Bluto
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bluto is a cartoon character created in 1933 by Fleischer Studios for its Popeye the Sailor theatrical animated series. The familiar version of Bluto never appeared in the original Thimble Theater comic strip, although a burly villain named "Bluto the Terrible" appears in a 1933 continuing story in the strip.
Bluto is Popeye's nemesis; he, like Popeye, is attracted to Olive Oyl, and usually attempts to kidnap her. However, with the help of some spinach, Popeye usually ends up defeating him.
Bluto is a large, bearded, musclebound man. He mostly uses his physical brawn to accomplish what he is trying to do, but does display some ability for tactical planning. Neither Popeye and Olive Oyl, nor any other characters, think of him as anything more than a worthless scoundrel, although Olive seems to forget this in the beginning of an episode, only to discover it later. 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 "On Our Way to Rio."
After the theatrical Popeye cartoon series went out of production in 1957, Bluto's name was changed to Brutus because it was believed that Paramount Pictures, distributors of the Fleischer Studios (later Famous Studios) cartoons, owned the rights to the name "Bluto"[1]. "Brutus" appears in the 1960-1962 Popeye television cartoons, but he is again "Bluto" in the 1978 Hanna-Barbera Popeye series and the 1980 Popeye movie. Brutus was also the name Nintendo used for their arcade game based on the property.
Prior to the name change to Brutus, the bearded strongman was known as "The Big Guy Who 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. It is generally accepted that Bluto and Brutus are one and the same. However, Ocean Comics published a one-shot "Popeye" comic book 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).
Bluto was voiced by a number of actors, including Billy Bletcher, Pinto Colvig, and Jackson Beck. Beck also supplied the voice for Brutus in the early 1960s.
In the animated cartoons, Popeye's foe is almost always Bluto, functioning in some capacity—fellow sailor, generic tough, carny hypnotist, Arab sheik, lecherous instructor, etc. Even when the enemy is not Bluto, there is often still a superficial resemblance in face (cf. the blond, beardless lifeguard in "Beach Peach") or voice.
The Bluto character bears an uncanny resemblance to Red Flack in the 1930 movie The Big Trail, played by Tyrone Power, Sr.. That character is a very large bear-like villain with a thick black beard, and speaks with a loud growling voice almost identical to that of Bluto. The date of the movie, 1930, relative to the date of Bluto's first appearance, 1933, suggests that the Bluto character was influenced in no small manner by the Red Flack character.
