115-610: This is a list of the 109 cartoons of the Popeye the Sailor film series produced by Fleischer Studios for Paramount Pictures from 1933 to 1942. During the course of production in 1941, Paramount assumed control of the Fleischer studio, removing founders Max and Dave Fleischer from control of the studio and renaming the organization Famous Studios by 1942. Popeye cartoons continued production under Famous Studios following 1942's Baby Wants
230-411: A film producer and creative supervisor, with the head animators doing much of the work assigned to animation directors in other studios. The head animator is the first animator listed. Credited animators are therefore listed for each short. Popeye also appeared in a 1934 short titled Let's Sing with Popeye which had recycled footage from the first Popeye cartoon and had no plot other than to allow
345-685: A Bottleship . All cartoons are one reel (6 to 10 minutes long) and in black and white, except for the three Popeye Color Specials ( Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor from 1936, Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves from 1937, and Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp from 1939), which are two reels (15 to 20 minutes long) and in Technicolor . Dave Fleischer was the credited director on every cartoon produced by Fleischer Studios. Fleischer's actual duties were those of
460-518: A barter basis, and remained available until the early 1990s. When Cartoon Network began in 1992, they mostly ran cartoons from the pre-May 1986 MGM library, which included the Popeye cartoons. For many decades, viewers could only see a majority of the classic Popeye cartoons with the a.a.p.-altered opening and closing credits. In 2001, Cartoon Network, under the supervision of animation historian Jerry Beck , launched The Popeye Show . The show aired
575-429: A batch of boxed sets sold in discount outlets for $ 3 or less in the summer of 2009. Initially, there were four volumes of four-disc Popeye collections planned: the second volume would feature the remaining black-and-white Popeye cartoons from 1938 to 1943, with Volumes 3 and 4 covering the color Famous Studios cartoons released between 1943 and 1957. However, due to the 2007–2008 financial crisis , Warner Home Video
690-411: A budget of $ 50,000, the highest ever for a Fleischer theatrical short, and was nominated for an Academy Award . The animated Superman series, with its action-adventure and science fiction fantasy content, was a huge success, but that did not help the studio out of its financial trouble. It was penalized $ 350,000 for going over budget on Gulliver's Travels , and the revenues earned from the rentals of
805-421: A collection of Popeye cartoons on Betamax and VHS tapes titled The Best of Popeye, Vol. 1 , but the release was canceled after MGM/UA received a cease and desist letter from King Features Syndicate, which claimed that they only had the legal rights to release the collection on video. While King Features owned the rights, material, comics, and merchandizing to Popeye's character, it did not have ownership to
920-540: A few years; he, Mercer, and Questel would continue to voice their respective characters into the 1960s. Over time, the Technicolor Famous shorts began to adhere even closer to the standard Popeye formula, and softened, rounder character designs – including an Olive Oyl design which gave the character high heels and an updated hairstyle – were evident by late 1946. Many established Fleischer animators stayed with Famous Studios and produced these new Popeye cartoons, but
1035-451: A labor strike beginning in May 1937 which lasted for five months. This strike was a test case, the first launched in the motion picture industry, and produced a nationwide boycott of Fleischer cartoons for the duration. Max Fleischer had been petitioning Paramount for three years about producing an animated feature. Paramount vetoed his proposals until the proven success of Disney's Snow White and
1150-579: A main component of the Popeye cartoons and was used for the energetic finale in each of them. Eventually, the Fleischers paired Popeye and spinach together far more than Segar ever did. In 1934, a statistic was released noting that spinach sales had increased 33% since the creation of the Popeye cartoons. Segar received crates of spinach at his home because of the Popeye association. The huge child following Popeye received eventually prompted Segar's boss, William Randolph Hearst , to order Segar to tone down
1265-431: A major influence on many underground and alternative cartoonists. Kim Deitch , Robert Crumb , Jim Woodring , and Al Columbia are among the creators who have specifically acknowledged their inspiration. Much of Richard Elfman 's 1980 cult film Forbidden Zone is a live action pastiche of the early Fleischer Studios style. The Fleischer style was also used in the 1995 animated series The Twisted Tales of Felix
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#17331255832371380-514: A marked change was seen in the Florida-produced shorts: they were brighter and less detailed in their artwork. Also, the Fleischers began pre-recording dialog for lip-sync shortly after moving to Miami, so Mercer and the other voice actors would record ad-libbed lines while watching a finished copy of the cartoon to add the improvisational touch in the prior cartoons. Mae Questel, who started a family, refused to move to Florida, and Margie Hines ,
1495-483: A membership card, the chance to become elected as the Club's "Popeye" or "Olive Oyl", and the opportunity to win other gifts. Polls taken by theater owners proved Popeye more popular than Mickey, and Popeye upheld his position for the rest of the decade. Fleischer cartoons differed highly from their counterparts at Walt Disney Productions and Leon Schlesinger Productions . The Popeye series, like other cartoons produced by
1610-515: A new contract with Paramount to produce a revival of the "Bouncing Ball" song films, re-branded as Screen Songs , with The Sidewalks of New York as the first release on February 5, 1929. The early experiments with sound synchronization gave Fleischer Studios experience in perfecting the post-production method of recording, aided by several inventions by founder, Max Fleischer. With the conversion to sound, Paramount needed more sound films, and cartoons could be produced faster than feature films. As
