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POPEYE LISTS

Fun stuff from the cartoons categorized for your convenience!

Last updated 10-24-08. 
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WHAT'S EATING POPEYE?	THE OTHER ROGUES IN THE GALLERY
Dire Straits	A POPEYE FOR ALL SEASONS
THE KISS WAS JUST A MISS

A POPEYE FOR ALL SEASONS

In the mood for a Popeye cartoon, but not sure which one to watch?  Maybe this chart can help, as I match the holiday or season themed cartoons with the calendar year.

Winter	Snow Place Like Home I'll Be Skiing You Klondike Casanova Alpine For You
Valentine's Day	Any of the "romance classic," but especially Parlez Vous Woo
President's Day	Olive Oyl For President Popeye For President
Spring	The Royal Four Flusher Nearly Weds Marry-Go-Round Bride And Gloom
April Fool's Day	Cookin' With Gags
Mother's Day	Bride And Gloom
Memorial Day	Too Weak To Work Seein' Red, White, And Blue* Spinach For Britain* Scrap The Japs* You're A Sap, Mr. Jap* A Jolly Good Furlough Ration For The Duration The Hungry Goat Rocket To The Moon * Contain unfortunate racial stereotypes and caricatures.
Summer	Beach Peach Vacation With Play Beaus Will Be Beaus Abusement Park Quick On The Vigor All's Fair At The Fair Baby Wants Spinach Thrill Of Fair Swimmer Take All Snow Place Like Home
Fourth Of July	Patriotic Popeye
Labor Day	Mess Production Farmer And The Belle Symphony In Spinach A Job For A Gob Service With A Guile Anvil Chorus Girl Taxy Turvy Cops Is Tops A Haul In One We're On Our Way To Rio
Back To School/Fall	Lunch With A Punch Jitterbug Jive
Halloween	Fright To The Finish Spooky Swabs Rocket To Mars Popeye The Ace Of Space
Election Day	(see President's Day)
Veteran's Day	(see Memorial Day) Service With A Guile
Thanksgiving Day	Wigwam Whoopee Pilgrim Popeye

THE KISS WAS JUST A MISS

Popeye and Bluto would often go to kiss Olive Oyl in the Famous Studios' cartoons only to wind up kissing something or someone else (even each other!!) by mistake.  Here's a chronicle of kissing calamities.

Alona On The Sarong Sea	A dreaming Popeye reaches over and kisses Bluto because, in his subconscious, he was seeing native girl Olive Oyl.
Tops In The Big Top	Popeye takes Olive's place as he frees her from Bluto's yo-yo trap and receives a smooch meant for Ms. Oyl.
For Better Or Nurse	A nimble Olive Oyl ducks out of the way and Popeye and Bluto, who are on either side of her, end up kissing each other.
Klondike Casanova	Dangerous Dan McBluto thinks he's getting a kiss from a flirty Olive at the end of the infamous soda and cherry scene, but he winds up with Popeye's head in his mouth instead.
Abusement Park	Kissing noises are heard as Bluto and Popeye are in the Tunnel Of Love boat together, each thinking that he is with Olive.
Popeye And The Pirates	At the end of the film when you'd expect Popeye and Olive to share a smooch, the little pirate pops up between them and our hapless hero winds up kissing his cheek.
Pre-Hysterical Man	The caveman plants two big kisses on Popeye as The Sailorman accidentally knocks Olive out of the caveman's arms and then is thrown flat against the underside of a hideaway bed where he inadvertently comes between Olive and her pursuing suitor again.
Jitterbug Jive	Bluto crashes his car through a barn and then mistakenly gives a cow a big kiss meant for Olive, who is trapped in the rumble seat.
Ancient Fistory	Bluto kisses a portrait due to Olive Oyl's well-timed ducking.  Then he kisses Popeye's steed when Popeye lifts Olive out of the way.
Mister And Misteltoe	Popeye pops up between "Santa" and Olive who are about to share a kiss under the mistletoe, so "Mr. Claus" gives Popeye one instead.

And here's a close call:

Shape Ahoy

Both Popeye and Bluto dive in after a skinny-dipping Olive Oyl and when they surface, the two gents are wrapped in each other's arms and about to share a kiss - until they open their eyes!

