On January 17, 1929, a star was born. Not of the Stage, Screen, or Radio, but of the newspaper funny pages. The star? Popeye The Sailor Man. Meant as a throw-away character, creator E.C. Segar was taken completely by surprise as readers LOVED Popeye. "More Popeye!", they demanded, and so he obliged them.
Segar had been working as a cartoonist at King Features Syndicate in NY when they asked him to come up with a new comic strip to replace “Minute Movies.” Segar created “Thimble Theater” which debuted on December 15, 1919. It featured the characters of Ma and Pa Oyl, their son Castor and daughter Olive as well as Olive’s boyfriend, Ham Gravy. The strip was slow to catch on but gradually picked up in popularity.
When Popeye was finally introduced in 1929, Thimble Theater had already been running successfully for ten years. Popeye was just a sailor hired by Castor Oyl. When Castor saw Popeye on the docks, he said, "Hey, are you a sailor?" Popeye answered with his now-famous first line: “Ja you think I'm a cowboy?” Popeye left the strip when the tale concluded, but when the fans demanded more of the swaggering sailor, Segar worked him back into the story. The world fell in love with the ugly, wise-cracking sailor.
Segar had been working as a cartoonist at King Features Syndicate in NY when they asked him to come up with a new comic strip to replace “Minute Movies.” Segar created “Thimble Theater” which debuted on December 15, 1919. It featured the characters of Ma and Pa Oyl, their son Castor and daughter Olive as well as Olive’s boyfriend, Ham Gravy. The strip was slow to catch on but gradually picked up in popularity.
When Popeye was finally introduced in 1929, Thimble Theater had already been running successfully for ten years. Popeye was just a sailor hired by Castor Oyl. When Castor saw Popeye on the docks, he said, "Hey, are you a sailor?" Popeye answered with his now-famous first line: “Ja you think I'm a cowboy?” Popeye left the strip when the tale concluded, but when the fans demanded more of the swaggering sailor, Segar worked him back into the story. The world fell in love with the ugly, wise-cracking sailor.
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- Cartoons
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