1725-471: A piece first used in Olive Oyl for President in 1948. Yet Paramount's imprint was still noted in the a.a.p. prints, which referenced Fleischer and Famous Studios and left Paramount's credits and copyright tags intact. Once they began airing these cartoons were enormously popular. Jerry Beck likens Popeye 's television success to a "new lease on life," noting that the character had not been as popular since
1840-469: A plethora of bonus material. The remaining volumes featuring the color Famous Studios cartoons were abandoned due to the higher costs of restoring color cartoons and the low sales of the previous volumes due to the recession in the late 2000s. In 2018, Warner Archive Collection announced they were releasing a series of single-disc Blu-ray sets entitled Popeye the Sailor: The 1940s which continued where
1955-410: A series of theatrical cartoon shorts for Paramount Pictures . The plotlines in the animated cartoons tended to be simpler than those presented in the comic strips, and the characters slightly different. A villain, usually Bluto , makes a move on Popeye's "sweetie", Olive Oyl . The villain clobbers Popeye until he eats spinach , giving him superhuman strength. Thus empowered, Popeye makes short work of
2070-425: A very urban feel to the music of Popeye , reflecting "the type of cartoons they were making." The Fleischers were big fans of jazz and would approach local jazz musicians to work on the cartoons, most of whom were more than happy to oblige. The use of jazz and very contemporary popular music highlighted how audiences were fascinated by new music. Tight on a budget, the producers took advantage of their free access to
2185-727: Is also periodically pre-empted by special month-long or seasonal scheduling themes, such as February's " 31 Days of Oscar " film series and the month-long "Summer Under the Stars". In November 2020, Boomerang aired Popeye again as part of the Boomerang Thanksgiving Feast. MeTV announced that they would air a Saturday morning cartoon block which includes the Fleischer/Famous Popeye cartoons beginning in January 2021. In February 2023, Boomerang started to air Popeye again. In
2300-455: The Screen Songs returned Fleischer to the established song film format, a new sound series, Talkartoons replaced the silent Inkwell Imps , the first being Noah's Lark released on October 25, 1929. Earlier entries in the series were one-shot cartoons, until the appearance of Bimbo as of the fourth entry. Bimbo evolved through several redesigns in each cartoon for the first year. While
2415-455: The Arabian Nights billed as "Popeye Color Features": Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor (1936), Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves (1937), and Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp (1939). By the end of 1939, Max and Dave Fleischer had stopped speaking to each other altogether, communicating solely by memo. In 1940, they found themselves at odds with Paramount over
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#17331255832372530-621: The Color Classics series starting in 1934, but with the exclusivity of the three-color process still held by Disney, Fleischer Studios used the available two-color processes, Cinecolor , a two-emulsion red and blue process, and Two-color Technicolor , using red and green. By 1936, the Disney exclusivity had expired, and Fleischer Studios used the three-color process in its color cartoons beginning with Somewhere in Dreamland and continued using it for
2645-507: The Hays Code resulted in severe censorship for films. This affected the content of all of Paramount's films as well, which tended to reflect a more "mature" tone in the features of the Marx Brothers , W.C. Fields , and most of all, Mae West . As a result, each of these stars was released as Paramount changed the content of its films to reflect a more "general audience" in order to comply with
2760-417: The Popeye cartoons had to be used to offset the loss of $ 250,000 incurred by the rejection of cartoons in 1940. While profits dwindled, Paramount continued to advance money to Fleischer Studios to continue the production of cartoons with its focus mainly on Popeye , Superman , and Mr. Bug Goes to Town , a new feature film for the 1941 Christmas season. On May 24, 1941, Paramount demanded reimbursement on
2875-430: The Popeye shorts. Timberg also composed the themes to the Fleischers' Betty Boop and Superman cartoons, but asked Lerner to write Popeye's theme song because he had a date that night. The music of Popeye is described as a mix of "sunny show tunes and music from the street." Being located on Broadway , the Fleischers were well placed for popular music developments in the 1930s. Director Eric Goldberg notes
2990-595: The Superman series. These include a 1991 VHS set produced by Bosko Video, titled The Complete Superman Collection: Golden Anniversary Edition – The Paramount Cartoon Classics of Max & Dave Fleischer released as two volumes which featured transfers from 35mm prints. It was reissued on DVD as The Complete Superman Cartoons — Diamond Anniversary Edition in 2000 by Image Entertainment , and Superman Adventures in 2004 by Platinum Disc Corporation. A third (and more "official") compilation using restored and remastered materials
3105-524: The 1920s, Fleischer was one of the leading producers of animation with clever moments and numerous innovations. These innovations include the "Rotograph", an early "Aerial Image" photographic process for compositing animation with live action backgrounds. Other innovations included Ko-Ko Song Car-Tunes and sing-along shorts (featuring the famous " bouncing ball "), a precursor to karaoke . In 1924, distributor Edwin Miles Fadiman and Hugo Riesenfeld formed
3220-503: The 1930s. King Features realized the potential for success and began distributing Popeye -based merchandise, which in turn led to a new series of Popeye shorts made for TV beginning in 1960. These shorts were farmed out to numerous studios and are of generally lower quality, employing limited animation, and many artists were unhappy with the quality of such cartoons. By the 1970s, the original Fleischer and Famous Popeye cartoons were syndicated to various stations and channels across
3335-593: The 1942 short You're a Sap, Mr. Jap . As Popeye was popular in South America, Famous Studios set the 1944 cartoon We're on our Way to Rio in Brazil , as part of a "good neighbor" policy between the U.S. government and the rest of the hemisphere during the war. In late 1943, the Popeye series was moved to Technicolor production, beginning with Her Honor the Mare. Though these cartoons were produced in full color, some films in
