The All New Popeye Hour

Last updated
The All New Popeye Hour
Allnewpopeyeshow1978a.jpg
Genre
  • Comedy
Based on Popeye
by E. C. Segar
Directed by
Voices of
Theme music composer Sammy Lerner (arranged by Hoyt Curtin)
Opening theme"I'm Popeye the Sailor Man"
Composer Hoyt Curtin
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons4
No. of episodes56 (164 segments)
Production
Executive producers
Producers
  • Alex Lovy (Season 1–2 & Special)
  • Art Scott (Season 3–4)
Editors
  • Gil Iverson
  • Peter Jennings (Season 1)
  • Robert Ciaglia (S01–03 & Special)
Production companies
Original release
Network CBS
ReleaseSeptember 9, 1978 (1978-09-09) 
September 5, 1983 (1983-09-05)
Related
Popeye and Son (1987)

The All New Popeye Hour is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and King Features Entertainment. Starring the comic strip character Popeye, the series aired from 1978 to 1983 Saturday mornings on CBS. Despite the series' mixed reception (mostly being criticized about its cheap animation, writing and PSAs), it was a hit for King Features Entertainment.

Contents

Production

The show was produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, which tried to retain the style of the original Thimble Theatre comic strip while complying with the prevailing content restrictions on violence. [1] Featured characters, aside from the popular main stars of Popeye, Bluto, Olive Oyl and Wimpy, were Swee'Pea, Poopdeck Pappy, Eugene the Jeep and Popeye's quadruplet nephews. Popeye's outfit reverted to his original blue sailor's uniform, except for his white hat, which retained the "Dixie cup" style. Bluto's name was restored, as it had been changed to "Brutus" for the early 1960s Popeye cartoons because of an incorrect understanding by King Features over who owned the rights to the character. [2] Olive Oyl also reverted to her 1930s look.

At the start, The All New Popeye Hour had three segments: "Popeye", "Popeye's Treasure Hunt" and "Dinky Dog", a non-Popeye segment about the misadventures of an enormous sheepdog that was later spun off into its own show. In 1979, the show added "The Popeye Sports Parade". [3]

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. [4] The series marked the last time Jack Mercer would voice Popeye; he died on December 4, 1984, fifteen months after the show's cancellation. Unlike most other cartoon series produced by Hanna-Barbera in the 1970s, The All New Popeye Hour did not contain a laugh track.

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 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.

During the time the series was in production, CBS aired the half-hour special The Popeye Valentine Special: Sweethearts at Sea on February 14, 1979. [5]

The All New Popeye Hour ran on CBS 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", which is similar to The Flintstones . [3] The second segment was "Private Olive Oyl", where Olive and Alice the Goon join the Army, then proceed to drive their drill instructor, Sgt. Bertha Blast (voiced by Jo Anne Worley) 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 called Laverne and Shirley in the Army for rival network ABC at the time. [6]

The show was removed from the CBS lineup in September 1983, and the cartoons were immediately sold to local stations in nationwide syndication. They have also been released on VHS and DVD. The syndicated version can currently[ when? ] be seen on Amazon Prime Video, Tubi (as "Popeye: The Continuing Adventures") and on YouTube (as "All-New Popeye").

Voice cast

In addition to providing many of the cartoon scripts, Jack Mercer reprised his voice as Popeye, while Marilyn Schreffler and Allan Melvin became the new voices of Olive Oyl and Bluto, respectively (Mae Questel auditioned for Hanna-Barbera to recreate Olive Oyl, but was rejected in favor of Schreffler).

