What is Popeye’s arch-enemy’s name?

Popeye the Sailor Man has been famous ever since he strayed into a 1929 comic strip and mumbled the famous line, “D’ja thinks I’m a cowboy?” So there are also other characters of the strip, Olive Oyl, Swee’pea, J. Wellington Wimpy and of course, archenemy Bluto… er, Brutus… er, Bluto… What’s his name? Read: who are the enemies of the popeHE IS NOT ‘PLUTO!’Can you mistake a bearded muscular person for a dog? People thought that Walt Disney felt “Bluto” sounded too much like “Pluto”. This is one theory why Popeye’s nemesis, originally Bluto, was called “Brutus.” Before he died, I was in contact with Jackson Beck, who voiced Bluto in Popeye’s theatrical films produced by Fleischer and Famous Studios for Paramount Pictures in the mid-1940s. He also provided the voice. Brutus in the King Features Syndicate TV cartoon. Beck recalls, “Bluto was a character later in Popeye, owned by Fleischer or Paramount. When the King Features Syndicate got his property back and kept the character, they had to change his name. This is my understanding of the situation”.NAME OF THE GAMETo understand Beck’s recollection, let’s take a look at the history of Popeye’s bearded rival. EC Segar created Bluto in 1932 for the story The Eighth Sea, which was published in the daily Thimble Theater comic. Fleischer Studios chose Bluto to be Popeye’s longtime rival on film. Popeye’s animated theatrical success premiered on television in September 1956. Bluto, after a long absence, returned to the daily stage of the Thimble Theater on March 27, 1957. At this time, the film was directed by writer Ralph Stein and artist Bela “Bill” Zaboly. .Like nostalgia? Browse celebrity nostalgia on our site.Or sign up for our monthly Nostalgia e-newsletter or other e-newsletters designed specifically for boomers!Paramount Pictures claimed they owned the rights to the Bluto name, claiming that he was a work of The Fleischer Studios. So when King Features started producing their own Popeye cartoon, they renamed Popeye’s nemesis Brutus. The King Organization seems to have forgotten the origins of Bluto in its own comics.FOR MORE CONFIDENCE… ENTER “SONNY BOY”Bud Sagendorf took over production of both the daily and Sunday sheets in 1958. He was also writing and drawing Popeye comics during that period. Since the name Bluto could not be used, Sagendorf allowed the sailor to encounter a number of unnamed violent men, eventually creating Sonny Boy, the son of Sea Hag. Read more: Who Arizona cheated on the callie with Part Sunday appearing on September 30, 1962. Usage also occurred a few months later in the January 29, 1963 daily strip. Both stories revolve around Sonny Boy and Sea Hag. During this time, however, Sagendorf never made it clear whether Brutus was Sonny Boy’s name or a completely separate character. The name Brutus debuted in Popeye #64 (1962), also about an unnamed brute in another story in the same issue. Sonny Boy returned in Popeye #66 (1962) but Brutus finally balanced the anchor in Popeye #67 (1963).BLUTO AND BRUTUSWhen Hanna-Barbera’s All New Popeye Hour premiered on CBS in 1978, the villain returned to be known by his original name, Bluto. Meanwhile, George Wildman, who was producing Popeye comics around this same time, had Sea Hag call Brutus her “Sonny Boy.” Recently Bluto and Brutus were depicted as twins. Hy Eisman, who handled the Popeye Sunday strip, teamed up with Sea Hag on April 5, 2009. Producers tend to use Fleischer Studios’ Bluto design…but call him Brutus. Entertainment historian Fred Grandinetti has been writing about Popeye since 1983 in numerous magazines, newspapers and websites. Grandinetti also produced the award-winning cable access series, Drawing with Fred, for Massachusetts Access cable television. See more: topqa.info/DrawingWithFred/.Read more: how to deal with a manipulative ex-husband