3450-527: The 1950s (many of which fell to the public domain after the MGM/UA merger), and all three Popeye color specials (although some copyrighted Popeye cartoons turned up on public domain VHS tapes and DVDs). In 1997 (by which time the Popeye cartoons had come under ownership of Turner Entertainment Co. ), home video rights to the pre-May 1986 MGM film library were reassigned from MGM/UA Home Video to Warner Home Video . It
3565-627: The 1980s, often on inexpensive videotapes sold in supermarkets and discount stores. Animation fans, the UCLA Film and Television Archive , and more recently the Max Fleischer estate and Paramount Pictures (via the Republic/Melange library) have worked to release high-quality restored editions of the Fleischer cartoons. These have also been made available on pay-cable, home video, DVD , and online on YouTube . Many of these restored versions now include
Popeye the Sailor filmography (Fleischer Studios) - Misplaced Pages Continue
3680-456: The Cat . The studio's art style and surreal atmosphere was a central influence on the indie game Cuphead , with the studio being described as "magnetic north" for the game's art style. Genndy Tartakovsky has also cited the works of the studio as a major inspiration for the look of his 2023 animated series Unicorn: Warriors Eternal . Note: An animator who is credited first in a Fleischer cartoon
3795-577: The Chorus, also known as Backstage Comedies, was one of the Red Seal series that featured Max's daughter, Ruth, in a supporting role. Ray Bolger made his screen debut in this series and dated Ruth for a short time. Red Seal released cartoon novelty series such as The Animated Hair cartoons by cartoonist "Marcus", and Inklings . The Animated Hair series resembled the on-screen hand drawing gimmick established in Out of
3910-570: The Clown in 1924. In 1921, The Bray Studio ran afoul of legal issues, having contracted for more films than it could deliver to its distributor, Goldwyn Pictures . The Fleischer Brothers left and began their own studio Out of the Inkwell Films with Dave Fleischer as director and production supervisor, and Max as producer, at 129 East 45th Street, later to 1600 Broadway , Midtown Manhattan , New York City . In 1924, animator, Dick Huemer came to
4025-481: The Clown, Bimbo and Grampy , though courts have never supported their ownership claims. It is headed by Max's grandson Mark Fleischer, who oversees merchandising activities. Fleischer Studios utilizes King Features Syndicate to license Fleischer characters for various merchandise. In 2021, after decades of being shown in altered and worn prints, the Fabulous Fleischer Cartoons Restored company
4140-474: The Fleischer Popeye shorts. In 1955, Paramount put their pre-October 1950 cartoon library up for television sale. U.M. & M. TV Corporation acquired the majority of all theatrical shorts. However, the Popeye cartoons were sold separately at a higher price. In June 1956, Paramount sold the cartoons to television syndicator Associated Artists Productions (a.a.p.), one of the biggest distributors of
4255-556: The Fleischer Popeye cartoons in three volumes as part of the Popeye the Sailor DVD collection. VCI Entertainment/Kit Parker Films' DVD compilation of all the Color Classics (except The Tears of an Onion ), entitled Somewhere In Dreamland , was released in 2003. It includes only a fraction of shorts remastered from 35mm film, but otherwise taken from the best available sources Kit Parker could provide VCI, and digitally recreating
4370-553: The Fleischer Studios produced three two-reel Popeye featurettes, Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor (1936), Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves (1937), and Popeye the Sailor Meets Aladdin's Wonderful Lamp (1939). This series of longer-format cartoons were an indication of the emergence of the animated feature film as a commercially viable project beginning with Walt Disney's Snow White and
4485-500: The Fleischer and Famous Studios Popeye shorts in their complete, uncut original theatrical versions direct from prints that contained the original front-and-end Paramount credits, or, where those were unavailable, in versions approximating their original theatrical releases by replacing the a.a.p. opening and closing credits with ones that recreated the originals using various sources. The series, which aired 135 Popeye shorts over 45 episodes, also featured segments offering trivia about
4600-493: The Fleischers, had a more urban feel (the Fleischers' studio was in Midtown Manhattan), had plots that were variations on a single simple formula, and featured the characters' (often improvised) under-the-breath mutterings. The voices for Fleischer cartoons produced during the early and mid-1930s were recorded after the animation was completed. The actors, Mercer in particular, would therefore improvise lines that were not on
4715-564: The Inkwell . In this case, "Marcus" produced high-quality ink line portraits of celebrities and political figures. Then through stop motion animation techniques, the lines and forms would break away to entertainingly re-form the portrait into another. Inklings was similar in concept to the Animated Hair films, but was more of a visual puzzle novelty using a variety of progressive scratch-off/reveal techniques and rearranged animated cutouts to change
Popeye the Sailor filmography (Fleischer Studios) - Misplaced Pages Continue
4830-452: The Miami period due to complications associated with the pressures of finishing the studio's first feature film and Dave's very public adulterous affair with his secretary, Mae Schwartz. Max and Dave stopped speaking to each other altogether by the end of 1939, communicating solely by memo. Dave gained total control of production in 1940, relegating Max to business affairs and research. The studio
4945-544: The Out of the Inkwell Films studio and redesigned "The Clown" for more efficient animation. Huemer's new design and experience as an animator moved them away from their dependency on the rotoscope for fluid animation. In addition to defining the clown, Huemer established the Fleischer style with its distinctive thick and thin ink lines. In addition, Huemer created Ko-Ko's companion, Fitz the Dog, who would evolve into Bimbo in 1930. Throughout