Main

Additional

Episodes

Seasons 1–3 (1978–1980): The All New Popeye Hour

Season 1 (1978)

No.
overall
No. in
season
TitleWritten byOriginal air date
11"A Bad Knight for Popeye/Ballet-Hooey/The Big Wheel"UnknownSeptember 9, 1978 (1978-09-09)
22"Bluto's Bike Bullies/Boola Boola Hula [lower-alpha 1] /Bully Dozer"TBD ()
33"A Camping We Will Go/Captain Meno's Sunken Treasure [lower-alpha 1] /Chips Off the Old Ice Block"TBD ()
44"Close Encounters of the Third Spinach/Coldfinger [lower-alpha 1] /The Crunch for Lunch Bunch"TBD ()
55"A Day at Muscle Beach/A Day at the Rodeo/The Decathlon Dilemma [lower-alpha 2] "TBD ()
66"The Delmonica Diamond [lower-alpha 1] /Free Hauling Brawl/Getting Popeye's Goat"TBD ()
77"Heir-Brained Popeye/Here Stew You/A Horse of a Flying Color [lower-alpha 1] "TBD ()
88"I Left My Spinach in San Francisco/I Wants Me Mummy [lower-alpha 1] /The Loneliness of the Long Distance Popeye [lower-alpha 1] "TBD ()
99"The Mask of Gorgonzola [lower-alpha 1] /Mother Goose Is on the Loose/Olive's Shining Hour"TBD ()
1010"Play It Again, Popeye [lower-alpha 1] /Polly Wants Some Spinach/Popeye's Engine Company"TBD ()
1111"Popeye's Finest Hour/Popeye's Roots/Popeye and Bigfoot"TBD ()
1212"Popeye and the Beanstalk/Popeye and the Pest/Popeye and the Pirates"TBD ()
1313"Popeye at the Center of the Earth/Popeye of the Klondike/Popeye the Carpenter" [lower-alpha 1] TBD ()
1414"Popeye the Carpenter/Popeye the Plumber/Popeye the Robot"TBD ()
1515"Popeye the Sleepwalker/Popeye Goes Hollywood/Popeye Goes Sailing"TBD ()
1616"Popeye Goes Sightseeing/Popeye Meets the Blutostein Monster/Popeye Out West"TBD ()
1717"Popeye Snags the Seahag/Popeye Versus Machine/A Seal with Appeal"TBD ()
1818"Shark Treatment/Ship Ahoy/Ship Ahoy"TBD ()
1919"The Ski's the Limit/The Spinach Bowl/Spinach Fever"TBD ()
2020"Spring Daze in Paris [lower-alpha 1] /Steeple Chase at Ups and DownsThe Sword of Fitzwilly [lower-alpha 1] /Take Me Out to the Brawl Game"TBD ()
2121"The Terrifyink Transylvanian Treasure Trek [lower-alpha 1] /The Three Ring Ding-a-Ling [lower-alpha 1] /The Three Ring Ding-a-Ling [lower-alpha 1] "TBD ()
2222"The Treasure of Howe's Bayou [lower-alpha 1] /The Treasure of Werner Schnitzel [lower-alpha 1] /A Trio in Rio [lower-alpha 1] "TBD ()
2323"A Whale of a Tale/Whotsa Matterhorn?/Wilder Than Usual Blue Yonder"TBD ()
2424"Yukon County Mountie"TBD ()

Season 2 (1979)

No.
overall
No. in
season
TitleWritten byOriginal air date
251"Bad Day at the Bakery/Boo Who/Building Blockheads"TBD ()
262"En Un Lugar De La Mancha/Fantastic Gymnastics [lower-alpha 3] /The Game"TBD ()
273"The Great Decathlon Championship [lower-alpha 3] /King of the Rodeo [lower-alpha 3] /Love on the Rocks"TBD ()
284"Old McPopeye Had a Farm/Olive's Bugged House Blues/On Mule-itary Detail"TBD ()
295"Paddle Wheel Popeye/Pedal-Powered-Popeye/Plunder Down Under [lower-alpha 1] "TBD ()
306"Popeye's Aqua Circus/Popeye's High School Daze/Popeye's Poodle Problem"TBD ()
317"Popeye in Wonderland [lower-alpha 1] /Popeye the Painter/Queen of the Load"TBD ()
328"The Reel Hollywood Treasure Hunt [lower-alpha 1] /Roller Rink-a-Dink/Sky High Fly Try [lower-alpha 3] "TBD ()
339"Swee'Pea Plagues a Parade/Take It or Lump It/Tough Sledding"TBD ()
3410"Water Ya Doin'? [lower-alpha 3] /Westward Ho! Ho!"TBD ()

