Popeye
From Muppet Wiki
Popeye is a comic strip and cartoon character, a salty sailor known for his abnormally large arms, prodigious strength, and inexplicable adoration of the skinny, often shrewish Olive Oyl. Created by Elzie Segar, Popeye debuted in Segar's strip Thimble Theater as a supporting character in 1929, but soon took over the strip. In 1932, Popeye made the transition to animation in a long-running series of Paramount cartoons, initially produced by Max Fleischer, which introduced spinach as the source of the sailor's strength and emphasized the romantic rivalry between the sailor and the burly bearded Bluto. Popeye went on to star on radio, in Robert Altman's 1980 film, and in several TV series and specials.
References
- In the second season Muppet Babies episode "The Great Muppet Cartoon Show," the song "We Love Cartoons" features Baby Kermit as Popeye and Baby Skeeter as Olive Oyl.
- In the sixth season Muppet Babies episode "Comic Capers," Baby Fozzie manipulates Baby Scooter in a computer drawing program, at one point turning him into Popeye.
- In Sesame Street episode 3096, Telly Monster breaks his arm, which swells up. Elmo is amazed: "Wow, Telly has an arm like Popeye!"
Connections
Several people with Muppet/Henson connections also appeared in the 1980 Popeye film.
- Paul Dooley played Wimpy
- Shelley Duvall played Olive Oyl
- Dennis Franz played Spike
- Bill Irwin played Ham Gravy
- Van Dyke Parks played Hoagy the piano player
- Robin Williams played Popeye
