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POPEYE

Popeye made his way into the public eye in 1929. The comic strip created by Elzie Segar was originally centered around Olive Oyl’s family but slowly Popeye’s character grew in popularity and showed up more and more frequently. The show had humorous and lovable characters like Swee’Pea, the "infink" (Popeye*s adopted baby girl), J. Wellington Wimpy (hungry hamburger consumer)and Brutus (big, hairy guy that loves Olive).

Segar was a genius creator who made memorable and very strong characters. Popeye is known the world over even today. Although Popeye is not really a good-looking man and he does get into foul moods, he is unpretentious and that makes his appeal long-lasting.

Popeye made his move to screen in 1933 with Betty Boop thanks to Fleischer studios. Almost 600 cartoons exist and are in worldwide syndication. In 1980, Popeye and the gang were resurrected in a different form, the movie starring Robin Williams and Shelley Duval. The 60th Anniversary was celebrated with a series of six prime-time specials.

Strangely enough, the spinach-growers of Crystal City, Texas actually credited Popeye with a 33% increase in the consumption of spinach in the U.S. and erected a statue back in 1937 to honor Segar and Popeye. The question is, could spinach be responsible for the enormous fame and fortune of Popeye. We can only guess, open up another can and pull on your favorite t-shirt.