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Fleischer Studios (1933)

I Yam What I Yam is the second Popeye theatrical cartoon short, starring William “Billy” Costello as Popeye, Bonnie Poe as Olive Oyl, and Charles Lawrence as Wimpy. The source of the quote is the comic strip, Thimble Theatre by E. C. Segar, in which the character Popeye first appeared.

I Yam What I Yam is the second Popeye cartoon and the first cartoon in Popeye’s own cartoon series; the first entry, Popeye the Sailor, was released as a Betty Boop cartoon. This is the first cartoon in which Bonnie Poe voices Olive Oyl. This was the first screen appearance of J. Wellington Wimpy.

Full cartoon

Popeye the Sailor Man is a cartoon fictional character, created by Elzie Crisler Segar, who has appeared in comic strips and theatrical and television animated cartoons. He first appeared in the daily King Features comic strip Thimble Theatre on January 17, 1929; Popeye became the strips title in later years. Although Segars Thimble Theatre strip was in its tenth year when Popeye made his debut, the sailor quickly became the main focus of the strip and Thimble Theatre soon became one of King Features most popular properties during the 1930s. Thimble Theatre was continued after Segars death in 1938 by several writers and artists, most notably Segars assistant Bud Sagendorf. The strip continues to appear in first-run installments in its Sunday edition, written and drawn by Hy Eisman. The daily strips are reprints of old Sagendorf stories. In 1933, Max Fleischer adapted the Thimble Theatre characters into a series of Popeye the Sailor theatrical cartoon shorts for Paramount Pictures. These cartoons proved to be among the most popular of the 1930s, and Fleischer—and later Paramount’s own Famous Studios—continued production through 1957.

Animated by Seymour Kneitel and William Henning

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Seymour Kneitel (1956)

Popeye and Bluto are running for president; it’s election day, the vote is tied, and Olive is the only remaining voter.

Olive Oyl won’t vote until her chores are done, so Popeye and Bluto compete to cut her wood, plow her fields, and store her hay. And then it’s just an old-fashioned fight.

Popeye for President is Popeye’s 219th theatrical cartoon, which was released by Famous Studios on March 30, 1956.

Animation by Tom Johnson and Frank Endres.

Story written by Jack Mercer.

Starring Jackson Beck as Bluto, Jack Mercer as Popeye, and Mae Questel as Olive Oyl.

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Max Fleischer (1942)

This obscure Fleischer two-reel cartoon is one of the oddest Fleischer shorts ever made. It starts out as a straight-forward adaptation of Edgar Allen Poe’s classic poem The Raven, but quickly turns into a farce about a door-to-door vacuum salesman (the Raven) and a Wolf. Together, they pay a visit to a very thrifty Scottie Dog, where the Raven attempts to make a sale, while the Wolf goes about breaking into the dog’s safe.

The Raven is voice by Jack Mercer, the famous voice of Popeye the Sailor.

This was the last produced animated short of Fleischer Studios before the Paramount take down replaced them with Famous Studios.

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Fleischer Studios (1930)

Seymour Kneitel along with Dave Fleischer directed this animated short film, but was uncredited.

Screen Songs are animated cartoons featuring the famous “bouncing ball” produced by Max Fleischer and distributed by Paramount Pictures between 1929 and 1938. The cartoons are sing-alongs featuring popular song hits of the day along with the ethnic stereotypes and humor typical of the era in which they were produced. In the 1930s, the series began to feature current popular musical guest stars such as Cab Calloway, Rudy Vallee, and Ethel Merman.

Fleischer Studios was an American corporation that originated as an animation studio located at 1600 Broadway, New York City, New York. It was founded in 1921 as Inkwell Studios, Inc. and Out of the Inkwell Films by brothers Max Fleischer and Dave Fleischer who ran the pioneering company from its inception until Paramount Pictures, the studio’s parent company and the distributor of its films, acquired ownership. In its prime, Fleischer Studios was a premier producer of animated cartoons for theaters, with Walt Disney Productions becoming its chief competitor in the 1930s.

Fleischer Studios characters included Koko the Clown, Betty Boop, Bimbo, Popeye the Sailor, and Superman. Unlike other studios, whose characters were anthropomorphic animals, the Fleischers’ most successful characters were humans (with the exception of Bimbo, who was a black-and-white cartoon dog). The cartoons of the Fleischer Studio were very different from the Disney product, both in concept and in execution. As a result, the Fleischer cartoons were rough rather than refined, 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, the environments were grittier and urban, often set in squalid surroundings, reflecting the Great Depression as well as German Expressionism.

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Fleischer Studios (1933)

Popeye the Sailor with Betty Boop is a 1933 animated short produced by Fleischer Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures. While billed as a Betty Boop cartoon, it was produced as a vehicle for Popeye the Sailor in his debut animated appearance.

In 1933, Max and Dave Fleischer’s Fleischer Studios adapted the Thimble Theater characters into a series of Popeye the Sailor theatrical cartoon shorts for Paramount Pictures. These cartoons proved to be among the most popular of the 1930s, and Popeye at one time rivaled Mickey Mouse for popularity among audiences. It was for this short that Sammy Lerner’s famous “I’m Popeye the Sailor Man” song was written. I Yam What I Yam became the first entry in the regular Popeye the Sailor series.

Though originally billed as a Betty Boop cartoon, Popeye the Sailor were the first screen appearances of Popeye, Olive Oyl, and Bluto. William “Billy” Costello was the voice of Popeye. Animated by Seymour Kneitel and Roland Crandall.

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Fleischer Studios (1936)

Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor is a two-reel animated cartoon short subject in the Popeye Color Feature series, produced in Technicolor and released to theatres on November 27, 1936 by Paramount Pictures. It was produced by Max Fleischer for Fleischer Studios, Inc. and directed by Dave Fleischer, with the title song by Sammy Timberg. The voices of Popeye and J. Wellington Wimpy are performed by Jack Mercer, with additional voices by Mae Questel as Olive Oyl, and Gus Wickie as Sindbad the Sailor.

This short was the first of the three Popeye Color Specials, which were, at over sixteen minutes each, and were billed as “A Popeye Feature.” Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor was nominated for the 1936 Academy Award for Best Short Subject: Cartoons, but lost to Walt Disney’s Silly Symphony The Country Cousin. Footage from this short was later used in the 1952 Famous Studios Popeye cartoon Big Bad Sindbad, in which Popeye relates the story of his encounter with Sindbad to his 3 nephews.

Producer and special effects artist, Ray Harryhausen stated in his Fantasy Film Scrapbook that Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor was a major influence on his production of The 7th Voyage of Sinbad.

Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor has been deemed “culturally significant” by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. In 1994, the film was voted #17 of the 50 Greatest Cartoons of all time by members of the animation field, making it the highest ranked Fleischer Studios cartoon in the book.