35TH ANNIVERSARIES

 Our fourth week of our anniversary celebration goes on with the shows reaching

RIP TAYLOR DEAD AT 84

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He starred as The Grump in Here Comes the Grump; Sheldon the Sea Genie in Sigmund and the Sea Monsters; Uncle Fester in The Addams Family (1992); and The Royal Record Keeper and the Royal Judge in The Emperor’s New School. He also guest-starred as Mr. Wackypants in an episode of What’s New, Scooby-Doo? and provided additional voices for Popeye and Son, Snorks and Garfield and Friends.

RICHARD ERDMAN DEAD AT 93

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He voiced a pirate, the mayor and a man in “The Secret World of Og” episode of ABC Weekend Specials; a travel agent in an episode of The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo; an angry neighbor in an episode of Pound Puppies (1986); Mayor Rufus B. Pinfeathers and King Arty in two episodes of DuckTales (1987); and Elliot in an episode of Batman: The Animated Series. He also provided additional voices for Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo, Space Stars, Mork & Mindy/Laverne & Shirley/Fonz Hour, The Dukes, Galtar and the Golden Lance, Wildfire, The Smurfs, Yogi’s Treasure Hunt, Popeye and Son, The Flintstone Kids, The New Yogi Bear Show, Snorks, and The Pirates of Dark Water.  

 

 

POPEYE AND SON

POPEYE AND SON

(CBS, September 9-Decmeber 12, 1987)

Hanna Barbera Productions, King Features Entertainment

MAIN CAST:

Maurice LaMarche – Popeye, Poopdeck Pappy, Pipeye, Peepeye

Marilyn Schreffler – Olive Oyl, The Sea Hag, Lizzie, Puggy

Josh Rodine – Popeye Jr.

Allan Melvin – Bluto, J. Wellington Wimpy

David Markus - Tank

Don Messick – Eugene the Jeep, various

Nancy Cartwright – Woody

Kaleena Kiff – Dee Dee

Penina Segall – Polly

B.J. Ward - Rad

For the history of Popeye, check out the post here.

In the second collaboration between Hanna-Barbera Productions and King Features Syndicate, Popeye and his friends returned to CBS Saturday mornings in a new series: Popeye and Son. It was the first Popeye production since the death of long-time voice actor Jack Mercer in 1984 and featured many of the same cast from The All-New Popeye Hour.

Popeye, Olive and Junior.

The series saw an advance in the Popeye story with Popeye (Maurice LaMarche) and Olive Oyl (Marilyn Schreffler) having finally tied the knot and settling down in the town of Sweethaven. Although Popeye still owned his boat, the Olive, he traded in his sailor suit for a Hawaiian shirt and part ownership in a fitness center with Olive. Oh, and they also had a kid--aptly named Popeye Junior (Josh Rodine). Junior shared Popeye’s ability to get enhanced strength by ingesting spinach, however he didn’t share his father’s love of the vegetable; detesting the taste and begrudgingly downing it when the situation called for it.

Popeye and Junior being harassed by Bluto and Tank.

Surprisingly enough, Popeye’s rival, Bluto (Allan Melvin), also managed to settle down into a life as a wealthy and unscrupulous businessman seen hobnobbing with the who’s who of the town. He married Lizzie (Schreffler), one of Olive’s friends, and had a son named Tank (David Markus). Tank was very much a chip off the old block as he often antagonized Junior whenever the opportunity presented itself. Other Popeye characters made frequent appearances, including J. Wellington Wimpy (Melvin) as the owner of a local diner, and the magical Eugene the Jeep (Don Messick) as the Popeye family’s pet. New characters included Junior’s friends Woody (Nancy Cartwright), Dee Dee (Kaleena Kiff) and Poly (Penina Segall), as well as Tank’s thuggish buddies Puggy (Schreffler) and Rad (B.J. Ward).

Junior leading Woody, Dee Dee and Polly on an adventure on the Olive.

Popeye and Son debuted on CBS on September 9, 1987. The series was a blend of family and adventure stories with a larger focus on Junior and his world. Like the previous series, stringent rules for children’s television kept the outright violence of the Popeye franchise from being featured in favor of off-screen conflict and slapstick antics, and Popeye’s pipe was more of a tool than something to be smoked. Each episode was broken up into two segments written by Cliff Roberts, Eric Lewald, Anthony Adams, Mark Cassutt, Bruce Faulk, Charles M. Howell IV, Kelly Ward, Pamela Hickey, Dennys McCoy, Ken Koonce, Bryce Malek, Scott Shaw, David Weimers and John Loy, who also served as the associate story editor. Jeff Segal and Ward were the primary story editors, and Hoyt Curtin produced the series’ music; with the exception of Popeye’s theme composed by Sammy Lerner. 

