''Popeye Meets the Man Who Hated Laughter'', also known as ''The Man Who Hated Laughter'', is a 1972 American animated one-hour

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

that was part of ''

The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie ''The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie'' — retitled ''The New Saturday Superstar Movie'' for its second season — is a series of one-hour animated made-for-television films (some of which also contained live action sequences), broadcast on the ABC ...

''. This film united characters from almost every

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...

then owned by

King Features Syndicate King Features Syndicate, Inc. is a American content distribution and animation studio, consumer product licensing and print syndication company owned by Hearst Communications that distributes about 150 comic strips, newspaper columns, editoria ...

in one story. The show aired on October 7, 1972, and was repeated in February 1974. This film marked the first time that Steve Canyon,

The Phantom ''The Phantom'' is an American adventure comic strip, first published by Lee Falk in February 1936. The main character, the Phantom, is a fictional costumed crime-fighter who operates from the fictional African country of Bangalla. The char ...

, Tim Tyler, or

Flash Gordon Flash Gordon is the protagonist of a space adventure comic strip created and originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by, and created to compete with, the already established ''Buck Rogers'' adve ...

appeared in animation. In the 1980s, the cartoon series ''

Defenders of the Earth ''Defenders of the Earth'' is an American animated television series produced in 1986, featuring characters from three comic strips distributed by King Features Syndicate—Flash Gordon, The Phantom, Mandrake the Magician, and Mandrake's assistan ...

'' would feature Flash Gordon, Mandrake the Magician, and The Phantom as freedom fighters united against a common enemy,

Ming the Merciless Ming the Merciless is a fictional character who first appeared in the ''Flash Gordon'' comic strip in 1934. He has since been the main villain of the strip and its related movie serials, television series and film adaptation. Ming is depicted as ...

Plot

Professor Morbid Grimsby is an evil genius who has won the prestigious "Meanie" award six years in a row; to guarantee a seventh, he plots to eliminate all laughter by getting rid of the Sunday funnies, with the aid of his henchman

Brutus Marcus Junius Brutus (; ; 85 BC – 23 October 42 BC), often referred to simply as Brutus, was a Roman politician, orator, and the most famous of the assassins of Julius Caesar. After being adopted by a relative, he used the name Quintus Serv ...

Popeye Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar.yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

, the ''SS Hilarious'', and all the characters from the humorous comic strips are informed that they have won a free ocean voyage upon this boat. Once out at sea, the boat is pulled to a remote island by the Professor's

tractor beam A tractor-beam is a device with the ability to attract one object to another from a distance. The concept originates in fiction: The term was coined by E. E. Smith (an update of his earlier "attractor-beam") in his novel '' Spacehounds of IPC'' ( ...

, and in the chaos Popeye's stash of

spinach Spinach (''Spinacia oleracea'') is a leafy green flowering plant native to central and western Asia. It is of the order Caryophyllales, family Amaranthaceae, subfamily Chenopodioideae. Its leaves are a common edible vegetable consumed either f ...

is lost at sea; thus, he and all the passengers are prisoners of the Professor. Being a huge fan of the Sunday funnies, the

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

takes action by calling together the heroes of the adventure comics to rescue the prisoners. The rescue attempts go wrong, and the adventure characters also end up as prisoners. The prisoners eventually decide that the only way to free themselves is to make the Professor laugh, to convince him that the world needs laughter. They put on a

talent show A talent show is an event in which participants perform the arts of singing, dancing, lip-syncing, acting, martial arts, playing an instrument, poetry, comedy or other activities to showcase skills. Many talent shows are performances rather ...

which fails to have an effect, but then the younger characters get him to laugh by showing him his own reflection in a

mirror A mirror or looking glass is an object that Reflection (physics), reflects an image. Light that bounces off a mirror will show an image of whatever is in front of it, when focused through the lens of the eye or a camera. Mirrors reverse the ...

while he's trying to scare them; the Professor has a change of heart, and decides to let everyone go. At that moment, however, a

volcano A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are ...

on the island begins to erupt; the Professor uses his

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

to get the comic characters off the island, but it gets stuck in a cavern. Popeye finds his spinach in the water, eats it, and frees the submarine. The story ends with the comic characters and the Professor being treated to a party on the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

lawn; they're told that the President will join them shortly. Unbeknownst to the guests, he is actually at that moment enjoying the comics page of his newspaper.

