Popeye was created by Elzie Segar, a cartoonist who
created the comic strip Thimble Theatre in 1919. This strip originally had
the characters of Olive Oyl, Ham Gravy (Olive's first boyfriend), Cole and
Nana Oyl (Olive's parents) and Castor Oyl. On January 17,
1929, Popeye made his first appearance in the comic strip.
In 1933, Fleischer Studios adapted the Thimble Theater
characters into a series of Popeye the Sailor cartoon shorts for Paramount
Pictures.
During the mid-1930s, polls taken by theater owners
proved Popeye more popular than Mickey Mouse. In 1935, Paramount added to
Popeye's popularity by sponsoring the "Popeye Club" as part of their
Saturday matinee program. Popeye cartoons, including "Let's Sing With
Popeye" were a regular part of the weekly meetings.
Fleischer Studios produced 108 Popeye cartoons; 105
of them in black and white. The remaining three were two-reel (double-length)
Technicolor specials billed as "Popeye Color Features": Popeye
the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor, Popeye
the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves, and Aladdin and His Wonderful
Lamp.
In January, 1942, Paramount seized Fleischer Studio
for its debts to Paramount. They replaced Max and Dave Fleischer with Seymour
Kneitel and Isadore Sparber as its heads, production was continued on the
shorts and renamed the studio Famous Studios. The early Famous shorts were
often World War II themed, featuring Popeye fighting Nazis and Japanese.
Famous produced 125 Popeye shorts until 1957 when they
closed their ended the series with Spooky Swabs Paramount then sold the Popeye
film backlist to Associated Artists Productions. AAP was bought out by United
Artists and later merged with MGM, which was itself purchased by Turner Entertainment
in 1986. Turner sold off the production end of MGM/UA in 1988, but retained
the film catalog, giving it the rights to the theatrical Popeye library.
The black-and-white Popeye shorts were shipped to South
Korea in 1988, where artists retraced them into color to make them more marketable
for television.
Fleischer issued individual posters
for the majority of their Popeye cartoons but some were issued as stock. Here
are the Popeye
stock posters.
All Fleischer
titles are black and white except where marked.
I
Yam What I Yam - 1933
Blow Me Down - 1933
I Eats My Spinach - 1933
Seasin's Greetinks - 1933
Wild Elephinks - 1933
STOCK SHEET -
issued showing Popeye - 1934
STOCK BANNER
- issued
showing Popeye - 1934
Sock-A-Bye,
Baby - 1934
Let's You and Him Fight - 1934
Man on the Flying Trapeze - 1934
Can You Take It - 1934
Shoein' Hosses - 1934
Strong to the Finich - 1934
Shiver Me Timbers - 1934
Axe Me Another - 1934
A Dream Walking - 1934
Two-Alarm Fire - 1934
Dance Contest - 1934
We Aim to Please - 1934
Beware of Barnicle Bill - 1935
Be Kind to 'Aminals' - 1935
Pleased to Meet Cha - 1935
'Hyp-Nut-Tist' - 1935
