan" - Popeye and Olive get into a heated argument and break up. However, when a sultan wants Olive to be his bride, Popeye decides to go back to his old lover.
• "Dog-Gone Dog-Catcher"
• "Voice from the Deep! or See Here Sea Hag!!"
• "Matinée Idol Popeye" - Director Brutus constantly finds roles for Popeye so deadly that they could kill him.
• "Beaver or Not"
• "The Billionaire" - Take-off on the television series The Millionaire.
• "Model Muddle"
• "Which Is Witch"
• "Disguise the Limit"
• "Spoil Sport"
• "Have Time, Will Travel"
• "Intellectual Interlude"
• "Partial Post
• "Weight for Me" - Depressed over a lengthy tour by Popeye and Brutus, Olive eats herself into a grotesque shape.
• "Canine Caprice"
• "Roger"
• "Tooth Be or Not Tooth Be"

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.

Jack Kinney Productions

Paramount Cartoon Studios

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 the four 1960s cartoons on the DVD release of Popeye's Voyage: The Quest for Pappy. The shorts included "Spinach Greetings" (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.

Warner Archive Collection will re-release the cartoons. The first volume was released on May 7, 2013. Most of the cartoons to be released were produced by Paramount Cartoon Studios,^[6] which are included in the first volume. As of 2016, no further volumes have been released.

Broadcasting history

• United States
  • ABC
  • Cartoon Network

International broadcasts

See also

• Popeye
• List of Popeye the Sailor theatrical cartoons (Fleischer Studios) (1933–1942)
• List of Popeye the Sailor theatrical cartoons (Famous Studios) (1942–1957)
• The All-New Popeye Hour (1978 – 1983, CBS; produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions)
• Popeye and Son (1987, CBS; produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions)
• The Popeye Show (2001 – 2003, Cartoon Network)

References

External links

• Hearst Entertainment's official page for the series (Identified as both "Original Popeye" and "Classic Popeye")
• Popeye the Sailor at the Internet Movie Database