Notes about popeye

March 27, 2017 permalink

The Real Life Popeye Olive Oyl and Wimpy

Grainy, black-and-white antique photos featuring the real-life inspirations for Popeye, Olive Oyl, and Wimpy

I never knew that some of the main characters from Thimble Theatre, the 1920s newspaper comic that birthed Popeye, were based on real people that E. C. Segar knew from his hometown! What the what! Above, photos of the real-life Popeye (Frank “Rocky” Fiegel), Olive Oyl (Dora Paskel), and J. Wellington Wimpy (J. William Schuchert). No sign of Bluto or Eugene the Magical Jeep.

Fiegel’s headstone now even has a pretty good Popeye etched into it. I don’t think I’d mind that.

(Via)

May 2, 2011 permalink

Fleischer Popeye 3d Backgrounds

Dave Fleischer of Fleischer Studios demos the distorted-architecture-on-a-turntable that his studio pioneered for creating compelling 3D backgrounds in their animated shorts. You can see it in motion in a number of their Popeye cartoons (like Popeye Meets Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves) or in their originals like Mr. Bug Goes to Town (PS: check out that awesome title card typography!)

If you happen to be in L.A. this week, you can catch some classic Fleischer shorts in pristine 35mm prints as part of Jerry Beck’s animation series at the Cinefamily. Do it!

(Via Cartoon Brew)

January 14, 2010 permalink

Went Digging Through My Archives and Came Across

Went digging through my archives and came across this, one of my favorite frames from the first year of the original Fleischer BrothersPopeye shorts. In a contest of manliness, Bluto smokes an entire cigar in one drag and blows the smoke in Popeye’s face. The sailor retaliates by doing the same but blowing the smoke out of his one good eye. This is what makes animation great, folks!

Here’s a link to the full cartoon: Can You Take It?

(Or skip straight to the awesome)

Pagination