Choose Your 'Weppins' - 1935
For Better or Worser - 1935
Dizzy Divers - 1935
You Gotta Be a Football Hero - 1935
King of the Mardi Gras - 1935
Adventures
of Popeye - 1935
Spinach Overture - 1935
Vim, Vigor and Vitaliky - 1936
Clean Shaven Man - 1936
Brotherly Love - 1936
I-Ski Love-Ski You-Ski - 1936
Bridge Ahoy - 1936
What - No Spinach? - 1936
I Wanna Be a Life Guard - 1936
Let's Get Movin' - 1936
Never Kick a Woman - 1936
Little Swee' Pea - 1936
Hold the Wire - 1936
Spinach Roadster - 1936
Popeye
the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor - 1936 - color
I'm in the Army Now - 1936
STOCK CARD -
issued showing Popeye - 1937
Paneless Window Washer - 1937
Organ Grinder's Swing - 1937
My Artistical Temperature - 1937
Hospitaliky - 1937
Twisker Pitcher - 1937
Morning, Noon and Night Club - 1937
Lost and Foundry - 1937
I Never Changes My Altitude - 1937
I Likes Babies and Infinks - 1937
Football Toucher Downer - 1937
Protek the Weakerist - 1937
Popeye
the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Theives - 1937 - color
Fowl Play - 1937
Let's Celebrake - 1938
Learn
Polikeness - 1938
House
Builder Upper - 1938 [Morgan 13617]
Big Chief Ugh-Amugh-Ugh - 1938
I Yam Love Sick - 1938
Plumbing is a Pipe - 1938
Jeep
- 1938 [Morgan 14222]
Bulldozing the Bull - 1938
Mutiny Ain't Nice - 1938
Goonland - 1938
A Date to Skate - 1938
Cops
is Always Right - 1938 [Morgan 15315]
STOCK SHEET -
issued showing Popeye - 1939
Customers Wanted - 1939
Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp - 1939 - color
Leave Well Enough Alone - 1939
Wotta
Nitemare - 1939 [Morgan 16264]
Ghosks is the Bunk - 1939
Hello,
How Am I? - 1939
It's the Natural Thing to do - 1939
Never Sock a Baby - 1939
Shakespearean Spinach - 1940
Females is Fickle - 1940
Stealin'
Ain't Honest - 1940
Me Fellins is Hurt - 1940
Onion
Pacific - 1940
Wimmin
is a Myskery - 1940 [Morgan 17934]
Nurse-Mates
- 1940
Fightin'
Pals - 1940 - NSS 05-407-1265 [Morgan 18243]
Doing Impossikible Stunts - 1940
Wimmin Hadn't Oughta Drive - 1940
Puttin On the Act - 1940
Popeye Meets William Tell - 1940
My Pop, My Pop - 1940
With Poopdeck Pappy - 1940
Popeye Presents Eugene, the Jeep - 1940
Problem Pappy - 1941
Quiet! Pleeze - 1941
Olive's $weep$take Ticket - 1941
Flies Ain't Human - 1941
STOCK POSTER - issued
showing Popeye - NSS 41/1136 [Morgan 20440]
Popeye Meets Rip Van Winkle - 1941
Olive's Boithday Presink - 1941
Child Psykolojiky - 1941
Pest Pilot - 1941
I'll Never Crow Again - 1941
Mighty Navy - 1941
Nix on Hypnotricks - 1941
Kickin' the Conga Round - 1942
Blunder Below - 1942
Fleets of Stren'th - 1942
Pip-eye, Pup-eye, Poop-eye an' Peep-eye - 1942
Olive Oyl and Water Don't Mix - 1942
Many Tanks - 1942
Baby
Wants a Bottleship - 1942 - Semi Stock from 1941
Paramount confiscated
Fleischer Studios and changed the name to Famous Studio in January 1942,
but this starts the cartoons CREATED by Famous.