Season 3 (1980)

No.
overall
No. in
season
TitleWritten byOriginal air date
351"Abject Flying Object/Alpine for You/Around the World in 80 Hours [lower-alpha 1] "TBD ()
362"Bad Company/Beyond the Spinach Brick Road [lower-alpha 1] /Cliff Hanger [lower-alpha 1] "TBD ()
373"Dublin or Nothin' [lower-alpha 1] /Forum or Against 'Em [lower-alpha 1] /A Goon Gone Gooney"TBD ()
384"The Great Speckled Whale/Hail, Hail, the Ganges All Here [lower-alpha 1] /In a Little Spinach Town [lower-alpha 1] "TBD ()
395"I Wouldn't Take That Mare to the Fair on a Dare/Merry Madness at the Mardi Gras/No Fuel Like an Old Fuel [lower-alpha 3] "TBD ()
406"Olive Goes Dallas/Pappy Fails in Love/Peask and Quiet"TBD ()
417"Popeye's Perilous Pursuit of a Pearl/Popeye's Self Defense/Popeye of Sherwood Forest"TBD ()
428"Popeye of the Jungle/Popeye the Lone Legionnaire/Popeye Stumps Bluto"TBD ()
439"Popierre the Musketeer/Ships That Pass in the Fright/Spa-ing Partners"TBD ()
4410"Top Kick in Boot Camp/Tour Each His Own/The Umpire Strikes Back"TBD ()
4511"Unidentified Fighting Object/W.O.I.L."TBD ()

Season 4 (1981–1983): The Popeye and Olive Comedy Show

No.
overall
No. in
season
TitleWritten byOriginal air date
461"Reptile Ranch [lower-alpha 4] / Mission Improbable [lower-alpha 5] / So Who's Watching the Bird Watchers [lower-alpha 4] ""Reptile Ranch:" Glenn Leopold
"Mission Improbable:" Cliff Roberts
"So Who's Watching the Bird Watchers:" Tom Yakutis
 ()
472"Computer Chaos [lower-alpha 5] / Chilly Con Caveman [lower-alpha 4] / Here Today - Goon Tomorrow [lower-alpha 5] ""Computer Chaos:" Glenn Leopold
"Chilly Con Caveman:" Glenn Leopold and Cliff Roberts
"Here Today - Goon Tomorrow:" Glenn Leopold
 ()
483"Come Back, Little Stegosaurus [lower-alpha 4] / Troop Therapy [lower-alpha 5] / Olive's Devastating Decorators [lower-alpha 2] ""Come Back, Little Stegosaurus:" Cliff Roberts
"Troop Therapy:" Glenn Leopold
"Olive's Devastating Decorators:" Tom Dagenais
 ()
494"Goon Native [lower-alpha 5] / Cheap Skate Date / Alice in Blunderland [lower-alpha 5] ""Goon Native:" Glenn Leopold
"Cheap Skate Date:" Doug Booth
"Alice in Blunderland:" Cliff Roberts
 ()
505"Neanderthal Nuisance [lower-alpha 4] / Wreck Room [lower-alpha 5] / The Incredible Shrinking Popeye""Neanderthal Nuisance:" Glenn Leopold
"Wreck Room:" Frances Novier, Cliff Roberts, and Glenn Leopold
"The Incredible Shrinking Popeye:" Glenn Leopold
 ()
516"Private Secretaries [lower-alpha 5] / The First Resort [lower-alpha 4] / Goon Balloon [lower-alpha 5] ""Private Secretaries:" Cliff Roberts
"The First Resort:" Cliff Roberts and Glenn Leopold
"Goon Balloon:" Glenn Leopold
 ()
527"Vegetable Stew [lower-alpha 4] / Tanks a Lot [lower-alpha 5] / Winner Window Washer""Vegetable Stew:" Coslough Johnson, Glenn Leopold, and Cliff Roberts
"Tanks a Lot:" Glenn Leopold
"Winner Window Washer:" Bryce Malek
 ()
538"Rocky Rolls [lower-alpha 5] / Hogwash at the Car Wash / Snow Fooling [lower-alpha 5] ""Rocky Rolls:" Cliff Roberts
"Hogwash at the Car Wash:" Gary Greenfield
"Snow Fooling:" Cliff Roberts and Glenn Leopold
 ()
549"Bronto Beach [lower-alpha 4] / Infink-try [lower-alpha 5] / The Midnight Ride of Popeye Revere""Bronto Beach:" Cliff Roberts
"Infink-try" & "The Midnight Ride of Popeye Revere"
Glenn Leopold
 ()
5510"Goon Hollywood [lower-alpha 5] / Popeye Stumps Bluto [lower-alpha 6] / Basic Train-ing [lower-alpha 5] ""Goon Hollywood:" Glenn Leopold and Cliff Roberts
"Popeye Stumps Bluto:" TBA
"Basic Train-ing:" Glenn Leopold and Cliff Roberts
 ()
5611"Up a Lizard River [lower-alpha 4] / Jeep Thrills [lower-alpha 5] / Olive's Moving Experience""Up a Lizard River" & "Jeep Thrills"
Glenn Leopold
"Olive's Moving Experience:" Bryce Malek
 ()