WHAT'S EATING POPEYE?

Popeye is famous for his eating habits. He wolfs down a can of spinach in nearly every cartoon. In some films, however, the roles are reversed. Instead of eating, Popeye is the one eaten! Instead of being the diner, Popeye becomes the dinner!

As Milton Knight points out in his review of Ration For The Duration in the Official Popeye Fanclub News-Magazine (Vol.010 - number 002, Spring 1999), Popeye in peril of being eaten was commonplace in Famous Studios' cartoons. In many cases, the scenes where Popeye is the main course are typically cartoonish - i.e. a large creature swallows a smaller creature whole in one big gulp. The scenes don't have a great deal of emotional impact. In other films, however, the scenes are gross and disturbing. I have to wonder what was going through the creators' minds when they made them. Were they trying to recapture some of the nightmarish elements that pop up from time to time in the old Betty Boop cartoons some of them worked on? The scenes sure gave me nightmares when I was a child. And I definitely didn't want to see certain cartoons if I had a virus or the flu! Even today, my stomach turns when I think of some of those scenes.

The following is a listing, by category, of the times Popeye was eaten in Famous Studios' cartoons. If I've missed any, chalk it up to my mind blocking some of them out as a defense mechanism. For sensitive cartoon viewers, I've marked the darkest scenes with a "B" for "Bleech!!" in parentheses after the title of each cartoon:

Silence Of The Lambs?	Popeye has been eaten by humanoids! The giant at the top of the beanstalk did it twice, once in Ration For The Duration (B) and again in Let's Stalk Spinach. A tribe of cannibals didn't actually manage to eat him - so maybe I shouldn't include this example - but they did pound and flatten him down until he resembled a steak and start cooking him over a fire in Pop-Pie Ala Mode (B).  Another tribe of cannibals tried to make a "Popeye Stew" out of him in Popeye's Pappy.
The Wild Kingdom	Popeye not only believes in feeding the animals,  sometimes he himself is fed to the animals! In Pitchin' Woo At The Zoo, Bluto throws Popeye to a hungry tiger.  When circus star Popeye puts his head in the mouth of a lion in Tops In The Big Top (B), Bluto throws a steak in on top of the sailor. The lion gets a whiff of the steak and crunches down on Popeye's neck. A crocodile (or is it an alligator, I always get the two confused?) consumes Popeye in The Island Fling.   Likewise Popeye allows himself to be swallowed by a bunch of them, in order to defeat them all at once in his dream during Alona On The Sarong Sea.  He also gets swallowed by one in Popeye's Pappy.  The Pre-Hysterical Man (B) scrunches Popeye into a small, crushed mass, then stuffs him into a spinach can and throws the can to a dinosaur. The dinosaur picks it up with its tongue and begins munching on it contentedly. Popeye's head appears at the corner of the dinosaur's mouth. The sailor begins to chew some spinach himself. But, alas, it's seemingly too late!! The creature has finished masticating and swallows its mouthful - Popeye included!
They Call Him Flipper	As a sailor, Popeye has a chance to encounter all kinds of marine life. Unfortunately, some of these encounters are too close. In Peep In The Deep (B), diver Bluto watches a giant clam digest a large fish and spit out its skeleton. Then Bluto traps Popeye in the clam. Another clam briefly claps its shell shut on Popeye in Hot Air Aces before spitting him out. A hungry whale greedily opens its mouth to intercept Pierre's "Popeye missile" in Snow Place Like Home. During the course of the big race in Swimmer Take All, a large fish devours the sailor man.
The Ghost In The Machine	In one cartoon, an inanimate object comes to life and gulps down Popeye. The sheik feeds Popeye to the Sphinx in A Wolf In Sheik's Clothing.

Although not actually consumed, Popeye faced the threat of being eaten in other cartoons like The Royal Four Flusher (lion),

Safari So Good (alligator again), and Popeye Makes A Movie (giant fish/shark in footage from Fleischer's Popeye Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves).

In addition, sometimes it wasn't the sailor himself, but his property that was consumed. The Hungry Goat makes a meal out of the battleship Popeye has been assigned to. In Gopher Spinach, a garden pest steals Popeye's spinach plants for its own meals. And in Insect To Injury, termites literally eat Popeye out of house and home.

