Popeye and Son

Popeye and Son
Popeye already has a son named Swee'Pea, so why give him another son?
Genre: Sitcom Comedy Running Time: 22 minutes Country: United States Release Date: September 19 – December 12, 1987 Created by: E. C. Segar Distributed by: King Features Entertainment Turner Entertainment Co. Warner Bros. Television Distribution Starring: Maurice LaMarche Marilyn Schreffler Josh Rodine Allan Melvin Episodes: 13 (26 segments) Previous show: The All-New Popeye Hour Next show: Popeye's Island Adventures

Popeye and Son is an American animated comedy series based on the Popeye comic strip created by E.C. Segar and published by King Features Syndicate. Jointly produced by Hanna-Barbera and King Features subsidiary King Features Entertainment, the series aired for one season of thirteen episodes on CBS. It is a follow-up to The All-New Popeye Hour. Maurice LaMarche performed the voice of Popeye in this series, succeeding Jack Mercer in that role. It is also the first set of Popeye cartoons that were produced since Mercer's death in 1984. Following its original run on CBS, this series reran on the USA Network in the 1989-90 season and on The Family Channel from September 1994 to December 1995. It can currently be seen for free on Amazon Video.

Overview

Popeye and his long-time girlfriend, Olive Oyl, are married and have a son named Popeye Junior (or Junior for short), who has inherited Popeye's ability to gain superhuman strength from eating spinach; however, Popeye Jr. hates the taste of spinach (preferring hamburgers, like Wimpy), much to his father's disappointment, although he eats spinach anyway to boost his strength. Popeye's long-time rival Bluto has a wife of his own and they also have a son named Tank. Like old times, Popeye and Bluto are rivals, as are their sons.

Why It Has No Son

1. The understanding of the source material is severely lacking, which makes the series feel less like authentic Popeye-related media and more like a typical Hanna-Barbera cartoon.
   • In the show, Popeye Jr. is depicted as Popeye's son, whereas in the original cartoons, Swee'Pea is considered his son.
   • In this series, Popeye and Olive are portrayed as a married couple, whereas in the original cartoons, their relationship is inconsistent; they are often depicted simply as boyfriend and girlfriend, and at other times, merely as friends or acquaintances.
   • Bluto has married a new girlfriend, seemingly without reason, although it might be inferred that Bluto has moved on from Olive, acknowledging that she will never reciprocate his feelings, especially since Popeye is married to her in this series, effectively ending the renowned love triangle between Popeye, Bluto, and Olive.
2. The animation is usually off at times.
3. The show has less violence and action than the original cartoons.
4. The character design of Olive in the series hardly reflects her traditional appearance.
5. The show has killed the Popeye franchise from getting a new show for several years before Popeye's Island Adventures was finally made.
6. Missed opportunity: The series could have explored Popeye's bond with Swee'Pea, showing his growth from infancy to childhood. However, it opts to introduce a new character, Popeye Jr., which seems unoriginal. Furthermore, the complete lack of Swee'Pea's presence or reference, Popeye's adoptive son, is a glaring omission that ignores the continuity set by the original comics and cartoons.
7. The writing and storylines are uninspired and do not remain faithful to the original cartoons.
8. Most of the character designs for the new characters such as Popeye Jr. and Tank don’t fit into the Popeye universe that much.
9. Overuse of stock sound effects from Hanna-Barbera's previous shows.
10. The show's duration of just one season and thirteen episodes is indicative of its lack of success and suggests that it was ill-conceived from the outset.

Redeeming Qualities

1. The show's concept is certainly unique and creative, but unfortunately, it suffered from poor execution, representing a missed opportunity. It might have been more successful had it featured Swee'Pea instead of Popeye Jr.
2. The voice acting is passable.
3. The animation and music are good for their time, including the theme song.
4. Aside from Swee'Pea, other characters from the Popeye comics that don’t appear that much in the animated shorts with an exception of the big four (Popeye, Olive, Bluto, and Wimpy) have made appearances on this show such as Pappy, Eugene the Jeep and the Sea Hag.
5. There was one good episode called "Junior Gets a Job".
6. The Italian dub is positive and underrated.

Reception

• "Popeye and Son" has received significant criticism from fans of the original cartoons due to its deviation from the source material.

See Also

• Popeye's Island Adventures

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