Model sheet.

Unfortunately, the series didn’t prove a hit and was cancelled after a single season of 13 episodes. Once it left the network it did make brief rerun rounds on cable, particularly as part of USA Network’s Cartoon Express programming block. Beyond that, future Popeye media has chosen to ignore the characters and events of the series. Merchandising for the show included a  bundle of play money featuring Popeye and Junior and ball puzzles featuring scenes inspired by the show by Ja-Ru; Thermo-Serv made a lunchbox that had an embossed image of the characters and show’s title on the lid; Milton Bradley made a puzzle; and a stationery set that was based on the “Attack of the Sea Hag” segment. 

Father-son bonding time.

Channel 5 released three VHS collections in the United Kingdom as Popeye and Son: A New Generation. Each tape contained two episodes and released episodes 1-4 and 9-10 overall. In 2008, Warner Home Video had planned to release eight episodes of the show onto DVD as Popeye & Friends Vol. 2, which would follow up the previous collection’s selection of The All-New Popeye Hour episodes. However, the poor sales of Vol. 1 prompted Warner to cancel its wide release and instead only released it in Australia. It contained episodes 1-2 and 5-6. Hollywood DVD Ltd. released their own collection in the UK containing episodes 1-5 and 10. That release had also been combined in collections with other series, including Prince Valiant, Defenders of the Earth, Galaxy Rangers, Krazy Kat & Popeye Hour. The entire series has been made available for streaming as part of Amazon Prime Video.

EPISODE GUIDE:

“Attack of the Sea Hag / Happy Anniversary” (9/19/87) – Junior finds a wooden mermaid that ends up in the hands of the Blutos—and the sights of the Sea Hag. / Believing Popeye forgot their anniversary leads him and Olive to recount the day they were married.

“The Sea Monster / Poopdeck Pappy and the Family Tree” (9/26/87) – Bluto decides to capture and sell the sea monster the kids have befriended. / Junior becomes embarrassed by the relatives Poopdeck Pappy tells his class about.

“Bluto’s Wave Pool / Here Today, Goon Tomorrow” (10/3/87) – Tank and his friends ruin the beach in order to get people to visit Bluto’s Wave Park. / Woody ends up kidnapped by the Goons and taken to Goon Island.

“Don’t Give Up the Picnic / The Lost Treasure of Pirate’s Cove” (10/10/87) – Bluto and Tank cheat to win the competitions at the town picnic. / Junior and his friends head out to follow a treasure map with Tank and his goons right behind them.

“Junior’s Genie / Mighty Olive at the Bat” (10/17/87) – Finding a genie causes Junior to behave more like Tank. / Olive volunteers to replace an injured Popeye in the father-son baseball game, but there’s a problem: she’s a lousy player.

“Junior Gets a Job / Surf Movie” (10/24/87) – Junior ends up working for Bluto to earn some quick money for Olive’s birthday gift. / Junior ends up cast in a movie being filmed in town and Bluto and Lizzie scheme to get him replaced with Tank.

“Junior’s Birthday Roundup / Redbeard” (10/31/87) – Junior refuses to celebrate his birthday if Tank is invited to his party. / Stowing away on Redbeard’s ship leads Junior to witness his being captured by pirates.

“The Girl from Down Under / Olive’s Dinosaur Dilemma” (11/7/87) – When a new girl from “down under” arrives in town, all the marine life begins disappearing. / A hot-air balloon lands Olive in a lost prehistoric land.

“Dr. Junior and Mr. Hyde / Popeye’s Surfin’ Adventure” (11/14/87) – Junior and Woody accidentally drink Professior Whatasnozzle’s formula, turning them into monsters. / Believing surfing doesn’t take much skill, Popeye challenges Junior to a surfing contest.

“Split Decision / The Case of the Burger Burglar” (11/21/87) – When Polly spends a lot of time with her new basketball team, Dee Dee joins a hang-gliding club and gets blown away. / Francis and Junior tries to find who’s been stealing burgers from Wimpy.