5060-525: The Paramount music library, including hit songs that would be introduced in feature films. Many cartoons, such as It's the Natural Thing to Do (1939), take their titles from popular songs of the time. Staff songwriters would also write original songs for the shorts, such as in 1936's Brotherly Love and I Wanna Be a Lifeguard ; the studio would hire outside songwriters to compose originals in addition. With
5175-706: The Red Seal Pictures Corporation. Riesenfeld was the theatrical manager of the Strand, Rivoli, and Rialto theaters on Broadway. Because the Out of the Inkwell films were a major part of the program in Riesenfeld's theaters, the Fleischers were invited to become partners. The Red Seal Company committed to an ambitious release schedule of 26 films with The Inkwell Studio as the primary supplier. The following year, Red Seal released 141 films that included documentaries, short comedy subjects, and live-action serials. Carrie of
5290-771: The Rye , My Wife's Gone to the Country , Margie, Oh, How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning , Sweet Adeline, Old Black Joe , Come Take A Trip in My Airship , and By the Light of the Silvery Moon . Red Seal owned 56 theaters, extending as far west as Cleveland, Ohio. But after only two years of operation, Red Seal was broke. Max Fleischer sought an appointment of receiver in bankruptcy in October 1926. Just as
5405-572: The Seven Dwarfs (1937). The Fleischer Studios had reached its zenith by 1936, with four series and 52 annual releases. Due to the phenomenal success of the Popeye cartoons, Paramount demanded more, and the Fleischer Studio experienced rapid expansion in order to balance out the increased workload. The crowded conditions, production speedups, drawing quotas, and internal management problems resulted in
5520-516: The Seven Dwarfs (1937). Paramount now wanted an animated feature for a 1939 Christmas release. This request came at the time of preparations for relocating to Miami, Florida . While the relocation had been a consideration for some time, its final motivation was made a reality due to lower corporate tax structures and an alleged escape from the remaining hostility from the strike. The new Fleischer Studio opened in October 1938, and production on its first feature, Gulliver's Travels (1939), went from
5635-585: The UK, Popeye Cartoons aired on Cartoon Network from 1993 to 2001 and on Boomerang from 2000 to 2005. Since February 2021, Talking Pictures TV has aired the cartoons during their Saturday morning pictures block. There were legal problems between King Features Syndicate and United Artists in the early 1980s regarding the availability of Popeye cartoons on home video. United Artists had television rights, but King Features disputed whether that included home video distribution. In 1983, MGM/UA Home Video attempted to release
5750-449: The artistic integrity of the original theatrical releases. Three volumes were produced between 2007 and 2008, released in the order the cartoons were released to theaters. The first of Warner Bros.'s Popeye DVD sets, covering the cartoons released from 1933 until early 1938, was released on July 31, 2007. Popeye the Sailor: 1933–1938, Volume 1 , a four-disc collector's edition DVD, contains
5865-610: The audience to sing along with Popeye via a bouncing ball . This film was made for theaters that participated in Paramount's weekly Popeye Fan Club meetings. The short is available as a special feature on Popeye the Sailor: 1933–1938, Volume 1 . Popeye the Sailor (film series) Popeye the Sailor is an American animated series of short films based on the Popeye comic strip character created by E. C. Segar . In 1933, Max and Dave Fleischer 's Fleischer Studios , based in New York City , adapted Segar's characters into
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#17331255832375980-562: The cartoons themselves. Throughout the years, there have been many VHS cassettes and DVDs featuring public domain Popeye cartoons, where the copyright had lapsed. While most of the Popeye cartoons remained unavailable on VHS tape, a handful of shorts fell into the public domain and were found on numerous low-budget VHS tapes and DVDs. Most used a.a.p. prints from the 1950s, which were in very poor shape, thus resulting in very poor image quality. These cartoons were seven black-and-white 1930s and 1940s cartoons, 24 Famous Studios cartoons from
6095-542: The characters, voice actors, and animators. The program aired on Cartoon Network until March 2004. Cartoon Network's spin-off network Boomerang aired reruns of it after that, along with half-hour afternoon airings of Popeye cartoons that sometimes included the color-traced versions from the 1980s. In 2012, Popeye reruns ceased until 2018, when Popeye cartoons returned to TV on Turner Classic Movies as single 7-minute shorts in March 2018, usually shown on Saturday mornings. It
6210-452: The control of their animation studio. The studio borrowed heavily from Paramount in order to move to Florida and expand into features, and while their first feature, Gulliver's Travels (1939), was fairly successful, their second, Mr. Bug Goes to Town (1941) was not, and left the Fleischers in signing at debt to Paramount. In May 1941, Paramount assumed ownership of Fleischer Studios. The Fleischers left, and Paramount began reorganizing
6325-404: The country in the 1930s, surpassing Mickey Mouse . Paramount added to Popeye's profile by sponsoring the "Popeye Club" as part of their Saturday matinée program, in competition with Mickey Mouse Clubs. Popeye cartoons, including a sing-along special entitled Let's Sing with Popeye , were a regular part of the weekly meetings. For a 10-cent membership fee, club members were given a Popeye kazoo ,
6440-630: The development stage begun in New York to active production in Miami. The score was by Paramount staff composer, Victor Young and recorded at the Paramount west coast facilities. While limited to only 60 theaters in a one-month release, Gulliver's Travels earned more than $ 3 million, in spite of exceeding its original $ 500,000 estimated cost. Accordingly, a second feature was ordered for the Christmas period, Mr. Bug Goes to Town (1941). The personal relationship between Max and Dave Fleischer deteriorated during
6555-656: The end of the Imps contract. Out of the Inkwell Films, Inc. filed bankruptcy in January 1929. In March, Max formed Fleischer Studios with Dave as his partner. Operations were first set up at the Carpenter-Goldman Laboratories in Queens. With a skeleton staff, Fleischer Studios started out doing industrial films, most notably, Finding His Voice , a technical demonstration film explaining Western Electric's Variable Density recording and reproduction system. Max Fleischer secured