Special

TitleDirected byWritten byStoryboarded byOriginal air date
"The Popeye Valentine Special: Sweethearts at Sea"Oscar DufauTom Dagenais and Jack HanrahanGeorge Singer and Paul SommerFebruary 14, 1979 (1979-02-14)

Home media

The first DVD that features The All New Popeye Hour was released on May 16, 2000, by Rhino Home Video 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. [7] As of 2024, the series has yet to have a complete series DVD box set.

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Episodes that are part of Popeye's Treasure Hunt.
  2. 1 2 In their TV title cards, these episodes are titled or credited with some orthographic errors, which are "The Decathlon Dilemna" and "Olive's Devastatingk Decorators"
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Episodes that are part of The Popeye Sports Parade.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Episodes that are part of Prehistoric Popeye.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Episodes that are part of Private Olive Oyl.
  6. Rerun of an episode from the Season 3.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olive Oyl</span> Character from Popeye

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 main character for a decade before Popeye's 1929 appearance.

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

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. 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Mercer</span> American voice actor

Winfield B. Mercer, professionally known as Jack Mercer, was an American voice actor. He is best known as the voice of cartoon characters Popeye the Sailor Man and Felix the Cat. The son of vaudeville and Broadway performers, he also performed on the vaudeville and legitimate stages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mae Questel</span> American actress (1908–1998)

Mae Questel was an American actress. She was best known for providing the voices for the animated characters Betty Boop, Olive Oyl and numerous others.

<i>Popeye</i> (film) 1980 film by Robert Altman

Popeye is a 1980 American musical comedy film directed by Robert Altman and produced by Paramount Pictures and Walt Disney Productions. It is based on E. C. Segar's Popeye comics character. The script was written by Jules Feiffer, and stars Robin Williams as Popeye the Sailor Man and Shelley Duvall as Olive Oyl. Its story follows Popeye's adventures as he arrives in the town of Sweethaven.

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

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 Entertainment, the series aired for one season of thirteen episodes on CBS. It is a follow-up to The All New Popeye Hour. Due to Jack Mercer's death in 1984, Maurice LaMarche voiced Popeye, while much of the cast of The All New Popeye Hour reprised their respective roles, with the exception of Daws Butler. However, Nancy Cartwright, who was trained by Butler, voiced Woody in the series.

<i>Popeyes Voyage: The Quest for Pappy</i> American TV series or program

Popeye's Voyage: The Quest for Pappy is a 2004 animated Christmas television special produced by Mainframe Entertainment for Lions Gate Entertainment and King Features Entertainment, in association with Nuance Productions. The special, created to coincide with the 75th anniversary of the Popeye the Sailor comic strip character from E. C. Segar's Thimble Theatre, first aired on Fox on December 17, 2004, and was rebroadcast on the same network on December 30, 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poopdeck Pappy</span> Fictional character in Popeye franchise

Poopdeck Pappy is a fictional character featured in the Popeye 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.

