An Interview with Popeye

On June 23, 2005, I had the privilege of interviewing Popeye the Sailor Man. Since 1929, Popeye has embedded himself into the American consciousness as an underdog who found power and strength in a lowly green vegetable called spinach. He became the forerunner to other superheroes who went onto spin webs, grow green, and save the world. Yes, Popeye may be a pop icon from yesteryear, but he will always be my special hero. — Chris Dunmire

CHRIS DUNMIRE: Hello Mr. Popeye, thank you very much for granting me this interview today. And congratulations on last year’s 75th Anniversary!

POPEYE THE SAILOR: It’s me pleasure, Chris. And please, call me Popeye. I don’t get called for too many interviews anymore. I think I’ve become a forgotten icon.

Actually I don’t think you’re as forgotten as you might think. I was in Logli’s (a grocery store) several months ago and spotted you on a can of spinach! (holds up can)

Well blow me down! I yam what I yam and that's all what I yam!

It was funny because I haven’t seen you on a can of spinach since the mid-70s when I was a kid. I remember opening a low cabinet in our kitchen and seeing a can with you on it next to assorted peas and green beans. I begged my mom to make it!

Did you like it?

(blushes) No. It was pretty gross to my 4-year-old self. And it certainly didn't give me any special strength!

(frowns and twirls corn cob pipe)

Actually Popeye, I really have to tell you that you were my first superhero crush growing up. I used to watch your cartoon show every time it came on TV.

(smiles sheepishly)

And I used to sing a song that went like this:

I'm Popeye the Sailor Man,

I live in a garbage can,

I eat all the worms and spit out the germs,

I'm Popeye the Sailor Man,

Toot, toot!

(raises eyebrow, stunned look)

I felt sorry for you because Bluto always beat you up and Olive Oyl was so fickle. And your nephews… what a bunch of brats!

Yeah, they really played up my weaknesses.

But then I always cheered for you when the can of spinach came out. And the theme music: da da da da da da! Every wrong was righted with those big bulging muscles. There wasn't anything you couldn't do. And that stinkhead Bluto, he sure got his!

Yes, I always came out a winner. (laughs) Ark ark ark!

Let’s talk about the spinach… did it really make you strong?

Of course! It’s loaded with iron.

I read on Wikipedia that “the reference to spinach comes from the publication of a study which, because of a misprint, attributed to spinach ten times its actual iron content.” And your popularity “helped boost sales of the vegetable and the spinach-growing community of Crystal City, Texas.”

What’s a Wikipedia?

It’s a free encyclopedia on the Internet.

What’s an Internet?

Are you skirting the issue?

(plugs ears) La la la la!

(frowns)

Ark ark ark! I’m just foolin’ ya Chris. Yes, it’s true. The iron-spinach misprint was actually a marvelous marketing ploy. How else could we get kids to eat the stuff?

I have to admit, you did make it look good.

Exactly! And that was the whole point. Sales on canned spinach, well, everything in dem days was canned, skyrocketed. And everyone in show business knows that when your advertisers are happy, your producers are happy, and you’re happy. There was a lot of green flowin’, if ya knows what I mean! (winks)

I’m kind of embarrassed to ask you about this… but the Wikipedia article also said this: “It has also been claimed that the "spinach" Popeye used was a reference to marijuana. Spinach was a slang term for marijuana at the time of Popeye's creation, and it was believed by some during that time period that marijuana could give users superhuman strength.”

Well, if it’s on the Internet, it must be true! Ark ark ark!

Okay, let’s talk about the statues.

Which one?

Well, there's the bronze statue in Chester, Illinois… another one in the “Spinach Capital of the World” Alma, Arkansas… and one in Crystal City, Texas.

Boy, yer smart! How’d you know all that?

I Googled you.

What’s a Google?

Yes, another Web site named RoadSideAmerica.com has pictures and blurbs about them.

Well blow me down! Ark ark ark!

I was angry to read about the vandals who ripped the bronze one off the pedestal and damaged the face.

Ah well… Bluto’s abound.

You should really get your own Web site for all of this stuff.

Bah! I don’t have time for that.

How did you like Robin Williams playing your character in the 1980 Paramount Pictures movie Popeye?

Spittin’ image that youngin’ was (flexes arm muscle). And Shelley Duvall made a perfectly flat Olive! Ark ark ark!

Did you know they are running your cartoons on the Boomerang Channel?

Yes, I heard about that. Don’t watch much TV these days. You know, I was born before it was invented!

Yes, I recently got Direct TV and as soon as I spotted it in the guide turned it on. I felt like I was a kid again. And you know what is truly funny about it all?

What?

There are so many “inside” jokes going on under your breath in the cartoons that I had to grow up to understand them! I also watch SpongeBob SquarePants and the owner of the Krusty Krab (Mr. Krabs) laughs just like you.

Ark ark ark!

I like watching your cartoons now for historical reasons. It’s like experiencing a slice of time.

Yes, it all started in 1929. How many years ago was that?

(punches numbers in calculator) Let’s see, 2000 minus 1929 equals 71. Plus five more years is… oh, duh… 76. That explains last year’s 75th anniversary.

What’s that? A telephone?

No, a calculator. And they did have these before you were born. They were called abacuses.

(frowns and twirls corn cob pipe)

So what DO you do now that you’re retired?

What? Don’t you read the Internet? My page at King Features tells you all about it!

“Today the sailorman has made Popeye-brand canned spinach the No. 2 brand behind Del Monte and he has his own brand of fresh spinach, salads and fresh vegetable snacks. He has also punched up supermarket sales of everything from Pepsi to popcorn, not to mention millions of T-shirts, caps, jackets, collectors' watches. In fact, Popeye was the first character to invade, in an important way, the toy and novelty field. From tin wind-up toys to puzzles and kazoo pipes, early Popeye novelty merchandise now carries staggering price tags in antique shops and flea markets.”

You sneaky sly fox… here I thought you were technology illiterate... I bet you're online everyday!

Ark ark ark! That's all I can stands, and I can't stands no more!

I guess we’re out of time then?

Darn tootin’.

I have a ton more questions for you about Olive, Wimpy, Sweet Pea, the Goons, the Jeep, and your witty sense of humor. Can we do another interview sometime?

Why don’t ya just e-mail me!

Sure thing. Thank you Popeye!

(closing music da da da da da da … end with visual of Popeye’s head in a star…toot toot!)