Bluto

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Bluto
Bluto color.png
Publication information
Publisher King Features Syndicate
First appearance Thimble Theatre (1932)
Created by E. C. Segar
Voiced by

Bluto, at times known as Brutus, is a cartoon and comics character created in 1932 by Elzie Crisler Segar as a one-time character, named "Bluto the Terrible", in his Thimble Theatre comic strip (later renamed Popeye ). Bluto made his first appearance on September 12 of that year. Fleischer Studios adapted him the next year (1933) to be the main antagonist of their theatrical Popeye animated cartoon series. [31]

Contents

Character

Bluto in The Paneless Window Washer (1937) Blutowindow.png
Bluto in The Paneless Window Washer (1937)

Bluto is a cruel, bearded, muscular ruffian who serves as Popeye's nemesis and archrival for the love of Olive Oyl. He usually uses brute force and/or trickery to accomplish his various goals. His voice is very loud, harsh and deep, with an incomprehensible bear-like growl between words and sentences. This voice, as well as the dark beard, crooked teeth, and bulk, was similar to that of the villain Red Flack, well known at the time, played by Tyrone Power Sr. in the 1930 film, The Big Trail .

Bluto, like Popeye, is enamored of Olive Oyl, and he often attempts to kidnap her. However, with the help of some spinach, Popeye usually ends up defeating him. Some cartoons portray Popeye and Bluto as Navy buddies, although in these episodes Bluto usually turns on Popeye when an object of interest (usually Olive) is put between them.

Bluto's strength is portrayed inconsistently. In some episodes, he is weaker than Popeye and resorts to underhanded trickery to accomplish his goals. At other times, Popeye stands no chance against Bluto in a fight until he eats his spinach. In yet other cartoons, the two characters are closely matched, with Bluto eventually gaining the upper hand before Popeye eats his spinach and defeats Bluto. In some shorts, Bluto is a match for Popeye even after he has eaten his spinach. Bluto is sometimes portrayed as having a glass jaw. He has, on occasion, been knocked out by Olive Oyl and even by Popeye's infant ward Swee'Pea. On rare occasions, Bluto tries to sabotage Popeye before confronting him, such as when he tried to thwart his own defeat by using a forklift to steal Popeye's store of spinach cans and disposing of them in a garbage dump. In one case, Popeye forces a defeated Bluto to consume spinach, after which Bluto easily beats up Popeye, resulting in Olive pitying him and choosing him over Bluto.

Bluto's first appearance: Thimble Theatre comic strip, September 12, 1932 (last panel) Bluto.png
Bluto's first appearance: Thimble Theatre comic strip, September 12, 1932 (last panel)

In most cases, the name "Bluto" is used as a first name. In cartoons where Bluto portrays alternate characters, or "roles," the name can be used as a surname, as with lumberjack "Pierre Bluto" in the cartoon Axe Me Another and etiquette teacher "Professor Bluteau" in Learn Polikeness. [32]

Bluto vs. Brutus

After the theatrical Popeye cartoon series ceased production in 1957, Bluto's name was changed to Brutus because at the time it was believed by King Features that Paramount Pictures, distributors of the Fleischer Studios (later Famous Studios) cartoons, owned the rights to the name "Bluto". King Features actually owned the name, as Bluto had been originally created for the comic strip. Due to a lack of thorough research, King Features failed to realize this and reinvented him as Brutus to avoid potential copyright problems. [33] "Brutus" (often pronounced "Brutusk" by Popeye) appears in the 1960–62 Popeye the Sailor television cartoons with his physical appearance changed, making him obese rather than muscular. He normally sported a blue shirt and brown pants. [34]

The character reverted to Bluto for Hanna-Barbera's The All-New Popeye Hour (1978–83) and the 1980 live-action Popeye movie, as well as the 1987 Popeye and Son series also by Hanna-Barbera. The character was also named Bluto in the 2004 movie Popeye's Voyage: The Quest for Pappy .

It was long accepted that Bluto and Brutus were one and the same. However, a 1988 Popeye comic book, published by Ocean Comics, presented the two characters as twin brothers. [35] The Popeye comic strip, at the time written and drawn by Hy Eisman, generally featured only Brutus, but added Bluto as Brutus' twin brother in several 2008 and 2009 strips. [36] [37] The two continue to appear as brothers in the more recent strips by Randy Milholland. [38]

Voice

In the Paramount theatrical cartoons, Bluto was voiced by a number of actors, including William Pennell, Gus Wickie, Jackson Beck (who took over the role in 1944), Pinto Colvig, Tedd Pierce, Lee Royce, Dave Barry, and Jack Mercer. [32] Beck also supplied the voice for Brutus in the early 1960s. In the 1980 live-action movie, he was portrayed by Paul L. Smith. In The All-New Popeye Hour and Popeye and Son, he was voiced by Allan Melvin. In Popeye's Voyage: The Quest for Pappy, he was voiced by Garry Chalk.

