Mar 2, 2011

Popeye: A Brief History




Popeye started as a comic strip Elzie Segar in 1929. In 1933 Fleischer studios adapted the comic into a cartoon. Popeye became largely more accepted as an animated series than a comic strip, quickly becoming the most popular cartoon charter surpassing Mickey Mouse and Donald duck in ratings. The characters Popeye, Olive Oyl, and Bluto first made there appearance in a Betty Boop short entitled "Popeye the Sailor" the short introduced the classic theme song "I'm Popeye the sailor man". A stand out episode being "Popeye meets Sinbad" demonstrates Great use of the rotoscope as well as color. The episode was actually the only Popeye animation to be nominated for an oscar.
As one can see Popeye was doing very well under the Fleicher studios, however in 1942 Famous studios took over production. During this time Popeye animation officially went technicolor. The characters also got a rounder and softer design as well as new stylish looks. Famous studios produced Popeye cartoons until 1956 when Popeye was sold to Associated Artist productions. Popeyes popularity skyrocketed, over 150 television stations aired the beloved cartoon. The creation of new Popeye cartoons continued well into the 1980s. Popeye was even adapted into alive action film starring Robin williams as Popeye and Shelly Duval as Olive Oyl. It is amusing to watch the cartoon characters "come to life" and see how they translate from animation into live action.

source
-callie

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