''The All New Popeye Hour'' is an American
animated television series
An animated series is a set of Animation, animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can ...
produced by
Hanna-Barbera Productions
Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to c ...
and
King Features Entertainment
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 ...
. Starring the
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 ...
character
Character or Characters may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk
* ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...
Popeye
Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar.[CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...](_blank)
. Despite the series' mixed reception, (mostly being criticized about its cheap animation, writing and PSAs), it was a hit for
King Features Entertainment
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 ...
.
Production
The show was produced by the legendary
Hanna-Barbera Productions
Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to c ...
, which tried to retain the style of the original ''Thimble Theatre'' comic strip while complying with the prevailing content restrictions on
violence
Violence is the use of physical force so as to injure, abuse, damage, or destroy. Other definitions are also used, such as the World Health Organization's definition of violence as "the intentional use of physical force or Power (social and p ...
. Featured characters, aside from the popular main stars of Popeye,
Bluto
Bluto, at times known as Brutus, is a cartoon and comics character created in 1932 by E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar as a one-time character, named "Bluto the Terrible", in his ''Thimble Theatre'' comic strip (later renamed ''Popeye''). Blut ...
,
Olive Oyl
Olive Oyl is a cartoon character created by E. C. Segar in 1919 for his comic strip ''Thimble Theatre''. The strip was later renamed ''Popeye'' after the sailor character that became the most popular member of the cast; however, Olive Oyl was a ...
and
Wimpy, were
Swee'Pea
Swee'Pea (alternatively spelled Swee'pea and Sweapea on some titles and once called Sweep Pea) is a character in E. C. Segar's comic strip ''Thimble Theatre''/'' Popeye'' and in the cartoon series derived from it. His name refers to the flower k ...
,
Poopdeck Pappy
Poopdeck Pappy is a fictional character featured in the '' Popeye'' (''Thimble Theatre'') comic strip and animated cartoon spinoffs. Created by E. C. Segar in 1936, the character is Popeye's father, who is between the ages of 85 and 99.
Histor ...
,
Eugene the Jeep
Eugene the Jeep is a character in the ''Popeye'' comic strip. A mysterious animal with magical or supernatural abilities, the Jeep first appeared in the March 16, 1936 ''Thimble Theatre'' comic strip (now simply ''Popeye''). He was also presen ...
and Popeye's quadruplet nephews. Popeye's outfit reverted to his sailor's uniform, except for his cap, which was retained as the white Navy hat. Bluto's name was restored, as it had erroneously been changed to "Brutus" for the early 1960s ''Popeye'' cartoons. Olive Oyl also reverted to her 1930s look.
At the start, ''The All New Popeye Hour'' has three segments: "Popeye", "Popeye's Treasure Hunt" and "
Dinky Dog
''Dinky Dog'' is a Saturday-morning animated series produced by the Australian division of Hanna-Barbera, which aired on CBS from September 9, 1978, to September 5, 1981. It was Hanna-Barbera's first show created and produced in Australia.
''Din ...
" (a non-''Popeye'' segment about the misadventures of an enormous
sheepdog
A sheep dog or sheepdog is generally a dog or breed of dogs historically used in connection with the raising of sheep. These include livestock guardian dogs used to guard sheep and other livestock and herding dogs used to move, manage and co ...
that was later spun off into its own show). In 1979, the show added "The Popeye Sports Parade".
Because of restrictions on violence on television cartoons for children at the time, Popeye did not throw punches in retaliation to Bluto; he often lifted him, with his own hands or with machinery, and hurled him away.
The series marked the last time
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 ...
would voice Popeye; he died on December 4, 1984, fifteen months after the show's cancellation.
Each episode also contains a PSA interstitial called a Safety Tip or a Health Tip about things that include but are not limited to washing hands before dinner, brushing teeth, nutrition, crossing the street the right way, protection against sunburn, and spray paint safety. Some Safety Tips feature an anthropomorphic
wolf
The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly un ...
named Mr. No-No who would engage in dangerous or destructive activities like consuming toxic substances, drinking alcohol, and smoking. He would tend to get Pipeye, Peepeye, Poopeye, and Pupeye to do the same until he is either stopped in some way or turned away by Popeye.
''The All New Popeye Hour'' ran on
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
until September 1981, when it was shortened to a half-hour show and retitled ''The Popeye and Olive Comedy Show''. The show added two new segments. The first segment was "Prehistoric Popeye", similar to ''
The Flintstones
''The Flintstones'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. The series takes place in a romanticized Stone Age setting and follows the activities of the titular family, the Flintstones, and their next-door neighb ...
''.
[ The second segment was "Private Olive Oyl", where Olive and ]Alice the Goon
Alice the Goon is a fictional character in E. C. Segar's comic strip ''Thimble Theatre'' and in the ''Popeye'' animated cartoon, cartoon series derived from it.
History
Alice made her debut in the Sunday, December 10, 1933, ''Thimble Theatre'' ...
join the Army
An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
, then proceed to drive their drill sergeant, Sgt. Bertha Blast (voiced by Jo Anne Worley
Jo Anne Worley (born September 6, 1937) is an American actress, comedian, and singer. Her work covers television, films, theater, game shows, talk shows, commercials, and cartoons. Worley is widely known for her work on the comedy-variety show ...
) nuts, yet impress the base commander, Col. Crumb (voiced by Hal Smith). This cartoon is based on the idea of '' Private Benjamin''; Hanna-Barbera was also concurrently producing a virtually identical concept with sitcom characters Laverne and Shirley
''Laverne & Shirley'' (originally ''Laverne DeFazio & Shirley Feeney'') is an American sitcom television series that played for eight seasons on ABC from January 27, 1976, to May 10, 1983. A spin-off of ''Happy Days'', ''Laverne & Shirley'' sta ...
called '' Laverne and Shirley in the Army'' for rival network ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
at the time.
The show was removed from the CBS lineup in September 1983, and the cartoons were immediately sold to local stations in nationwide syndication
Syndication may refer to:
* Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system
* Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips
* Web syndication, ...
. They have also been released on VHS and DVD. During the time these cartoons were in production, CBS aired ''The Popeye Valentine Special: Sweethearts at Sea'' on February 14, 1979 at 8:30 PM (Eastern). In the UK, the BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
aired a half-hour version of ''The All New Popeye Show'', from the early-1980s to 2004. Unlike cartoon series produced by Hanna-Barbera in the 1970s, ''The All New Popeye Hour'' did not contain a
in the 2000s.
auditioned for Hanna-Barbera to recreate Olive Oyl, but was rejected in favor of Schreffler).
as Col. Crumb
*
as Mr. No No
*
as Sgt. Bertha Blast
The first DVD that features ''The All New Popeye Hour'' was released on May 16, 2000, by
with eighteen segments from the series. A few years later, Warner Home Video released ''Popeye & Friends - Volume One'', a single DVD featuring eight unedited episodes.
As of , the series has yet to have a complete series DVD box set.