You're a Sap, Mr. Jap - 1942
Alona on the Sarong Seas - 1942 (Sep. 4, 1942)
A Hull of a Mess - 1942
Scrap the Japs - 1942
Me Musical Nephews - 1942
STOCK SHEET -
issued showing Popeye - 1943 Semi
stock - NSS 43/1520 [Morgan 25053]
Spinach Fer Britain - 1943
Seein' Red, White 'N' Blue - 1943
Too Weak to Work - 1943
A Jolly Good Furlough - 1943
Ration Fer the Duration - 1943
Hungry Goat - 1943
Happy Birthdaze - 1943
Wood-Peckin' - 1943
Cartoons Ain't Human - 1943
Her Honor the Mare - 1943
Marry-Go-Round - 1943
We're On Our Way to Rio - 1944
Anvil Chorus Girl - 1944
Spinach Packin' Popeye - 1944
Puppet Love - 1944
Pitchin' Woo at the Zoo - 1944
Moving Aweigh - 1944
She-Sick Sailors - 1944
Pop-Pie a La Mode - 1945
Tops in the Big Top - 1945
Shape Ahoy - 1945
For
Better or Nurse - 1945 - semi stock from 1943
Mess Production - 1945
House Tricks - 1946
Service With a Guile - 1946
Klondike Casanova - 1946
Peep in the Deep - 1946
Rocket to Mars - 1946
Rodeo Romeo - 1946
Fistic Mystic - 1946
Island Fling - 1946
Abusement Park - 1947
I'll Be Skiing Ya - 1947
Royal Four-Flusher - 1947
Popeye and the Pirates - 1947
Wotta Knight - 1947
Safari So Good - 1947
All's Fair at the Fair - 1947
Olive Oyl For President - 1948
Wigwam Whoopee - 1948
Pre-Hysterical Man - 1948
Popeye Meets Hercules - 1948
A Wolf in Sheik's Clothing - 1948
Spinach vs. Hamburgers - 1948
Snow Place Like Home - 1948
Robin Hood-Winked - 1948
Symphony in Spinach - 1948
Popeye's Premiere - 1949
Lumberjack and Jill - 1949
Hot Air Aces - 1949
A Balmy Swami - 1949
Tar With a Star - 1949
Silly Hillbilly - 1949
Barking Dogs Don't Fite - 1949
Fly's Last Flight - 1949
Best of the Best - 1949 [Morgan 38043]
STOCK SHEET -
issued showing Popeye - 1950 - NSS 50/7237 [Morgan 40785]
How Green is My Spinach - 1950
Gym Jam - 1950
Beach Peach - 1950
Jitterbug Jive - 1950
Popeye Makes a Movie - 1950
Baby Wants Spinach - 1950
Quick on the Vigor - 1950
Riot in Rhythm - 1950
Farmer and the Belle - 1950
Vacation With Play - 1951
Thrill of Fair - 1951
Alpine For You - 1951
Double Cross-Country Race - 1951
Pilgrim Popeye - 1951
Let's Stalk Spinach - 1951
Punch and Judo - 1951
Popeye's Pappy - 1952
Lunch With a Punch - 1952
Swimmer Takes All - 1952
Friend or Phony - 1952
Tots of Fun - 1952
Popalong Popeye - 1952
Shuteye Popeye - 1952
Big Bad Sindbad - 1952
Ancient Fistory - 1953
Child Sockology - 1953
Popeye Mirthday - 1953
Toreadorable - 1953
Baby Wants a Battle - 1953
Firemen's Brawl - 1953
Popeye,
the Ace of Space - 1953 - 3D - NSS 53/1118 [Morgan 45029]
Shaving Muggs - 1953
Floor Flusher - 1954
Popeye's 20th Anniversary - 1954
Taxi-Turvy - 1954
Bride and Gloom - 1954
Greek Mirthology - 1954
Fright to the Finish - 1954
Private Eye Popeye - 1954
Gopher Spinach - 1954
Cookin' With Gags - 1955
Nurse to Meet Ya - 1955
Penny Antics - 1955
Beaus Will Be Beaus - 1955
Gift of Gag - 1955
Car-azy Drivers - 1955
Mister and Mistletoe - 1955
Cops Is Tops - 1955
A Job For a Gob - 1955
Hill-billing and Cooing - 1956
Popeye For President - 1956
Out to Punch - 1956
Assault and Flattery - 1956
Insect to Injury - 1956
Parlez Vous Woo - 1956
I Don't Scare - 1956
A Haul in One - 1956
Nearlyweds - 1957
Crystal Brawl - 1957
Patriotic Popeye - 1957
Spree Lunch - 1957
Spooky Swabs - 1957
All Popeye cartoons
sold to AAP
Popeye Follies: His Times and Life - 1974