6670-597: The environments were grittier and urban, often set in squalid surroundings, reflecting the Great Depression as well as German Expressionism . The Fleischer Studio was built on Max Fleischer 's novelty film series Out of the Inkwell (1918–1927). The novelty was based largely on the results of the " rotoscope ", invented by Fleischer to produce realistic animation. The first Out of the Inkwell films were produced through The Bray Studio . They featured Fleischer's first character, "The Clown", which became known as Ko-Ko
6785-476: The exception of Bimbo, a black-and-white cartoon dog). The cartoons of the Fleischer Studio were very different from those of Disney, both in concept and in execution. As a result, they were rough rather than refined and consciously artistic rather than commercial, but in their unique way, their artistry was expressed through a culmination of the arts and sciences. This approach focused on surrealism, dark humor, adult psychological elements, and sexuality. Furthermore,
6900-399: The film catalog. Turner Entertainment Co. (currently owned by Warner Bros. ), therefore, controls the rights to the Popeye shorts. After Turner's acquisition, the black-and-white Popeye shorts were shipped to South Korea, where artists retraced them into color. The process was intended to make the shorts more marketable in the modern television era, but prevented the viewers from seeing
7015-543: The first 60 Fleischer Popeye cartoons, including the color specials Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor and Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves . Volumes 1 and 3 have the "Intended For Adult Collector And May Not Be Suitable For Children" advisory warning on the back of the box- with a text disclaimer at the beginning of each disc warning that certain shorts "...may reflect certain racist, sexist and ethnic prejudices that were commonplace in American society at
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#17331255832377130-494: The first few cartoons, the opening credits music consists of a short instrumental excerpt of " The Sailor's Hornpipe ", a traditional sea shanty dating to no later than the 1700s, playing over the Paramount logo, followed by a vocal variation on Andrew B. Sterling and Charles B. Ward's "Strike Up the Band (Here Comes a Sailor)", substituting the words "for Popeye the Sailor" in the latter phrase. An instrumental of Popeye's theme replaced
7245-458: The globe. In the intervening years, however, the theatrical Popeye cartoons slowly disappeared from the airwaves in favor of the newer made-for-television shorts. a.a.p. was sold to United Artists in 1958, which was absorbed into Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to create MGM/UA in 1981. Ted Turner purchased MGM/UA in 1986, gaining control of all theatrical Popeye shorts. Although Turner sold MGM back to Kirk Kerkorian some months later, Turner retained
7360-424: The humor and violence. Segar was not ready to compromise, believing there would be "nothing funny about a sissy sailor." Many voice artists worked on the Popeye shorts over the two decades of production; this list is based on the most comprehensive artists. Popeye made his film debut in Popeye the Sailor , a 1933 Betty Boop cartoon. Although Betty has a small cameo appearance, the cartoon mostly introduces
7475-512: The humor would translate well onscreen. When the Fleischers needed more characters, they turned to Segar's strip: Wimpy debuted in the first regular Popeye cartoon, Swee'Pea , Poopdeck Pappy , the Goons, and Eugene the Jeep arrived onscreen by the late 1930s. Popeye was also given more family exclusive to the shorts, specifically his look-alike nephews Pipeye, Peepeye, Pupeye, and Poopeye. Spinach became
7590-446: The images. It was during this time that Lee de Forest started filming his Phonofilms experiments featuring several of the major Broadway headliners. The Red Seal company began acquiring more theaters outside of New York and equipped them with sound equipment produced by Lee de Forest , displaying "talkies" three years before the sound revolution began. Because of Max's interest in technology, Riesenfeld introduced him to de Forest. It
7705-440: The intent was to develop him as the star of the series, it was the cameo appearance of a Helen Kane caricature in the seventh entry, Dizzy Dishes that took center stage. Audience reactions to the New York preview were so great that Paramount encouraged the continued development of the most famous character to come from the Fleischer Studio by that time, Betty Boop . While originated as a hybrid human/canine character, Betty Boop
7820-603: The late-1940s period were released in less-expensive processes like Cinecolor and Polacolor . Paramount had begun moving the studio back to New York that January, and Mae Questel reassumed voice duties for Olive Oyl. Jack Mercer was drafted into the Navy during World War II, and scripts were stockpiled for Mercer to record when on leave. When Mercer was unavailable, Harry Welch stood in as the voice of Popeye (and Shape Ahoy had Mae Questel doing Popeye's voice as well as Olive's). New voice cast member Jackson Beck began voicing Bluto within
7935-399: The latter beginning with the third short, " Blow Me Down! ". Cartoon music historian Daniel Goldmark writes that Popeye is one of few cartoon characters of the time to have a theme; composer Carl Stalling , who worked at Disney and Warner Bros. , and MGM 's Scott Bradley disliked themes and phased them out quickly. Winston Sharples and Sammy Timberg composed most of the music for
8050-426: The library, including the Popeye cartoons, in 1986. A small number of Popeye cartoons have also entered the public domain. Superman , the other series based on licensing, reverted to National Comics after Paramount's rights to the character expired. TV syndication rights were initially licensed to Flamingo Films, distributors of the 1950s Adventures of Superman TV series. All 17 entries in this series entered
8165-410: The loss of the founders was evident. Throughout the 1940s, the production values on Popeye remained relatively high. Animation historian Jerry Beck notes that, however, the "gag sense and story sense fell into a bit of a rut." By the mid-50s, budgets at the studio became tight and staff downsized, while still producing the same number of cartoons per year. This was typical of most animation studios at
