OK, does Popeye have a last name, and if so, what is it? Ditto for Bluto/Brutus.
I believe Popeyes last name is “The Sailor Man” :rolleyes:
Hey, Cold, I thought “Thesailorman” was his middle name, and that his last name was “Toot toot”.
There is an E.C. Segar comic strip where Popeye, not long after having found Swee’Pea, decides to Christen(sp?) him with a bowl of spinach. Now, the character of Swee’Pea was going to originally be called Schooner, so as Popeye is dumping this bowl of spinach on Swee’Pea’s head, he says something along the lines of “I Christen ya Schooner George Worshington Daniel Boom…(several other mispronounced famous names)…Seawell.” Segar never formally acknowledged a last name for Popeye, and as far as I know the last name of Seawell is never mentioned again during Segar’s run on the Popeye strip, but Seawell is probably the closest we ever came to getting a last name for Popeye. Segar also never explained exactly how Popeye lost his right eye. The closest he ever came to that was a “letter to the fans” from Popeye, and at the end of the letter he says one day he will tell the story of how he lost his right eye. He said it was the most awful fight of his life, and that he had a lot of fun during that fight (Popeye loves a good scrap, you see).
I’ll never remember Popeye the same way again. 
I never used to read the comic strip, but I used to watch the cartoon every day right after I came home from school. I never knew why they took it off the air–but I would occasionally hear rumors that it was because of his chain pipe-smoking habit. It was supposedly a bad influence on the kiddies, or something.
Or maybe it was just that the local ratings were dropping. 
Can you add any validity, Max? Thanks fer sharing the info with us!
-Ashley
Thank you, Maxwell Edison, for your Popeye insights. I’m a big fan of old comics myself, and Popeye does kick ass.
I just wanted to add something about the missing eye story: sure, it’s never been told, but Segar’s successor, Bud Sagendorf, once presented a letter to fans written by Popeye that said that he’d tell the story about how he lost his eye, but “that story would give you nightmares all day long.” This doesn’t clarify anything at all; I just like that bit and I wanted to share.
In the dubious Popeye movie of 1983 starring Robin Williams, Popeye is referred to once as “Mr. uh… Eye…” What’s his last name, really? The world may never know…
Maxwell Edison:
I am most impressed! That information isn’t in either my Popeye books (including the “canonical” one by Bud Sagendorff) or in Leslie Cabarga’s book on the Fleischer cartoons. Whence this knowledge?
In the cartoons from the early 60s, Popeye wasn’t one-eyed; he just habitually squinted. Another reason the purists don’t like them, along with the “Brutus” character.
“…He may not be much, But he’s large!”
I wish every time I popped a piece of cheesecake into my mouth, I would be able to whip anything’s ass in the immediate vicinity.
Mmm…cheesecake.
My source was “Popeye, The First Fifty Years” by Bud Sagendorf, page 71. From memory I got the quote slightly wrong, so here it is correctly: “I do hereby Christen ya by the names of Scooner Seawell, Georgia Washenting, Christiffer Columbia, Daniel Boom.” Below that strip it mentions Segar’s intention of naming the baby Schooner, so in the list of names Popeye rattles off while pouring that spinach over Swee’Pea’s head, Seawell is the one that is out of place, and might be taken to be Popeye’s last name. Like I said, Segar never formally gave Popeye a last name, and “Seawell” was never mentioned again in the strips. The letter regarding his right eye, written by Segar, is on pages 44 and 45, and goes, “Someday I’ll tell ya how I los’ me right eye…it was the mos’ arful battle of me whole life…I had more fun that night.” If anyone is interested, there is a book called “Popeye: The 60th Anniversary Collection” that has the series of strips that introduced Eugene the Jeep, and the awesome “Plunder Island” series of strips that pitted Popeye against the Sea Hag and introduced Alice the Goon. Be warned: it will take you a few strips to get into it, but once the story starts rolling it will draw you into it and you will realize what an excellent comic strip the original E.C. Segar Popeye was.
AFAIK, the old Max Fleischer and Paramount Popeye cartoons are still being shown, although they have not been shown in my city for a couple of years.
As for the movie, I always thought that it was one of those movies that someone could do a sequel to and hit it right the second time around (like Star Trek II). With modern CGI, a Popeye movie with Jeeps and Goons and Toars would certainly be feasible. Robin Williams could definitely be an older and crustier Popeye than the one he played in the first movie.
Sorry this is so long. You just can’t get me started about Popeye…
Nah. Williams is old enough to play Poopdeck Pappy now. Johnny Depp for Popeye!
I have a feeling that “Seawell” was just Segar’s shorthand for “someone who does well at sea,” an appropriate appellation for the son of a sailor.