• Google doodle depicts Popeye eating spinach
• 115th anniversary of E.C. Segar’s birthday
Adam Gabbatt
The Guardian [UK]
Tuesday, 8 December 2009
Elzie Crisler Segar might not be a household name, but the Popeye creator has become the latest person to be honoured with his own Google Doodle.
The internet search giant has depicted the rambunctious cartoon seaman in typically feisty pose on what would have been Segar’s 115th birthday.
Popeye the Sailor – who famously attributed his strength “to the finish” to his consumption “of spinach” – first entered the public consciousness in January 1929, in Segar’s newspaper comic strip Thimble Theatre.
The cartoonist was born in Illinois, US, on 8 December 1894, and showed a talent for drawing at a young age. Segar worked as a film projectionist while studying a correspondence course in cartooning, eventually moving to Chicago to pursue his career.
According to cartoon expert Ed Black, Popeye originally appeared as a supporting character in Thimble Theatre, which had already been running for ten years with a certain Olive Oyl as its heroine…
The article continues at The Guardian.
