"I Yam What I Yam, and Tha's All I Yam" - December 8, 2008

 

When I was a kid, one of my favorite things on TV was Popeye cartoons. But they couldn’t be just any Popeyes -- the color ones were crap. They had to be the black-and-white ones from the Fleischer Studios; the ones with the slamming doors on the ship. There was a line in the credits, though -- "By Arrangement with Segar" -- that always made me wonder: Who or what was "Segar?" In time, I came to realize it referred to Elzie Crisler Segar, the writer and artist of Thimble Theatre -- the actual name of the comic strip where Popeye appeared.

Today is Segar’s birthday, a perfect opportunity to look back on both the artist and his creations. Segar (whose name was pronounced "SEE-gar," even though his signature was a cartoon cigar) was born in 1894 in Chester, Illinois. Chester is still proud to call itself the "Home of Popeye," and displays a life-size statue of the monocular sailor. 

At the age of 18, Segar decided to become a newspaper cartoonist -- which was, in those days, not only a prestigious career, but a lucrative one. After an apprenticeship with superstar artist R.F. Outcault, and a few unsuccessful ventures (Sappo, anyone?), he struck gold in 1919 with Thimble Theatre, which satirized then-current silent movie melodramas.

Thimble Theatre's star was Ham Gravy, who was accompanied on his adventures by various members of the Oyl family: Olive, her brother Castor, and her parents Cole and Nana. But in January 1929, Castor hired a ship manned by an unnamed one-eyed sailor. That sailor, who soon gained the name of "Popeye," hit the public like a bomb. Within a year, he’d muscled Ham out of his own comic strip and stolen his girlfriend, Olive. By 1933, was starring in his own animated cartoons.

Popeye’s success allowed Segar to settle in Santa Monica, where he was able to pursue his lifelong love of fishing. It was there that he died in 1938, at the height of his creation’s fame (and at the young age of 43). In the 70 years since, the strip (long since renamed for its most famous character) has continued under a series of writers and artists who have emulated Segar's unique blend of crazy adventure and comic characters, all of whom have managed to stay "strong to the finich."

Suggested Sites...

Popeye the Sailorpedia - biographies of and information about Segar's characters. Wikipedia: E.C. Segar - brief bio of Popeye's creator. American Popeye - dual profile of Popeye and Segar. Popeye From Script to Screen - tracing the character's evolution from the page to the screen. Popeye.com - Popeye's home port. Arf! Arf!