Other characters

In the animated cartoons Popeye's foe is almost always Bluto functioning in some capacity (fellow sailor, generic thug, carnival hypnotist, sheik, lecherous instructor, etc.). However, in the Famous-era shorts there have also been "original" one-time characters with Bluto-like personalities and mannerisms such as the blond, beardless lifeguard in "Beach Peach". Jackson Beck voiced these characters using the same voice. [ citation needed ]

In the comics, Bluto and Brutus have a brother Bruto who is older than Brutus. [39]

Related Research Articles

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<i>Popeye and Son</i> 1987 American TV series or program

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<i>Popeye the Sailor</i> (TV series) 1960 American TV series or program

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<i>The All New Popeye Hour</i> American animated television series

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<i>Popeye the Sailor</i> (film series) 1933 American film

Popeye the Sailor is an American animated series of short films based on the Popeye comic strip character created by E. C. Segar. In 1933, Max and Dave Fleischer's Fleischer Studios, based in New York City, adapted Segar's characters into a series of theatrical cartoon shorts for Paramount Pictures. The plotlines in the animated cartoons tended to be simpler than those presented in the comic strips, and the characters slightly different. A villain, usually Bluto, makes a move on Popeye's "sweetie", Olive Oyl. The villain clobbers Popeye until he eats spinach, giving him superhuman strength. Thus empowered, Popeye makes short work of the villain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sea Hag</span> Fictional character from Popeye

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Popeye</span> Fictional character

Popeye the Sailor is a fictional cartoon character created by Elzie Crisler Segar. The character first appeared on January 17, 1929, in the daily King Features comic strip Thimble Theatre. The strip was in its tenth year when Popeye made his debut, but the one-eyed sailor quickly became the lead character, and Thimble Theatre became one of King Features' most popular properties during the 1930s. Following Segar's death in 1938, Thimble Theatre was continued by several writers and artists, most notably Segar's assistant Bud Sagendorf. The strip continues to appear in first-run installments on Sundays, written and drawn by R. K. Milholland. The daily strips are reprints of old Sagendorf stories.

<i>The Paneless Window Washer</i> 1937 American film

The Paneless Window Washer is a 1937 Popeye theatrical cartoon short in the Max Fleischer Cartoon series directed by Dave Fleischer.

<i>Seasins Greetinks!</i> 1933 American film

Seasin's Greetinks! is a Popeye theatrical Christmas-themed cartoon short, starring William "Billy" Costello as Popeye and Bonnie Poe as Olive Oyl and William Pennell as Bluto. It was released on December 17, 1933 and is in the Popeye the Sailor series of theatrical cartoons released by Paramount Pictures.

References

  1. ↑ "Who Is Harry Welch – and Was He Ever The Voice of Popeye?". cartoonresearch.com. Retrieved August 28, 2020.
  2. ↑ "Popeye Records – with the mysterious Harry F. Welch". cartoonresearch.com. Retrieved August 28, 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Gus Wicke, An Appreciation". cartoonresearch.com. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
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  9. ↑ Grandinetti, Fred (October 2007). Jack Mercer, the Voice of Popeye. ISBN   9781593930967 . Retrieved June 22, 2021. Many an animation historian has tried to figure out which Popeye cartoons produced by the Fleischer Studios featured Jack Mercer performing Bluto's voice. His vocal characterization is so good that it's hard to identify which exact films he did. When the Fleischer Studios moved from New York to Florida, some of their voice personnel did not make the move. The Fleischers needed a new voice for Bluto and after unsatisfactory results in Ghosks is the Bunk (1939) and Customers Wanted (1939), a gruffer-sounding voice for the bully was heard in Wotta Nitemare (1939) and It's the Natural Thing to Do (1939), provided by voice-over artist Pinto Colvig. Colvig's performance sounded similar to the Mercer-voiced bullies of later vintage. For Bluto's next few appearances during Fleischers' tenure on the Popeye series, Colvig was heard in Shakespearean Spinach (1940), Me Feelings is Hurt (1940), Nurse Mates (1940), Onion Pacific (1940) and Fightin' Pals (1940). Mercer owned up to trying the Bluto role, and stated it was difficult for him to voice both Popeye and Bluto in the same cartoon, so perhaps, in between Wotta Nitemare and It's the Natural Thing to Do and the 1940s cartoons, he and other voice artists had a go at voicing Bluto (a more sophisticated-sounding Bluto was heard in Stealin Aint Honest from 1940, provided by Tedd Pierce). Mercer's Bluto can be heard in a few lines, though Dave Barry and Lee Royce performed the role, in Fleischer Studio's Olive Oyl and Water Don't Mix (1942) saying, "Why that one-eyed Casanova," and "Watch me play sick," in Too Weak to Work (Famous Studios, 1943). Both times this occurred, the character's mouth didn't move and it appears Mercer's Bluto voice was dubbed in.
  10. ↑ "Jack Mercer as Himself – and Popeye – on Records". cartoonresearch.com. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
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  16. ↑ "Popeye and the Sunken Treasure". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
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  21. ↑ "Islands of Adventure's Pandemonium Cartoon Circus - The Circus is Coming to Toon!". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 11, 2021. Retrieved May 9, 2021.
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  25. ↑ "Mad". Behind the Voice Actors. Retrieved September 7, 2020.
  26. ↑ "The Pete Holmes Show". Behind the Voice Actors. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
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  30. ↑ "SPINACH POWER/オリーブとブルートの競走曲(1978)". DISCO 45・・・7インチ・シングル発掘の旅. Retrieved March 16, 2021.
  31. ↑ Rovin, Jeff (1987). The Encyclopedia of Supervillains. New York: Facts on File. pp. 36–37. ISBN   0-8160-1356-X.
  32. 1 2 Grandinetti, Fred (2004). Popeye: an illustrated cultural history. McFarland. ISBN   0-7864-1605-X.
  33. ↑ Ian. "Straightdope.com". Straightdope.com. Retrieved July 14, 2009.
  34. ↑ Randall Cyrenne. "Fifty Years With Brutus!". Animated Views. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  35. ↑ Fortier, Ron ( w ),Dunn, Ben; Grummett, Tom , Kato, Gary ( p ),Barras, Dell ( i )."Double Trouble Down Under"Popeye Special,vol. 1,no. 2(September 1988).Ocean Comics.
  36. ↑ December 28, 2008 Popeye Cartoon; retrieved July 14, 2009.
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