Well, let's do lunch sometime. Until then, bon appetite... and pleasant dreams!!!

THE OTHER ROGUES IN THE GALLERY

When people reminisce about the Famous Studios' Popeye cartoons, they usually talk about Popeye and Bluto slugging it out over Olive Oyl. While most of the cartoons did feature a Popeye/Bluto rivalry of some sort, The Sailor Man also mixed it up with other enemies as well. Here's a listing of these nemeses by category:

A Thorn By Any Other Name	Bluto had many different occupations in the films (ex. mountain guide, resort director, lumberjack). He also sometimes adapted disguises (Superman, a woman, Santa Claus, The International). Often he would either go unnamed in a film or have some sort of name that was a variation of Bluto (ex. Safari So Good, Silly Hillbilly, Klondike Casanova, Rodeo Romeo,). But occasionally, a character turned up in a cartoon that looked, sounded, and acted like Bluto, but he was called by another name. In The Fistic Mystic, he is The Great Bourgeois, in The Island Fling, Robinson Crusoe. He's Count Marvo in The Royal Four Flusher. In Popeye Meets Hercules, the sailor competes against Blu....er, I mean, Hercules. In footage lifted from Fleischer's Popeye Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves, our hero fights Abu Hassein and from Popeye Meets Sinbad The Sailor, he battles Sinbad (Spinach-Packin' Popeye, Popeye Makes A Movie, and Big Bad Sinbad).
Fighting Frenchman Inflamed By Fickle Female	A man named Pierre appeared twice as a hot-blooded lover who was turned on by Olive Oyl, once as a pirate captain in Popeye And the Pirates, and then as a storekeeper/fur trader in Snow Place Like Home.
Cheats, Bullies, Scofflaws, and Crooks	Popeye competes against Count Noah Count (love that name) in Double-Cross Country Race. Muscle-bound hulks menace the sailor in Punch And Judo and Cops Is Tops. In the latter film, a bank robber gets away from the sailor, only to be captured by Olive Oyl. The butler did it in Private Eye Popeye, and it's up to our hero to bring him in.
Unsolved Mysteries	Popeye fights paranormal foes when he tackles Martians in Rocket To Mars, alien abductors in Popeye, The Ace Of Space, and ghosts in Spooky Swabs.
Popeye, 2 - Giants, 0	The creature from the story Jack In The Beanstalk fe-fi-fo-fum-ed against Popeye in Ration For The Duration and Let's Stalk Spinach.
Other Rivals For Olive Oyl's Hand (Not To Mention The Rest Of Her)	Big Chief Shmohawk wants Olive for his squaw in Wigwam Whoopee. Likewise, when the Pre-Hysterical Man spots her, he's sure he's found his mate. A rich sheik sweeps Olive off her feet in A Wolf In Sheik's Clothing. And a hunky blonde lifeguard wants to sink Popeye and give Olive mouth-to-mouth in Beach Peach.
Gang Warfare	Entire tribes try to overwhelm Popeye with numbers in Pop-Pie Ala Mode, Popeye's Pappy, and Pilgrim Popeye.
Okay, Axis, Here We Come	Like the patriot he is, Popeye fought our nation's World War II enemies in You're A Sap, Mr. Jap, Scrap The Japs, Spinach For Britain, and Seeing Red, White, And Blue. (Please forgive the offensive racial slurs.)
Big Trouble In Small Packages	Popeye once tried to foil The Hungry Goat and fought a woodpecker over possession of his ship's mast in Woodpeckin'. A housefly beats up Popeye in The Fly's Last Flight and a mouse bests him in Shuteye Popeye. In Gopher Spinach, a garden rodent fights Popeye over his spinach plants, but they wind up allies by the picture's end. Finally, in Insect To Injury, Popeye wins against pests, a swarm of termites.

Neither space nor my poor little gray cells will allow for a listing of all the dangerous big-game animals and henchmen/minor villains that Popeye dispatched on his way to vanquishing his main foes. Suffice it to say that whenever trouble starts, regardless of whether or not it's Bluto who started it, Popeye will end it.

Dire Straits

In my opinion, here are the most dastardly death traps and dangerous situations The Sailorman ever found himself in:

>> Disintegrated by aliens (Popeye The Ace Of Space, Rocket To Mars).