Swee'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 known as the sweet pea. Before his addition to the animated shorts, the name "Sweet Pea" was a term of affection used by main character Popeye. In the cartoon We Aim to Please, he addressed girlfriend Olive Oyl that way.

<i>The Kwicky Koala Show</i> American Saturday-morning cartoon

The Kwicky Koala Show is a 30-minute Saturday-morning cartoon produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and Hanna Barbera Pty, Ltd. that aired on CBS from September 12 to December 26, 1981. This series is notable for being among cartoon director Tex Avery's final works; he died during production in 1980. As it was produced in Australia, the Cartoon Network and later Boomerang broadcasts were sourced from PAL masters, rather than NTSC masters like many other Hanna-Barbera productions. Each segment has also been shown separately as filler between shows on Boomerang.

Alice the Goon is a fictional character in E. C. Segar's comic strip Thimble Theatre and in the Popeye cartoon series derived from it.

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

Popeye the Sailor is a 1933 animated short produced by Fleischer Studios and distributed by Paramount Publix Corporation. While billed as a Betty Boop cartoon, it was produced as a vehicle for Popeye in his debut animated appearance.

Marilyn Sue Schreffler was an American voice actress who provided voice-overs for several animated television series, mostly for Hanna-Barbera Productions.

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

Popeye the Sailor is an American animated television series produced for King Features Syndicate TV starring Popeye that was released between 1960 and 1963 with 220 episodes produced. The episodes were produced by a variety of production studios and aired in broadcast syndication until the 1990s.

<i>Dinky Dog</i> Australian TV series or program

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.

<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 in Popeye franchise

The Sea Hag is a fictional character owned by King Features Syndicate. She is a tall, masculine-looking witch featured in comics/cartoons as a nemesis to the character Popeye. The Sea Hag was created by Elzie Crisler Segar in 1929 as part of the Thimble Theatre comic strip.

<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>Laff-A-Lympics</i> American animated television series

Laff-A-Lympics is an American animated comedy television series produced by Hanna-Barbera. The series premiered as part of the Saturday-morning cartoon program block Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics which consists of 24 episodes, on ABC in 1977. The show is a spoof of the Olympics and the ABC primetime series Battle of the Network Stars, which debuted one year earlier. It featured 45 Hanna-Barbera characters organized into teams which competed each week for gold, silver, and bronze medals. In each episode, the Really Rottens would try in each event to cheat only to get caught by Snagglepuss each time. One season of 16 episodes was produced in 1977–78, and eight new episodes combined with reruns for the 1978–79 season as Scooby's All-Stars. Unlike most cartoon series produced by Hanna-Barbera in the 1970s, Laff-A-Lympics did not contain a laugh track. Scooby’s Laff-a-Lympics was originally owned by Taft Broadcasting, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution currently owns the series through its two in-name-only units, Warner Bros. Family Entertainment and Turner Entertainment.

References

  1. "When Popeye was Popular Without His Punch!". Skwigly . 9 March 2017. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  2. "Popeye and Friends, Vol. 1". DVD Talk. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  3. 1 2 Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. p. 637. ISBN   978-1476665993.
  4. "Popeye's Less Violent Return to Television! - Popeye-Expert Fred Grandinetti Talks The All New Popeye Hour". Searchmytrash.com. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  5. Woolery, George W. (1989). Animated TV Specials: The Complete Directory to the First Twenty-Five Years, 1962-1987. Scarecrow Press. pp. 311–313. ISBN   0-8108-2198-2 . Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  6. Perlmutter, David (28 March 2014). America Toons In: A History of Television Animation. McFarland. ISBN   9781476614885 . Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  7. "Cartoon Brew: Leading the Animation Conversation » Popeye and Friends". 12 March 2008. Archived from the original on 12 March 2008. Retrieved 20 August 2017.