Collection Popeye

Popeye first appeared in a newspaper strip in 1929 as a minor character and took it over within months. The Fleischer Studios cartoons that followed are some of the most technically impressive animation of the 1930s, full of improvised muttering and physics that behave however the gag requires.

The spinach is one of the most effective plot devices in cartoon history. It resets any losing situation instantly, which means the shorts can put Popeye through genuine punishment for two minutes before the tin appears. It also, famously, caused a measurable increase in American spinach consumption.

His design is a masterpiece of silhouette: a squint, a pipe, a chin, and forearms that make no anatomical sense whatsoever. Unmistakable at any size, which is exactly what a cursor needs.

Olive Oyl and Bluto complete a love triangle that has been running, unresolved, for nearly a century.

This collection covers Popeye and his spinach.