Popeye the Sailor (1960 TV series)

Popeye The Sailor/Classic Popeye
First, he's a comic strip star. Then, he's a movie star... but before that, the all-American sailor was a TV star!
Genre: Comedy Running Time: 5–7 minutes Country: United States Release Date: June 10, 1960 – April 23, 1963 Starring: Jack Mercer Mae Questel Jackson Beck Episodes: 220

Popeye the Sailor or Classic Popeye is an American animated television series produced for King Features Syndicate TV that was aired in syndication in 1960 with 220 episodes

produced.

The episodes are grouped by the production studios of Larry Harmon Pictures, Rembrandt Films, Halas and Batchelor, Gerald Ray Studios, Jack Kinney Productions, Paramount Cartoon Studios, and Italy-based animation company Corona Cinematografica.

Good Qualities

1. America's favorite sailor, Popeye, first came to the TV screen.
2. Although it represents a downgrade from the animation of the theatrical; shorts, the quality remains quite decent, except for the episodes produced by Larry Harmon Pictures and Gerald Ray Studios.
3. Great voice acting, with Jack Mercer reprising his role as Popeye.
4. Character designs was superb. For example, Popeye had his same character design from the 1940s and 1950s, as he wears his navy outfit.
5. The last notes of the Popeye theme song at the end of these episodes, sounds very incredible.
6. Most of the characters, who only appeared in the Thimble Theater comic strips, including Popeye's fearsome enemy, the Sea Hag, finally made their screen debut.
7. The artwork was streamlined for the huge television budgets, and the entries were completed at a breakneck pace.
8. The background for the Larry Harmon Pictures episodes, are half-smooth (similar to the Disney cartoons) and half-stylized (similar to the UPA cartoons).
9. It stays faithful to the Popeye comic strips and the theatrical Popeye cartoons for the most part.
10. Some new characters, including Olive's cute and tomboyish little niece, Deezil Oyl, are introduced for this series.

Bad Qualities

1. Jumping the shark: In some episodes like "Hits and Missiles", they featured the space theme. Which, for the Popeye universe, is out of place since, for example: it contains living cheese residents on the moon.
2. The look of the Popeye characters for this series, was very different:
   • Despite her cute character design for this series, Olive Oyl's appearance was a hybrid of different incarnations; while her outfit reverted to the original comic strips and the Fleischer cartoons (as well as the early Famous Studios cartoons), her adorable hair retained the mid/late 1940s and 1950s makeover initiated by Famous Studios.
   • The biggest change was to Bluto, who has been replaced by Brutus.
3. Due to a lack of thorough research, King Features failed to realize this and reinvented Bluto as Brutus to avoid supposed copyright infringement problems.
4. Some bad episodes, such as:
   • "Popeye's Junior Headache"
   • "Popeye and the Giant"
   • "Fashion Fotography"
5. The animation, while still a decent effort (except for that from Larry Harmon Pictures and Ray Studios), is a significant downgrade from the theatrical shorts of the Fleischer Studios and early-mid Famous Studios eras, and to a lesser extent, the late Famous Studios era.
   • Compared to the theatrical shorts, the color palette appears noticeably duller and more washed out.
   • The animation produced by Larry Harmon Pictures and Gerald Ray Studios is notably subpar, featuring unappealing character designs, stiff and jerky movements, and numerous animation errors.
6. Some of the moments are unfunny and stupid, including Wimpy turning into a giant after eating growth pills from Brutus, Deezil Oyl badly burns Popeye's butt in "Popeye's Junior Headache", Olive Oyl turning into a cow for some unknown reason or even Popeye literally fighting a mail box.

Trivia

• This TV series was both the last Popeye and Paramount Cartoon Studios production to feature Mae Questel as the voice of Olive Oyl.

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