this thread has me laughing at the different kid versions of the Popeye song. The way Kid Institutional Knowledge is passed down is an interest of mine…not sure how it works exactly (who decided that the answer to “guess what?” is “chicken butt” rather than monkey butt or donkey butt or anything else!)
In my hometown (Northern California in the 70’s) it went thusly:
I’m Popeye the Sailor Man (toot)
I live in a garbage can
I went to my Granny’s
And pulled down my panties
I’m Popeye the Sailor man
I came across this old thread while Googling the same question as the original poster, and I think I found the real answer! I might be mistaken, but I don’t think OP is referring to the classic “I’m Popeye the Sailor Man” song that was the character’s signature tune. In many post-1936 cartoons, we see Popeye walking down the street with a little hop in his step and scat singing to himself – usually the same melody. That particular melody traces to the 1936 cartoon “Brotherly Love,” and the song of that same name by Bob Rothberg & Sammy Timberg, which is originally sung by Olive Oyl. Timberg was the music director for Fleischer Studios and Famous Studios until 1943, so it’s not surprising that he regularly reused some of the same musical themes.
Popeye was also supposedly inspired by a real person, Rocky Fiegel. There are stories that he would take a nap outside the bar he tended, and local kids would antagonize him awake, since he’d jump up and sort of do the mumbling, ready to fight stance that’s indicative of the Popeye character.
Cochrane, unless you were living in Bristol , England in the late fifties this gets about. I remember singing this version verbatim together with several other, progressively more scatalogical renderings at primary (elementary) school.
What I love about the oldest Fleischer Popeye cartoons is that Popeye’s singing frequently didn’t match the animated movements of his mouth. He’d also toss off random sotto voce comments that weren’t animated, either.
Jack Mercer voiced most of the Popeye cartoons (and arguably the best of them), but he wasn’t the first, or the only one, even during the Fleischer/Famous Studios era: Even Mae Questel (the best-known of the Olive Oyl voices) took turns as Popeye!