8280-405: The main characters: Popeye's coming to rescue Olive Oyl after being kidnapped by Bluto. The triangle between Popeye, Olive and Bluto was set up from the beginning and soon became the template for most Popeye productions that would follow. The cartoon opens with a newspaper headline announcing Popeye as a movie star, reflecting the transition into film. I Yam What I Yam became the first entry in
8395-416: The mid-1970s, NTA converted 85 black and white Betty Boop cartoons to color through Fred Ladd's Color Systems company. The process was done by having the cartoons traced and re-colored by Korean animators. These were packaged in 1976 under the title Betty Boop for President . This was refashioned as a compilation feature, Hooray for Betty Boop , and ran on HBO in 1980. Paramount has reacquired ownership of
8510-523: The month before, and Paramount finished out the last five months of the Fleischer contract without the Fleischer brothers. The last cartoon produced at the credited Fleischer Studios was the Superman cartoon Terror on the Midway . Paramount formed a new company, Famous Studios , as a successor to Fleischer Studios effective on July 3, 1942. With the exception of the Superman and Popeye cartoons, Paramount's cartoon library of releases prior to October 1950
8625-491: The new Code and stay in business. Paramount had also gone through three reorganizations from bankruptcy between 1931 and 1936. The new management under Barney Balaban set out to make more general audience films of the type made at MGM, but for lower budgets. This change in content policy affected the content of cartoons that Fleischer was to produce for Paramount, which urged emulation of the Walt Disney product. While Paramount
8740-471: The next 15 Popeye cartoons from 1946 to 1947. Popeye the Sailor: The 1940s, Volume 3 was released in September 2019 and featured the remaining 17 Popeye cartoons of the decade released from 1948 to the end of 1949. In January 2020, Warner Archive announced they were "taking a break" from producing Popeye sets to focus on other classic animated titles, such as Tex Avery Screwball Classics . As of 2022,
8855-424: The onset of World War II, the music in Popeye became more lush, fully orchestrated and patriotic. For generations, the iconic Popeye theme song became an instantly recognizable musical bookmark, further propelling the character's stardom. The original 1932 agreement with the syndicate called for any films made within 10 years and any elements of them to be destroyed in 1942. This would have destroyed all of
8970-495: The original Fleischer film library (through their acquisition of Republic Pictures ) since 1996 and continues to own the theatrical rights. The Popeye series, a property licensed from King Features Syndicate , was acquired by Associated Artists Productions (a.a.p.) , which later became part of United Artists (for info on the Popeye retitling, see the a.a.p. article) and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer . Turner Entertainment Co. , after briefly owning MGM outright, settled for ownership of
9085-511: The original Fleischer pen-and-ink work, as well as the three-dimensional backgrounds created by Fleischer's "Stereoptical" process. Every other frame was traced, changing the animation from being "on ones" (24 frame/s) to being "on twos" (12 frame/s), and softening the pace of the films. These colorized shorts began airing on Superstation WTBS in 1986 during their Tom & Jerry and Friends 90-minute weekday morning and hour-long weekday afternoon shows. The retraced shorts were syndicated in 1987 on
9200-523: The original comics to an official US Navy sailor's white uniform, which he retained until the 1970s. Popeye becomes an ordinary, downtrodden, naval seaman in the wartime entries, usually getting the blame for mishaps. Film historian Leonard Maltin notes that the studio did not intend to make light of the war, but instead make Popeye more relevant with the times and show him in action. The early Famous-era shorts were often World War II-themed, featuring Popeye fighting Nazis and Japanese soldiers, most notably
9315-509: The original copyrights were due for renewal. NTA failed to renew the copyrights, which placed the majority of the Fleischer film library (including the Color Classics series, the Screen Songs series, and Gulliver's Travels ) into the public domain . Mr. Bug Goes to Town , various Betty Boop cartoons, and the 1938 Color Classic , The Tears of an Onion , are among the few films that remain under copyright to Melange Pictures, LLC. In
9430-435: The original front-and-end Paramount titles. Most of the silent Fleischer titles from the Out of the Inkwell / Inkwell Imps series have entered the public domain. An official Betty Boop VHS set, Betty Boop Confidential , was released by Republic Pictures in 1995, included several black-and-white Betty Boop cartoons as well as Betty's only color appearance, Poor Cinderella . There have been several video releases for
9545-499: The original front-and-end Paramount titles. Animation archivist Jerry Beck served as consultant for this box set, as well as providing audio commentary for select shorts. VCI Entertainment also released a DVD compilation of all the public domain Popeye cartoons (both Fleischer and Famous) entitled Popeye the Sailor Man Classic Cartoons: 75th Anniversary Collector's Edition in 2004. In Japan , Mr. Bug Goes to Town
9660-418: The other Thimble Theatre characters begin appearing in a series of animated cartoons. The first cartoon in the series was released in 1933, and Popeye cartoons, released by Paramount Pictures , would remain a staple of Paramount's release schedule for nearly 25 years. One source of inspiration for the Fleischers were newspapers and comic strips, and they saw potential in Popeye as an animated star, thinking
9775-490: The penalties still owed after 18 months and assumed full ownership of Fleischer Studios, Inc. The Fleischers remained in control of production until that November. Mr. Bug Goes to Town , intended for release in December 1941, was not released until February 1942, and never recouped its costs. In spite of living up to his contractual obligations and delivering the film, Max Fleischer was asked to resign. Dave Fleischer had resigned
9890-502: The previous DVD sets left off almost a decade earlier. Unlike the previous DVD sets the Blu-rays did not feature any bonus material, but the shorts were digitally restored and uncut. Popeye the Sailor: The 1940s, Volume 1 was released on December 11, 2018, and contained 14 color Popeye shorts released from 1943 to 1945. Popeye the Sailor: The 1940s, Volume 2 was released in June 2019 featuring