Comic strips

Characters from the following comic strips appeared in this film: * ''

Barney Google and Snuffy Smith ''Barney Google and Snuffy Smith'', originally ''Take Barney Google, F'rinstance'', is an American comic strip created by cartoonist Billy DeBeck. Since its debut on June 17, 1919, the strip has gained a large international readership, appea ...

'' * '' Blondie'' * ''

Beetle Bailey ''Beetle Bailey'' is an American comic strip created by cartoonist Mort Walker, published since September 4, 1950. It is set on a fictional United States Army post. In the years just before Walker's death in 2018 (at age 94), it was among the old ...

'' * ''

Bringing Up Father ''Bringing Up Father'' is an American comic strip created by cartoonist George McManus. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, it ran for 87 years, from January 2, 1913, to May 28, 2000. The strip was later titled ''Jiggs and Maggie'' (or ''M ...

'' * ''

Henry Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) * Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

'' * ''

Hi and Lois ''Hi and Lois'' is an American comic strip about a suburban family. Created by Mort Walker and illustrated by Dik Browne, both of whose offspring currently work on the strip, it debuted on October 18, 1954, distributed by King Features Syndicate.R ...

'' * ''

The Katzenjammer Kids ''The Katzenjammer Kids'' is an American comic strip created by Rudolph Dirks in 1897 and later drawn by Harold Knerr for 35 years (1914 to 1949).Little Iodine ''Little Iodine'' is an American Sunday comic strip, created by Jimmy Hatlo, which was syndicated by King Features and ran from August 15, 1943 until August 14, 1983. The strip was a spin-off of '' They'll Do It Every Time'', an earlier Hatlo c ...

'' * ''

The Little King ''The Little King'' is a 1930-1975 American gag-a-day comic strip created by Otto Soglow, telling its stories in a style using images and very few words, as in pantomime. Publication history Soglow's character first appeared on June 7, 1930, in ...

'' * '' Mandrake the Magician'' * ''

'' * ''

Popeye Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar.Prince Valiant ''Prince Valiant in the Days of King Arthur'', often simply called ''Prince Valiant'', is an American comic strip created by Hal Foster in 1937. It is an epic adventure that has told a continuous story during its entire history, and the full stretc ...

'' (cameo) * '' Quincy'' * '' Steve Canyon'' * ''

Tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus '' Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on u ...

'' * ''

Tim Tyler's Luck ''Tim Tyler's Luck'' is an adventure comic strip created by Lyman Young, elder brother of '' Blondie'' creator Chic Young. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, the strip ran from August 13, 1928, until August 24, 1996. Characters and story ...

Production

Jack Mercer Winfield B. Mercer (January 31, 1910 – December 7, 1984), professionally known as Jack Mercer, was a prolific American voice actor, animator and TV screenwriter. He is best known as the voice of cartoon characters Popeye the Sailor Man and F ...

, best known for being the voice of Popeye, provided the voices of Popeye and Wimpy in this movie;

Bob McFadden Robert McFadden (January 19, 1923 – January 7, 2000) was an American singer, impressionist, and voice-over actor perhaps best known for his many contributions to animated cartoons. His most popular television cartoon characters included M ...

and

Corinne Orr Corinne Orr (born January 6, 1936) is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her work on the English version of the anime series ''Speed Racer''. Biography Orr became involved in children's theatre beginning at the age of 10 (with her first r ...

provided all the other voices.

Home media

The film has not been released on home media.

References

External links

*
Nolan's Pop Culture Review #321
* {{Phantom 1972 animated films 1972 films 1972 television films Animated crossover films The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie Popeye Flash Gordon films The Phantom Popeye the Sailor television series The Katzenjammer Kids 1970s American films