Popeye The Sailorman Turns 75

Maybe Popeye owes his longevity to all that vitamin-rich spinach.

The "Ugg, ugg, ugg"-ing cartoon sailorman who gets his superior punching power by guzzling greens from a tin can is celebrating his 75th anniversary Saturday.

King Features Syndicate, which owns the rights to Popeye, is planning a yearlong series of events to spark interest in the pipe-tooting mariner with the outsized forearms, including a new 3-D animated TV special written by "Mad About You" comedian Paul Reiser.

That special is set for broadcast next holiday season.

Meanwhile, this weekend in New York City, the Empire State Building plans to shine its tower lights green from sundown to midnight "in honor of Popeye's enormous love of spinach," according to King Features.

Spinach growers still have a soft spot for Popeye, who was credited with saving the spinach industry in the depression, boosting consumption by 33 percent. His statue stands in the heart of spinach country - Crystal City, Texas - and the name is still used to sell the vegetable, both in cans (of course) and fresh.

Popeye began life in 1929 in the popular "Thimble Theatre" comic strip as a limited story line guest. He graduated to movie shorts, many by the renowned animator Max Fleischer.

Popeye battled everything from sassy goats to bloated bad guy Bluto while pursuing the affection of girlfriend Olive Oyl. He even appeared in a video game in the 1980s, collecting falling hearts from his rail-thin sweetheart.

Robin Williams played the bulging-armed character in Robert Altman's 1980 musical movie "Popeye."

While an American icon, Popeye's fame is not limited to the United States. King Features says he appears in comic books around the world. In Italy, he's known as Iron Arm; in Sweden, Karl Alfred; and in Denmark, Skipper Skraek, the "Terror of the Sea."