Do You Think Popeye Will Get A New Series In The Near Future ?

[fhfan]

I Really really hope it does :)

[Silverstar]

As long as it's nothing like 1987's Popeye and Son.

But seriously, a new Popeye anything would depend on if King Features or Turner Broadcasting ever decide that something new and profitable can be done with the franchise.

[Tobias]

I'd like to see a new Popeye show, but only if it's done in the spirit of the original Fleischer shorts. The world doesn't need a retread of Hanna Barbera's attempts at a watered down version of the character.

[Hey Steve]

The only recent news about Popeye was that Sony supposedly has plans to release a CGI feature film within the next few years. This might be the only hope to try to revive the franchise. It is a shame since Popeye is my all-time favorite cartoon character. But, all those who have seen all 231 theatrical shorts Popeye starred in (from Fleischer and Famous Studios), you may understand that Popeye just isn't the same if you conform him to be suitable for viewing by today's children. The Fleischer Studios era, for example, began with Popeye being less than a role model for children, and the Fleischer shorts in general (while being the best films Popeye ever appeared in), use a ton of stylized violence that parents will object to (watch several Fleischer shorts and Hanna-Barbera Popeye TV episodes back to back and you will understand). As for the Famous Studios era, the love triangle between Popeye, Bluto and Olive often had content that (being in the 1940's and 1950's) was very suggestive based on the type of content allowed in Hollywood films for its day. Let us not forget that Popeye isn't Popeye without a pipe (which mostly serves the purpose of being a device for smoking tobacco). The one redeeming factor parents may see in Popeye is the possibility that he can effectively convince children to eat spinach.

I am a full-grown adult (like many people on this forum), but what I like most about Popeye is that he is the type of character that is just appealing in regards to the type of person I am in real life.

Popeye will not be forgotten. At least one film, "Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor" will be preserved forever as it has been added to the National Film Registry in Washinton, DC. That is the one thing I can assure everyone who may be concerned about whether Popeye will be remembered by anyone who is alive beyond the time of any user on this forum.

Warner Bros. seems to be sitting on the color Famous Studios Popeye shorts. There have been no plans for a Popeye Vol. 4 DVD set, and we all should have seen this coming when Popeye Vol. 3 was released shortly after Vol. 2 and had very little public notice or advertising from Warner Bros. What is strange is that Warner Bros. allowed all the B&W Popeye shorts to get released on DVD, but saw no benefit in continuing the series when all that was left were color shorts. But, the bottom line is that it all depends on sales, and how well the United States economy is doing. If people aren't buying DVD's, then why should something that is only appealing to a select group of individuals get a wide release when more than half of the copies produced will only occupy shelf space in retail stores and get shipped back 6-12 months later when they did not sell?

I understand everyone's frustration, but in this day and age, children are not growing up in the same type of environment they were 20 years ago when reruns of old cartoons were still getting the job done and entertaining millions who were able to watch them. But, back when I was a young child in the late 1980's throughout the 1990's, we were going through the transition between only having access to over-the-air local stations to having a complete cable lineup, which more than likely has almost tripled in channel selection over the last 20 years, and at the same time, these networks that still exist today mainly do exist because they successfully got to the point where they had original programing which got the job done for them and led to them being channels that rarely ever go back to their roots all because as Bob Dylan once wrote in a song, "The Times Are-a-Changin'".

So, basically, Popeye is always going to be remembered, but I personally don't see any possibility where he will return to his former glory. Of course, being a very big fan of Popeye, I hope I am wrong.

[ToonsLover]

I don't think there's really any reason for another Popeye series, I think the plot was used enough and plus the violence would have to be limited if they decided to make another series.

[Blackstar]

The thing is, if there ever is a new Popeye series, the violence would likely be toned down considerably in this era of Political Correctness and it would probably be something along the lines of Hanna-Barbera's The All New Popeye Hour (1978-1971). As long as you're cool with that.

[Angilasman]

I don't think there's really any reason for another Popeye series, I think the plot was used enough and plus the violence would have to be limited if they decided to make another series.


