[1] The plotlines in the animated cartoons tended to be simpler than those presented in the comic strips, and the characters slightly different.

One source of inspiration for the Fleischers were newspapers and comic strips, and they saw potential in Popeye as an animated star, thinking the humor would translate well onscreen.

[2] When the Fleischers needed more characters, they turned to Segar's strip: Wimpy debuted in the first regular Popeye cartoon, Swee'Pea, Poopdeck Pappy, the Goons, and Eugene the Jeep arrived onscreen by the late 1930s.

Popeye was also given more family exclusive to the shorts, specifically his look-alike nephews Pipeye, Peepeye, Pupeye, and Poopeye.

Although Betty has a small cameo appearance, the cartoon mostly introduces the main characters: Popeye's coming to rescue Olive Oyl after being kidnapped by Bluto.

The cartoon opens with a newspaper headline announcing Popeye as a movie star, reflecting the transition into film.

As Betty Boop gradually declined in popularity as a result of Hays Code censorship undermining her characterization in 1934, Popeye became the studio's star character by 1936.

[2] Popeye lives in a dilapidated apartment building in A Dream Walking (1934), reflecting the urban feel and Depression-era hardships.

[2] The Fleischers moved their studio to Miami, Florida, in September 1938 in order to weaken union control and take advantage of tax breaks.

[9] Mae Questel, who started a family, refused to move to Florida, and Margie Hines, the wife of Jack Mercer, voiced Olive Oyl through the end of 1943.

With Famous Studios headed by Sam Buchwald, Seymour Kneitel, Isadore Sparber and Dan Gordon, production continued on the Popeye shorts.

As Popeye was popular in South America, Famous Studios set the 1944 cartoon We're on our Way to Rio in Brazil, as part of a "good neighbor" policy between the U.S. government and the rest of the hemisphere during the war.

Paramount had begun moving the studio back to New York that January, and Mae Questel reassumed voice duties for Olive Oyl.

Many established Fleischer animators stayed with Famous Studios and produced these new Popeye cartoons, but the loss of the founders was evident.

For the first few cartoons, the opening credits music consists of a short instrumental excerpt of "The Sailor's Hornpipe", a traditional sea shanty dating to no later than the 1700s, playing over the Paramount logo, followed by a vocal variation on Andrew B.

Director Eric Goldberg notes a very urban feel to the music of Popeye, reflecting "the type of cartoons they were making."

Tight on a budget, the producers took advantage of their free access to the Paramount music library, including hit songs that would be introduced in feature films.

[2] For generations, the iconic Popeye theme song became an instantly recognizable musical bookmark, further propelling the character's stardom.

Jerry Beck likens Popeye's television success to a "new lease on life," noting that the character had not been as popular since the 1930s.

[15] King Features realized the potential for success and began distributing Popeye-based merchandise, which in turn led to a new series of Popeye shorts made for TV beginning in 1960.

In the intervening years, however, the theatrical Popeye cartoons slowly disappeared from the airwaves in favor of the newer made-for-television shorts.

After Turner's acquisition, the black-and-white Popeye shorts were shipped to South Korea, where artists retraced them into color.

The series, which aired 135 Popeye shorts over 45 episodes, also featured segments offering trivia about the characters, voice actors, and animators.

There were legal problems between King Features Syndicate and United Artists in the early 1980s regarding the availability of Popeye cartoons on home video.

It was reported in 2002 that Warner Bros. and King Features parent Hearst Corporation were working on a deal to release the Popeye cartoons on home video.

[17] Over 1,000 people signed an online petition asking WB and King Features to release the theatrical Popeye cartoons on DVDs.

Volumes 1 and 3 have the "Intended For Adult Collector And May Not Be Suitable For Children" advisory warning on the back of the box- with a text disclaimer at the beginning of each disc warning that certain shorts "...may reflect certain racist, sexist and ethnic prejudices that were commonplace in American society at the time"- similar to that seen on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection DVDs.

[15] The first volume was included, either erroneously or through somewhat fraudulent means, in a batch of boxed sets sold in discount outlets for $3 or less in the summer of 2009.

[15] However, due to the 2007–2008 financial crisis, Warner Home Video was forced to re-work Volume 2 into a series of two-disc sets.

[21] Unlike the previous DVD sets the Blu-rays did not feature any bonus material, but the shorts were digitally restored and uncut.