“Orchid You Not / Ain’t Mythbehavin’” (11/28/87) – Eugene snatches a lot of orchids, leading Popeye and Junior to follow him to a cave full of Jeeps. / Popeye and Junior go on a quest for the Golden Fleece.

“There Goes the Neighborhood / Prince of a Fellow” (12/5/87) – One of Junior’s classmates turns out to be a werewolf, and Bluto is determined to run his family out of town. / Junior trades places with Rex, a young prince that he resembles.

“Olive’s Day Off / Damsel in Distress” (12/12/87) – Olive takes the day off leaving Popeye and Junior to clean up the house in time for Granny Popeye’s visit. / Popeye and Bluto race to see who can rescue a damsel, which turns out to be a trap set by the Sea Hag.

THE HISTORY OF POPEYE

            Popeye: the large forearmed, one-eyed sailor who never met a craft he couldn’t pilot, or a fight he couldn’t win—especially with his trusty can of empowering spinach handy. While there aren’t many familiar with the tenacious sailor, would you believe he was never intended to be a star?

Thimble Theater before Popeye.

            Cartoonist Elzie Crisler Segar, best known as E.C. Segar, debuted the comic strip Thimble Theater for King Features Syndicate on December 19, 1919. The strip’s name alluded to the theatrical style in which its characters would act out various stories and scenarios. The strip starred the thin and lanky Olive Oyl and her boyfriend, Harold Hamgravy (also known as Ham Gravy). Eventually, the strip evolved from its original premise and focused on comedic adventures with Olive and Ham joined by Olive’s brother, Castor, and her parents, Cole and Nana.

Popeye's first appearance.

            The strip wasn’t very popular, attracting a small audience and only appearing in half a dozen newspapers. Things changed on January 17, 1929 when Popeye was introduced into the strip. He was hired by Castor and Ham to crew a ship on their latest adventure to break an island casino owned by a crooked gambler. Popeye was gone after that, but the readers became enamored with the sailor and he was quickly brought back.

A collection of the comic strip.

            As Popeye’s popularity began to grow, so too did that of the strip as more newspapers began running it. Popeye became the star, earning top billing after the strip’s title (the strip would be renamed Popeye in the 1970s). Olive left Ham to become his girlfriend (although a fickle one at that as gags would routinely feature her becoming enamored with other suitors). Ham himself was reduced from a regular character to making occasional appearances. Castor remained, often enlisting Popeye in his get-rich-quick schemes before settling down as a detective and later as a ranch owner.

Popeye's supporting cast.

            Beginning in 1933, Segar began introducing a new supporting cast. Popeye received a foundling baby in the mail that he would adopt and name Swee’Pea; Popeye’s closest associate was J. Wellington Wimpy, a cowardly hamburger-loving moocher who would “gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today”; George W. Geezil, a local cobbler who hated Wimpy with a passion; Eugene the Jeep, a yellow and spotted magical animal from Africa that crossed over from a fourth dimensional world; the Sea Hag, a witch and pirate who served as Popeye’s primary antagonist; Alice the Goon, an Amazonian giantess who originally served as the Sea Hag’s minion but was released from servitude by Popeye and became Swee’Pea’s babysitter; King Blozo, the ruler of Spinachovia where spinach grew in abundance; and Poopdeck Pappy, Popeye’s father who disappeared at sea shortly after Popeye’s birth, amongst others. Segar would also feature crossovers between Thimble and his other strip, Sappo, which featured crazy inventor O.G. Wotasnozzle and his long-suffering landlord John Sappo.

Segar's obituary.

            Thimble Theater became one of King Features’ most popular strips, a poll by Fortune magazine indicating it as the second-favorite strip behind Little Orphan Annie. The strip was running in 500 newspapers and a lot of merchandise based on the character was being sold. Segar was earning upwards of $100,000 a year from his creation (over $1.7 billion dollars in today’s money). Unfortunately, Segar died from leukemia and liver disease in 1938. The strip continued under the stewardship of many different artists; notably Bud Sagendorf in 1959, who had been working on the Popeye comic book since 1948.

Promo for Popeye and Betty Boop.

            In 1932, King Features entered into a partnership with Fleischer Studios to translate their Thimble Theater characters into a series of animated shorts. Released by Paramount Pictures, the series would become a staple of the studio for almost 25 years. Popeye made his debut in Popeye the Sailor, a 1933 Betty Boop cartoon. The short introduced the core concept of Popeye’s (William Costello) ongoing rivalry with burly fellow sailor Bluto (William Pennell) over the affections of Olive (Bonnie Poe), which would become a running theme in Popeye productions to come. Bluto was created by Segar as a one-time villain for the strip in 1932, but Fleischer decided he would be the perfect antagonist for their films.

