Popeye the Sailor, animated icon of pop culture and known for the strength that spinach gave him, continues to gain muscle on his 90th birthday , an occasion that his legion of followers is taking advantage of to remember his moments of glory.
It was on January 17, 1929 when Popeye appeared for the first time in the comic Thimble Theater, a strip that, however, had been published in The New York Evening Journal since 1919 and that had Olivia Olivo as its main character.
“Incredibly creative, well written, magnificently drawn,” said one of Popeye’s followers on social networks, highlighting the version with which this unique sailor won over the public in the now celebrated comics of the 1930s.
The multitude of Popeye’s followers also remember these days the influence that the character has had on hundreds of works of art that have reproduced his silhouette, from murals in the city of his creator to graffiti in Istanbul.
Nor do fans of Popeye forget the role played by the late Robin Williams in the movie dedicated to this hero in 1980, or the resplendent statue by artist Jeff Koons, which in 2014 was sold at auction for 28 million. dollars and can be seen in Las Vegas.
“Do you think I’m a cowboy
” was the first sentence said by the character, who from the beginning had his tattoo and his pipe
To celebrate the 90th anniversary of the stocky sailor, the official website displays a rigorous review of his 9 decades, in which he has gone from being a secondary character of the Thimble Theater to becoming one of the most successful television adaptations of a comic of the history.
“Ja think I’m a cowboy
! (Do you think I’m a cowboy
)” was the first and simple phrase that the creator of the comic, Elzie Crisler Segar , gave Popeye, who appeared already portrayed with a pipe in his mouth, his iconic muscular arms and anchor tattoo.
It wasn’t until seven months after her debut that sparks flew between Olivia and Popeye, on August 27, 1929, when she accidentally kisses him on the cheek and gives an inadvertent kick-off.their long and tumultuous love story.
His famous spinach intake did not become one of Popeye’s main characteristics until the 1930s, when many of his fans claim that the creation reached its maximum splendor. Such was the influence of the sailor that the spinach industry acknowledges that thanks to him the consumption of this vegetable in the US rose by a remarkable 33%. Today the Allens brand continues to sell this product under the name Spinach Popeye.
His success led him to jump from the static character of the role to being an animated cartoon on the big screen on July 14, 1933 in the film Popeye the Sailor (Popeye the sailor), produced by Fleischer Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures, in the that was introducedthe song I’m Popeye the Sailor Man.Thanks to his cartoon series, he was until the 1960s one of the most famous characters on television . The publishing market also wanted to exploit it: in February 1948 his own series of books was dedicated to him.
In 1961, his relevance in pop culture is reflected in his appearance in portraits of artists such as Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein , while in 1982 he jumped into the world of video games with a Nintendo creation.
Despite his advanced age, Popeye continued to be very present, with Universal Studios dedicating one of its attractions to him in its park in Orlando, Florida, starting in 1999. In 2004 the iconic Empire State Building celebrated the 75th anniversary of the sailor by lighting up green from January 16-18.
In recent years, Popeye has refused to diminish his presence, and, adapting to the times, has starred in the promotion of milk consumption in the US, as well as cosmetic products by Khiels, Havaianas flip flops or fragrances by designer Jean Paul Gaultier . Despite his already long life, the character has not lost the affection of the public or the interest with which publicists still observe him.