>> Stranded on the moon (Popeye Meets Hercules).

>> Pounded into a steak and fried over the cannibal's grill (Pop-Pie A La Mode).

>> Turned into a canary (The Fistic Mystic).

>> Clamped into a giant bear trap and launched out over the sea into the mouth of a hungry whale (Snow Place Like Home).

>> Wrapped as a mummy and deposited in the Sphinx (A Wolf In Sheik's Clothing).

>> Flattened into a target, hung on a tree, and shot at by a horde of mountain men (Silly Hillbilly).

>> Caught by a supremely strong Bluto without any spinach because Bluto had destroyed the world's spinach crop (How Green Was My Spinach).

>> Having his head encased in cement and rolling through traffic (Jitterbug Jive).

>> Buried in Boot Hill (Tar With A Star).

>> Locked in a treasure chest, stomped on, and eaten by a hungry crocodile (The Island Fling).

>> Driven crazy by loco weed and being pinned by a bull (Rodeo Romeo).

>> Being roasted alive at the stake (Wigwam Whoopee).

>> Scrunched down into an amorphous mass, stuffed into a spinach can, and thrown to a hungry dinosaur who chews on the sailor and swallows him (Pre-Hysterical Man).

>> Stuck in part of the boardwalk watching as Bluto and Olive happily make a date, unable to do anything against Bluto lest Olive get mad (Beaus Will Be Beaus).

>> Conned into throwing away his spinach, attacked by Bluto and then pile-driven into the ground (How Green Is My Spinach).

>> Ganged up on by a horde of jungle animals and losing his spinach in the process (Spinach So Good).

>> Kept asleep and immobile by a talented crocodile (Pitchin' Woo At The Zoo).

>> Eaten by a giant (Ration For The Duration, Let's Stalk Spinach)

>> Chained to a weight and sent to Davy Jone's Locker (Popeye And The Pirates).

>> Heated, de-hydrated, and shrunk to the size of a mouse (Gym Jam).

>> Tricked into high-diving into an empty pool and winding up in a deep, body-sized hole, flatter than a pancake (Beach Peach).

>> Stuck inside a girder, separated from his spinach (Quick On The Vigor).

>> Humiliated and helpless as Bluto and Olive go off to be married (Nearly Weds).

>> Belted far away from the action and frozen solid in a snow bank (Alpine For You).

>> Beaten into the ground by a huge gorilla (Baby Wants Spinach).

>> Encased in an enormous block of cement and sunk to the bottom of the English Channel (Swimmer Take All).

>> Banged around, cut-up, disheveled with mouth encased in cement, helpless, as a handsome, movie star-like Bluto hurries off for a date with Olive Oyl (Shaving Muggs).

>> Unconscious, underwater, trapped in a radiator and separated from the spinach can (Floor Flusher).

>> Knocked off a skyscraper without his spinach (The Royal Four-Flusher).

>> Being jack-hammered into the ground and having Bluto snatch up the spinach can and drive away with it and Olive (Taxi Turvy).

>> Out-classed at every turn by "The International," even seemingly losing a duel to the death with him for Olive's hand (Parlez-Vous Woo).

For more on Popeye's resiliency, read the essay "The Resurrection Factor."

BOOKMARK ME!!!

SOUL-TREKKING WITH PASTOR STEVE	My home page with links to my  Buffy, Popeye,  TV/Movies, Beliefs, and other pages.
BACK TO TOP	Return to top of this page.
The Bluto Booster Page	All the aspects of Bluto I could think of are discussed on various Bluto pages.  Go here for a complete listing.
Oodles Of Olive Oyl	As the title says, lots about Olive Oyl.  You can choose from a number of titles to link to many other of my pages about this lovely  lady.
POPEYE PAGE	My Popeye Page.  Lots of links to my pages about the King Of Spinach.
My Olive Yahoo Group	Discuss the Famous Studios and KFS cartoons featuring Olive Oyl with other fans .

This page was created using Corel Word Perfect Suite 8 and Netscape Navigator Composer. All characters and images are legal properties of their respective companies and are used here without permission for entertainment, review, and informational purposes only. All other material is copyright 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 by Steve R. Bierly.