10005-444: The public domain in the late 1960s, when National failed to renew their copyrights. Nevertheless, the Superman and Popeye cartoons are now under the ownership of Warner Bros. , a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery ; Warner bought the original film elements to the Superman series in 1969, after becoming a sibling (and later the parent) to DC Comics. Most of the Fleischer color titles have been widely available on video since
10120-408: The regular Popeye the Sailor series. Thanks to the animated shorts, Popeye became even more of a sensation than he had been in comic strips. As Betty Boop gradually declined in popularity as a result of Hays Code censorship undermining her characterization in 1934, Popeye became the studio's star character by 1936. Popeye began to sell more tickets and became the most popular cartoon character in
10235-440: The release of the Popeye cartoons on home video. Paramount Pictures allowed Warner Bros. to restore the original Paramount logos on the cartoons as part of a cross-licensing deal between the two companies (which also permitted the use of the "Warner Bros. Shield" logo on certain films produced by John Wayne 's Batjac Productions that were originally released by Warner Bros. but are now distributed by Paramount) thus preserving
10350-403: The remainder of its active years. The Fleischer Studio's greatest success came with the licensing of E.C. Segar 's comic strip character Popeye the Sailor beginning in 1933. Popeye eventually became the most popular series the studio ever produced, and its success surpassed Walt Disney 's Mickey Mouse cartoons, documented by popularity polls. With the availability of full spectrum color,
10465-443: The remaining 62 Popeye cartoons released between 1950 and 1957 have yet to be released. Fleischer Studios Fleischer Studios ( / ˈ f l aɪ ʃ ər / ) was an American animation studio founded in 1929 by brothers Max and Dave Fleischer , who ran the pioneering company from its inception until its acquisition by Paramount Pictures , the parent company and the distributor of its films. In its prime, Fleischer Studios
10580-488: The same year. In March of 2023, a week long screening event took place at the Museum of Modern Art which showcased around 60 brand new Fleischer restorations. The loose, improvisatory animation , frequently surreal action generally termed "The New York Style" (particularly in films such as Snow White and Bimbo's Initiation ), grungy atmosphere, and racy pre-Code content of the early Fleischer Studios cartoons have been
10695-497: The situation looked hopeless, Alfred Weiss appeared from the horizon with a Paramount contact. The Paramount deal provided financing and distribution, but due to legal complications of the bankruptcy, the title to Out of the Inkwell was changed to The Inkwell Imps (1927–1929) and the studio was renamed Inkwell Studios. One year into the relationship, the Fleischer Brothers discovered mismanagement under Weiss and left before
10810-418: The storyboards or prepared for the lip-sync (generally word-play and clever puns). Popeye lives in a dilapidated apartment building in A Dream Walking (1934), reflecting the urban feel and Depression-era hardships. The Fleischers moved their studio to Miami, Florida , in September 1938 in order to weaken union control and take advantage of tax breaks. The Popeye series continued production, although
10925-541: The studio, which they renamed Famous Studios . With Famous Studios headed by Sam Buchwald, Seymour Kneitel , Isadore Sparber and Dan Gordon , production continued on the Popeye shorts. With World War II becoming a greater concern in the United States, Popeye enlisted into the U.S. Navy , as depicted in the 1941 short The Mighty Navy . His regular outfit was changed from the dark blue shirt with red-trimmed sailor collar and light blue bell-bottomed dungarees he wore in
11040-496: The time"- similar to that seen on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection DVDs. The shorts were digitally restored and featured numerous bonus features; including audio commentary tracks and documentary featurettes. Historians supervised the release as consultants, assuring no colorized versions of unrestored prints were used. The first volume was included, either erroneously or through somewhat fraudulent means, in
11155-511: The time, as many considered shutting their doors entirely due to the competition from television. Paramount renamed the studio Paramount Cartoon Studios in 1956 and continued the Popeye series for one more year, with Spooky Swabs , released in August 1957, being the last of the 125 Famous shorts in the series. Popeye's signature theme song was composed by Sammy Lerner and premiered in the first Popeye cartoon in 1933, sung by Popeye himself. For
11270-463: The time, for release to television stations. However, unlike the pre-August 1948 Warner Bros. cartoons they were distributing, a.a.p. was ordered to remove the Paramount logos and "Paramount presents" title cards, so the cartoons were given an a.a.p. opening title card similar to the Warner Bros. cartoons, using a version of the Popeye theme music introduced sometime in 1943; the cartoons closed with
11385-615: The top Black Jazz performers of the day including Louis Armstrong ( I'll Be Glad When You're Dead You Rascal, You ), Don Redman ( I Heard ), and most notably, the three cartoons made with Cab Calloway , Minnie the Moocher , Snow White , and The Old Man of the Mountain . This was considered a bold action in light of the Jim Crow policies active in the South where such films would not be shown. In 1934,
11500-420: The villain. The Fleischer Popeye cartoons proved to be among the most popular of the 1930s, and would remain a staple of Paramount's release schedule for nearly 25 years. Paramount would take control of the studio in 1941 and rename it Famous Studios , ousting the Fleischer brothers and continuing production. The theatrical Popeye cartoons began airing on television in 1956, and the Popeye theatrical series
11615-407: The wife of Jack Mercer, voiced Olive Oyl through the end of 1943. Several voice actors, among them Pinto Colvig (better known as the voice of Disney's Goofy ), succeeded Gus Wickie as the voice of Bluto between 1938 and 1940. Fleischer Studios produced 108 Popeye cartoons, 105 of them in black-and-white . The remaining three were two-reel (double-length) Technicolor adaptations of stories from