Bluto causing trouble for Popeye and Olive.

Unable to replicate the deeper plots of the strip, Fleischer settled on an episodic format that saw Popeye ending up bested by his foe until he ate a can of spinach, giving him super strength and allowing him to emerge victorious. Jack Mercer would assume the Popeye role in 1935 (Harry Welch filled in when Mercer was serving in the Navy), with Betty Boop’s Mae Questel (who actually developed Olive’s voice, modeled after ZaSu Pitts) taking over as Olive in 1934 (and sometimes filling in for Popeye), and Jackson Beck becoming Bluto’s regular voice in 1942. Sammy Lerner composed the signature theme song that Popeye would usually sing about himself; making him one of the few cartoon characters at the time to have his own theme.

Just a couple of sailor boys trying to woo a lady.

In 1941, Paramount assumed control over the studio and renamed it Famous. At the same time, growing concerns over World War II saw Popeye enlisted into the U.S. Navy; trading in his familiar sailor’s garb for an official white Navy uniform. In 1943, the series moved to color with a combination of Technicolor, Cinecolor and Polacolor productions. By the mid-1950s, increasing competition from television began moving studios away from theatrical shorts and Famous saw their budgets and staff cut, although they continued to produce the same number of cartoons a year. The studio was again renamed Paramount Cartoon Studios in 1956 and the series continued for one more year, ending with 1957’s Spooky Swabs.

a.a.p. title card for the Popeye shorts.

The initial agreement with King Features was that any films would be destroyed within 10 years (which would have obliterated all of the Fleischer shorts), but Paramount was forward thinking and held onto their best-selling and most popular series for future distribution; seeing television as a rising and viable outlet. In 1956, Paramount sold the television rights to the black and white Popeye shorts to Associated Artists Productions (a.a.p.), and the color rights a year later. a.a.p. created their own openings for the cartoons which used a version of the Popeye theme from 1948’s Olive Oyl For President, with the Paramount logos and “Paramount Presents” title cards removed by request. The shorts proved immensely popular during their television run.

Popeye thinks Brutus is up to something.

King Features, seeing the potential to reap greater rewards, not only began marketing Popeye-related merchandise, but looked to create all-new shorts that they would own outright (although, they used the excuse that audiences were growing bored with the older shorts). King Features commissioned the production of 220 new shorts within a 2-year timeframe. As one studio was unable to handle such a load, the work was farmed out to several studios: Jack Kinney Studios, Rembrandt Films, Larry Harmon Pictures, Halas and Batchelor, Southern Star Productions, TV Spots, Inc. and Paramount’s own studio. The result was a hodgepodge of quality in both the animation and the writing. The only consistency came in the voices by Mercer and Questel, who took time from her busy advertising and Broadway schedule to reassume the role. Beck also returned as the villain, but Bluto was reimagined as Brutus; who was the same character in everything but name. King Features mistakenly believed Paramount owned the rights to the character and thought it simpler to just change him than enter any legal battle. That belief similarly led them to utilize characters from the strips not seen in animation yet, like the Sea Hag (Questel).

Popeye amongst a gathering of fellow comic strip pals.

Popeye again returned to television in a 1972 episode of ABC Saturday Superstar Movie called “Popeye Meets the Man Who Hated Laughter”. Animated by Filmation, it featured several King Features properties meeting as they dealt with an evil genius who sought to eliminate laughter from the world. In 1978, CBS contracted Hanna-Barbera to produce a Popeye Christmas special, which evolved into his first Saturday morning series…

SMF ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION (PART 5)

This weekend, we continue our 3 year anniversary celebration.

As we celebrate, we figured we'd also take the opportunity to celebrate the various other programs enjoying anniversaries this year (at least at an interval of 5). Some we've covered, some we'll get to covering sooner or later, but all of them represent Saturday morning. For this installment, we recognize those shows turning 30. Yeah, let that sink in--you first saw these programs 30 years ago.

Take a walk down memory lane with us, and feel free to share your memories in the comments, or over on our Facebook group or Facebook page, or on Twitter @SatMForever. We'd love to hear from you!

Now, without further ado, join us in celebrating...

NOTE: Not all intros available.