Bluto is a character created in 1932 by Elzie Crisler Segar as a one-time villain, named "Bluto the Terrible", in his Thimble Theatre comic strip (later renamed Popeye); he made his first appearance on September 12 of that year. Fleischer Studios adapted him the next year (1933), to be the recurring villain in their theatrical Popeye animated cartoons derived from the Segar strip.

Contents 1 Character 2 The Bluto/Brutus issue 3 Voiced/portrayed by 4 Other characters 5 Other Media 6 External links 7 Comments

Character Edit

Bluto is Popeye's nemesis; he, like Popeye, is attracted to Olive Oyl, and usually attempts to seduce her. However, with the help of some spinach, Popeye usually ends up defeating him.

Bluto is a towering brute with a thick beard and a strong physique. In many cartoons Olive is initially smitten by Bluto's brawn and ruggedly masculine looks. He routinely uses his physical superiority to win temporary advantage over Popeye, although he often demonstrates ability for crafty tactical planning as well. He is fond of flexing his large muscles to make Popeye look weak by comparison. As well, he displays much harassment, bullies Popeye even to the point of gross-out pranks, and is often able to overpower the sailor, beating him in the various kinds of competitions they frequently find themselves engaged in.

However, there are some cartoons that show Popeye and Bluto as friends and Navy buddies, with Bluto usually turning on Popeye when an object of interest (usually Olive) is put between them. A prime example of this is the cartoon We're On Our Way to Rio.

From the beginning Bluto has attracted a sizable cult following whose adherents view him as a dedicated bodybuilder who steadfastly eschews the use of spinach to secure an advantage in his contests with Popeye. They see Popeye as an "unwitting dolt" who is consumed by jealousy of his physical and mental superior and who must resort to a cheat substance in order to achieve his tainted victory in every outing. The ambiguity of who was actually the 'better man' was particularly marked in certain cartoons of the Famous Studios era (1944-1957).

In more recent Popeye cartoons, such as the computer-animated movie produced by Mainframe Entertainment, Bluto and Popeye are back to being good friends with Bluto being somewhat afraid of Popeye, although Bluto getting mind-controlled puts a wedge between them once again.

The Bluto/Brutus issue Edit

After the theatrical Popeye cartoon series went out of production in 1957, Bluto was replaced by Brutus because it was wrongly believed that Paramount Pictures, distributors of the Fleischer Studios (later Famous Studios) cartoons, owned the rights to the name "Bluto". King Features owned the name all along as Bluto had been originally created for the comic strip, however, due to poor research, they failed to realize this, and used the name Brutus to avoid copyright issues.[1] Brutus appears in the 1960-1962 Popeye television cartoons (with a more obese than strong physique), but Bluto returns in the Hanna-Barbera Popeye series of 1978 and the 1980 Popeye movie, as well as Hanna-Barbera's 1987 Popeye and Son series. Brutus was used by Nintendo for their arcade game based on the property.

Another subtle difference between the character of Brutus from Bluto is that while Bluto was often portrayed as a fellow sailor who also sought to win the heart of Olive Oyl, Brutus was portrayed as a generic villain, or bank robber, who showed no romantic interest in Olive. Instead, he usually took her hostage, leaving Popeye to rescue her.

Prior to the change to Brutus, the bearded strongman was known as "The Big Guy That Hates Popeye", "Mean Man" and "Sonny Boy" in the comic strip and comic books. The name "Brutus" was first used on Popeye-related products in 1960 and in print in 1962. Although it may be argued that they are one and the same, Ocean Comics has published one of the Popeye Special comic books where Bluto and Brutus were twin brothers; Bobby London, who drew the "Popeye" daily strip for six years, wrote and illustrated "The Return of Bluto" story where the 1932 version of Bluto returns and discovers a number of fat, bearded bullies have taken his place, calling themselves "Brutus" (each one being a different version of Popeye's rival). On December 28, 2008 and April 5, 2009, the Popeye comic strip added Bluto in the capacity of twin brother of Brutus.

Voiced/portrayed by Edit

Bluto was voiced by a number of actors, including William Pennell, Gus Wickie, Billy Bletcher, Pinto Colvig, and Jackson Beck. Beck also supplied the voice for Brutus in the early 1960s. In the 1980 live-action movie, he is portrayed by Paul L. Smith. In The All-New Popeye Hour and Popeye and Son, he is voiced by Allan Melvin.

Other characters Edit

In the animated cartoons, Popeye's foe is almost always

Bluto, functioning in some capacity—fellow sailor, street tough, theater hypnotist, Arab sheik, competetive swimmer, 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 vocalized this character using the same voice, and some fans maintain that he was just Bluto with a bleach job) or the boxing champion in Punch and Judo or the scofflaw in Cops is Tops (both of whom have shaved heads and altogether different voices).

Other MediaEdit

Bluto appeared in the Robot Chicken episode "The Sack", voiced by Dave Coulier. In a segment that parodies the Popeye cartoons in the style of the film It's a Wonderful Life, Popeye and Bluto have opened up a bank together in what the world would look like without Wimpy. The Bluto/Brutus name debate has also become a topic of interest on The Rick Emerson radio program.

External linksEdit

• Popeye | The Home of Popeye the Sailor Man website
• Don Markstein's Toonopedia Popeye page
• Bluto at the Internet Movie Database