Eugene David<br>...The One-Minute Pundit

Sometimes the way show-biz types can strike a pose is more amusing than what they do. Here's a picture from 1949 of (left to right) Jack Mercer, Mae Questel and Jackson Beck. These names will be unknown to most people, so let's identify them for who they were: the voices of Popeye, Olive Oyl and Bluto. If you recall the Famous Studios Popeyes of the forties and fifties (and you should given their excessive televising), you'll know how abysmal those cartoons are. No doubt about it, though: these three were their characters.

See what I mean?

P. S. Here's more evidence of the extraordinary vision of NEWS HACKS, especially the HEARST HACKS:

There was actually a clause in the original contract between Paramount Pictures and King Features, stating that after ten years, the prints and negatives of the Popeye cartoons were to be destroyed. King Features had the same clause for all of their licensed properties. There is speculation that the clause contributed to the demise of Fleischer Studios. The clause was never enforced for Popeye.

The communal editing of Wikipedia is a great strength -- and a great weakness; the site has this decent Popeye entry -- and virtual "stubs" for Hearst and King Features.

P. P. S. at 1:15 p.m.: I unaccountably called Bluto "Brutus" in the original post -- perhaps because King Features unaccountably called Bluto Brutus.