11730-410: Was a large organization with a network of theaters, its fiscal consciousness was largely responsible for preventing Fleischer Studios from acquiring the three-strip Technicolor process, leaving it available for a four-year exclusivity with Walt Disney , who created a new market for color cartoons, established by Academy Award winner, Flowers and Trees (1932). Paramount acquiesced to the release of
11845-446: Was a premier producer of animated cartoons for theaters, with Walt Disney Productions being its chief competitor in the 1930s. Fleischer Studios included Out of the Inkwell and Talkartoons characters like, Koko the Clown , Betty Boop , Bimbo , Popeye the Sailor , and the comic character Superman . Unlike other studios, whose characters were anthropomorphic animals, the Fleischers' most successful characters were humans (with
11960-399: Was corrected on all subsequent prints exhibited on television. Before U.M.& M. had finished the title alterations, the company was bought by National Telefilm Associates . NTA placed their logo at the heads and tails of the films and blacked out references to Paramount, Technicolor , Cinecolor and Polacolor . The majority of the Fleischer cartoons were off the air by the mid 60s when
12075-486: Was discontinued in 1957. Popeye the Sailor in all produced 231 short subjects that were broadcast on television for several years. The 1930s Popeye cartoons have been said by historians to have an urban feel, with the Fleischers pioneering an East Coast animation scene that differed highly from their West Coast counterparts. Popeye the Sailor, created by E.C. Segar, debuted in 1929 in his King Features Syndicate -distributed comic strip, Thimble Theatre . The character
12190-538: Was forced to re-work Volume 2 into a series of two-disc sets. Popeye the Sailor: 1938–1940, Volume 2 was released on June 17, 2008, and includes the final color Popeye special Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp . Popeye the Sailor: 1941–1943, Volume 3 was released on November 4, 2008, and includes Popeye's three seldom shown wartime cartoons: You're a Sap, Mr. Jap (1942), Scrap the Japs (1942), and Seein' Red, White 'N' Blue (1943). Like Volume 1 these sets contained
12305-446: Was growing in popularity by the 1930s and there was "hardly a newspaper reader of the Great Depression that did not know his name." It was obvious, however, that stars of a larger magnitude were being launched from animated cartoons, with the success of Mickey Mouse . In November 1932, King Features signed an agreement with Fleischer Studios , run by producer Max Fleischer and his brother, director Dave Fleischer , to have Popeye and
12420-470: Was in need of new products going into the new decade, but the new shorts series that debuted in 1939 and 1940, Gabby , Stone Age Cartoons , and Animated Antics , were unsuccessful. Theater operators complained, with the Popeye cartoons having the only value. Paramount acquired the rights to comic book superhero Superman in 1941, and the Fleischers were assigned to work on a series of animated Superman shorts. The first entry, Superman , had
12535-538: Was originally sold to U.M. & M. TV Corporation in 1955. A condition of the purchase required the removal of the Paramount logos and copyright lines from the main titles. As soon as the Fleischer library was sold to television, Max Fleischer noticed that some of the cartoons were being shown without his name in the credits, which was a violation of his original contracts. On June 17, 1956, Max Fleischer filed suit against Paramount and its TV distribution partners, seeking $ 2,750,000 in damages. The infringement on his name
12650-561: Was released in November 2006 by Warner Home Video as part of their DVD box set of Superman films . In 2009, Warner gave these Superman shorts their own stand-alone 2-disc DVD release, Max Fleischer's Superman: 1941–1942 . Olive Films, under exclusive license from Melange/Viacom, acquired the rights to the 66 non-public domain Betty Boop cartoons, and released four volumes of Betty Boop DVDs and Blu-rays. Warner Home Video has released all of
12765-562: Was released on DVD in April 2010 by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment as part of the Studio Ghibli 's Ghibli Museum Library collection. In 1985, DC Comics named Fleischer Studios as one of the honorees in the company's 50th anniversary publication Fifty Who Made DC Great for its work on the Superman cartoons . Today, a new iteration of Fleischer Studios effectively holds the rights to Betty Boop and associated characters such as Koko
12880-484: Was reported in 2002 that Warner Bros. and King Features parent Hearst Corporation were working on a deal to release the Popeye cartoons on home video. Over 1,000 people signed an online petition asking WB and King Features to release the theatrical Popeye cartoons on DVDs. Popeye cartoons were never officially released in any form until the late 2000s. In 2006, Warner Home Video, King Features Syndicate, and Hearst Corporation finally reached an agreement allowing for
12995-460: Was started by Max Fleischer's granddaughter, Jane Fleischer Reid, to focus on the restoration and screening of the Fleischer Studios library. The restoration efforts are a collaboration between film archives around the world including Paramount Pictures which owns the original camera negatives. Beginning with Somewhere in Dreamland ; the restored cartoon had its premiere on the MeTV network in December of
13110-581: Was through this partnership that Max produced a number of the Ko-Ko Song Car-tunes as sound releases. Of the 36 song films produced between 1924 and 1927, 12 were produced as sound films beginning in 1926 with standard silent versions as well. The first sound release was Mother Pin a Rose on Me . Other sound releases included Darling Nellie Gray , Has Anybody Here Seen Kelly? , When the Midnight Choo-Choo Leaves for Alabam' , Coming Through
13225-556: Was transformed into the human character she is known as by 1932. Having become the main attraction of the Talkartoons , she was given her own series, which ran until 1939. The "Jazz Baby" Flapper character, Betty Boop lifted the spirits of Depression Era audiences with her paradoxical mixture of childlike innocence and sexual allure. Being a musical novelty character, she was a natural for theatrical entertainment. Several of her early cartoons were developed as promotional vehicles for some of
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