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 ...
in the ''
Popeye
Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by Elzie Crisler Segar.comic strip
A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics ter ...
. 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 present in
animated
Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...
versions of Popeye's adventures, including three of the
Fleischer Studios
Fleischer Studios () is an American animation studio founded in 1929 by brothers Max and Dave Fleischer, who ran the pioneering company from its inception until its acquisition by Paramount Pictures, the parent company and the distributor of ...
shorts
Shorts are a garment worn over the pelvic area, circling the waist and splitting to cover the upper part of the legs, sometimes extending down to the knees but not covering the entire length of the leg. They are called "shorts" because they ...
of the late 1930s/early 1940s, with more extensive appearances in later ''Popeye'' cartoons produced for TV.
Fictional character biography
Origin
In the August 9, 1936, strip, headlined "Wha's a Jeep?" Popeye asks Professor Brainstine what exactly a Jeep is. He gets the following response:
When asked if he had any further questions, Popeye, totally unenlightened by this explanation, repeated, "Wha's a Jeep?"
The animated cartoons took the straightforward approach of defining the character as some type of dog. In ''The Jeep'' (1938), Popeye presents the animal to Olive Oyl and Swee'Pea with the simple explanation, "The Jeep's a magical dog and can disappear and things". In ''Popeye Presents Eugene the Jeep'' (1940), it is Popeye who receives the creature from Olive, in a box via a special delivery man (voiced by Pinto Colvig), and with the premise that he had never seen the creature before: "Well, blow me down! A baby puppy!"
Eugene the Jeep appeared in several Popeye TV series, including ''
Popeye the Sailor
Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by Elzie Crisler Segar.The All-New Popeye Hour'' (1978-1983) and ''
Popeye and Son
''Popeye and Son'' is an American animated comedy series based on the ''Popeye'' comic strip created by E.C. Segar and published by King Features Syndicate. Jointly produced by Hanna-Barbera and King Features subsidiary King Features Entertainmen ...
'' (1987). In the latter two series he was voiced by
Don Messick
Donald Earle Messick (September 7, 1926 – October 24, 1997) was an American voice actor. He was best known for his performances in Hanna-Barbera cartoons.
His best-remembered vocal creations include Scooby-Doo, Bamm-Bamm Rubble and Hoppy in ...
.
Eugene the Jeep did not appear in the live-action 1980 ''
Popeye
Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by Elzie Crisler Segar.Sony Pictures Animation
Sony Pictures Animation Inc. is an American animation studio owned by Sony Entertainment's Sony Pictures Entertainment through their Motion Picture Group division and founded on May 9, 2002. The studio's films are distributed worldwide by So ...
but production of the film was cancelled in 2016.
Attributes and abilities
In the context of the comic strip, Eugene the Jeep was a gift to Popeye's girlfriend Olive Oyl from her Uncle Ben who found Eugene in Africa. The Jeep is a yellow creature about the size of a dog who walks on his hind legs. He has a bear-like head and ears but a large nose, long tail, and protruding belly. The Jeep's diet consists only of
orchid
Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant.
Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of floweri ...
s.
As his language is limited to the word "jeep", Eugene primarily communicates through
body language
Body language is a type of communication in which physical behaviors, as opposed to words, are used to express or convey information. Such behavior includes facial expressions, body posture, gestures, eye movement, touch and the use of space. ...
. Eugene always tells the truth, even to criminals. He possesses high intelligence, so is able to help humans such as Popeye and Olive Oyl solve complex problems. He makes use of a limited form of
teleportation
Teleportation is the hypothetical transfer of matter or energy from one point to another without traversing the physical space between them. It is a common subject in science fiction literature and in other popular culture. Teleportation is oft ...
: he can disappear from one place and reappear in another, and can walk through and on walls and ceilings. These teleportation powers are said to stem from the Jeep's ability to cross into the fourth dimension.
He also appears in “Popeye & Son” later.
Other uses
Eugene the Jeep is the school
mascot
A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as ...
for
Northeast Dubois High School
Northeast Dubois High School is a high school in Dubois, Indiana.
Athletics
Its athletic nickname is the "Jeeps", which is named after Eugene the Jeep, a character in the ''Popeye'' comic strip. Northeast Dubois High School participates in the ...
in
Dubois, Indiana
Dubois is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Dubois County, Indiana, United States. Its population at the 2010 census was 488.
History
Dubois was platted in 1885. It took its name from Dubois County. The Dubois post ...
, and
South Webster High School
South Webster High School (SWHS) is a public high school in South Webster, OH. It is the only high school in the Bloom-Vernon Local School District.
Athletics
There are ten school districts and eleven high schools in Scioto County along with ...
in South Webster, Ohio, although the Jeep for Northeast Dubois is blue and gray, while South Webster's is red instead of yellow. An old elementary school in Wheatland, Indiana also used the Jeep as its mascot, but this school was consolidated, and the symbol is no longer in use.
Many suggest that soldiers of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
were so impressed with the new
Willys MB
The Willys MB and the Ford GPW, both formally called the U.S. Army Truck, -ton, 4×4, Command Reconnaissance, commonly known as the Willys Jeep, Jeep, or jeep, and sometimes referred to by its supply catalogue designation G503,According to i ...
light utility vehicle that they informally named it after Eugene the Jeep, as it was "small, able to move between dimensions and could solve seemingly impossible problems".
Other supposed origins for the vehicle's namesake include GP ('General Purpose'), and the dubious JEEP ('Just Engine & Essential Parts'.)
Don Markstein's Toonopedia
Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...