Popeye the Sailor (film series)

Popeye the Sailor
Popeye the Sailor opening title employed in the 1930s
Directed by	Dave Fleischer Dan Gordon I. Sparber Seymour Kneitel Bill Tytla Dave Tendlar
Story by	George Manuell Seymour Kneitel Bill Turner Warren Foster Dan Gordon Tedd Pierce Milford Davis Eric St. Clair Cal Howard Jack Mercer Carl Meyer Jack Ward Joe Stultz Otto Messmer Dave Tendlar Irving Dressler I. Klein Woody Gelman Larry Riley Larz Bourne Irv Spector George Hill James Tyer Izzy Sparber
Based on	Popeye by E. C. Segar
Animation by	Seymour Kneitel Roland Crandall William Henning William Sturm Willard Bowsky Dave Tendlar Myron Waldman Thomas Johnson Nick Tafuri Harold Walker Charles Hastings George Germanetti Orestes Calpini Edward Nolan Frank Endres Robert G. Leffingwell Jack Ozark Lillian Friedman James Davis Joe D'Igalo Graham Place Robert Bentley Tom Golden Shamus Culhane Arnold Gillespie Abner Kneitel Winfield Hoskins Grim Natwick Irv Spector Myron Waldman Sidney Pillet Lod Rossner Bill Nolan Joe Oriolo Tom Baron Ruben Grossman John Walworth Al Eugster James Tyer Ben Solomon Morey Reden John Gentilella Lou Zukor Martin Taras George Rufle Bill Hudson Harvey Patterson Wm. B. Pattengill Steve Muffatti Hicks Lokey Howard Swift Jack Ehret (assistant animator)
Color process	Black-and-white (1933–1943) 3-strip Technicolor (1936, 1937, 1939, 1943–1946, 1949–1957) 2-strip Cinecolor (1946–1948) 3-strip Polacolor (1948–1949)
Production companies	Fleischer Studios (1933–1942) Famous Studios (renamed as Paramount Cartoon Studios) (1942–1957)
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release dates	July 14, 1933 — August 9, 1957
Running time	6–10 minutes (one reel) 15–20 minutes (two reel) (Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor, Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves and Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp)
Country	United States
Language	English

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 a series of theatrical cartoon shorts for Paramount Pictures.^[1] 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 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 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.