But the original comics have never been really adapted. There's a wealth of unused material in there.


I was watching the AS series Superjail a while back and I thought what a great job those guys could do with a Popeye show. I mean, their extreme level of violence and whatnot would be toned down to be more family friendly, but they seemed to me to be spiritual offspring of the old Popeye cartoons.

[Eric B]

If it were possible for it to come back as as in a sort of Cartoon Cartoon format, then you could have the violence, and even the pipe.
Just look at PPG!

[Tobias]

If it were possible for it to come back as as in a sort of Cartoon Cartoon format, then you could have the violence, and even the pipe.
Just look at PPG!

Exactly. If CN could get away with the violence we've seen in PPG, Adventure Time, Justice League, etc, there's no reason why they couldn't do a Popeye series with a PG rating.

It's just the whole pipe situation that they'd have to figure a way around.

[Eric B]

I don't think so. Professor Utonium has a pipe. He isn't shown smoking it, I don't think; but then Popeye is not really smoking it when he toots on it. It's just air it seems, and that's all its really needed for.

[Astrolupine]

It would be nice to get a series based on the original 'Thimble Theatre' strips where Popeye and the gang go on actual adventures, there's more to the series than Popeye and Bluto/Brutus beating the snot out of each other.

[Mister Intensity]

It would be nice to get a series based on the original 'Thimble Theatre' strips where Popeye and the gang go on actual adventures, there's more to the series than Popeye and Bluto/Brutus beating the snot out of each other.

That would be a fresh take on Popeye as far as animation goes but as Hey Steve said, the demand isn't there at the moment.

[Michael24]

I would love to see a new Popeye series, and Dave Coulier must be the voice.

[dth1971]

How about Popeye as a superhero sailor?

[Blackstar]

How about Popeye as a superhero sailor?

...And this time, his spinach is radioactive!

No thanks. That sounds too much like Loonatics Unleashed. If we need to rely on cheesy gimmicks to get Popeye back on TV, then I think it'd be better if he stayed buried.

[hobbyfan]

If you take a closer look at what is being offered on Saturdays at present, it doesn't look as though there's a real place for Popeye to go with a new show. It'd be a nice idea, but it is going to be difficult to get off the ground.

[Hey Steve]

Think of it this way. "Pink Panther and Pals" premiered on Cartoon Network and aired for a few months, but before all the episodes were aired, the show got moved to Boomerang, where the last few episodes of the series actually premiered. This suggests that the ratings for that show did not do too well with Cartoon Network's target audience. If a new Popeye series were to be made, and be properly done, it would probably follow in the same path as "Pink Panther and Pals"

[Angilasman]

^I'm not so sure. Firstly because Popeye is a much more iconic character, and secondly a new Popeye show which follows the original comic's tradition of Popeye actually traveling across the word and getting in adventures (as opposed to just fighting Bluto over Olive Oil) could be an exciting, action packed show that could catch the attention of young kids.

[Tobias]

The reason Pink Panther & Pals failed was because it was death slotted from the beginning. Did it ever air anywhere besides Sunday mornings?

[cognitofalcon]

The reason Pink Panther & Pals failed was because it was death slotted from the beginning. Did it ever air anywhere besides Sunday mornings?

Yeah, the weekday deathslots.

[Romperstoomper]

I Really really hope it does :)

Only if it's as much violent and fluid animation as the older series, then OK!

I mean one time he punched a Mexican in the face just for looking at him in the wrong way, that is Popeye.

[Hey Steve]

The reason Pink Panther & Pals failed was because it was death slotted from the beginning. Did it ever air anywhere besides Sunday mornings?

You see, if a new Popeye series was made, and was going to air on Cartoon Network, would anyone have reason to believe the show would not air in a death slot? Just think about last fall when Looney Tunes aired, and more recently Pink Panther and Pals. Cartoon Network knew what they were doing, they wanted those shows to fail.

Chances are, the upcoming Looney Tunes Show will also be death slotted and moved to Boomerang within the next year.