J. Wellington Wimpy

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J. Wellington Wimpy or Wimpy is one of the characters in the long-running comic strip, Thimble Theater, and in the Popeye cartoons based upon the strip.

Wimpy was created by newspaper cartoonist Elzie Crisler Segar. He became one of the dominant characters in the newspaper strips. When "Popeye" was adapted as an animated cartoon series by Fleischer Studios, Wimpy was made a more minor character; Dave Fleischer said that the character in the Segar comic strips was "too intellectual" to be used in film cartoons.

Wimpy is Popeye's friend. In the cartoons he mainly plays the role of the "straight man" to Popeye's outbursts and wild antics. Wimpy is very intelligent, and well educated, but very lazy and gluttonous. Wimpy is also somewhat of a scam artist and (especially in the newspaper cartoons) can be shockingly underhanded at times.

Wimpy loves to eat hamburgers, and is usually seen with one (e.g. in "Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor," where he was eating burgers almost the entire time) but is usually too cheap to pay for them. A recurring joke is Wimpy's attempts to con other patrons of the diner into buying him burgers. Wimpy often tries to outwit fellow patrons with his convoluted logic. His famous line, which was first introduced to the cartoons in the 1934 cartoon, We Aim to Please, is "I'd gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today". Wimpy had other frequently used lines in the original comic strip, usually invoked to someone or a group of people who are after him for some shenanigan he's pulled. On some occasions, Wimpy tries to placate the angry person or mob by saying "I'd like to invite you over to my house for a duck dinner." The angry person or persons are usually satisfied with that line and Wimpy moves away quickly to a safe distance and yells, "You bring the ducks!" Another such line was, "Jones is my name... I'm one of the Jones boys"--an attempt to defuse a hostile situation with a falsified case for mistaken identity.

[edit] Trivia

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  • The Serbian name for this character is Pera Ždera. There are quite a few grill meat restaurants named after him there.
  • During the Second World War the RAF Wellington bomber was nicknamed the "Wimpy".
  • There is a chain of "Wimpy" hamburger restaurants which are named after him, originally launched in the United Kingdom in 1954 by J. Lyons and Co.
  • The character is mentioned by Norm MacDonald in an episode of his sitcom, The Norm Show, when co-star Laurie Metcalf's character is attempting to relate a situation in the episode to a Popeye-esque conflict.
  • In an episode of the Seth Green sketch comedy program Robot Chicken, Wimpy is nearly talked out of suicide by an angel resembling Jimmy Stewart in a parody of the Stewart film It's a Wonderful Life before both characters realize that said suicide would greatly benefit many of Popeye's main characters (i.e. Popeye and Bluto would become business partners, Olive Oyl would grow breasts, and hamburgers would be abundant), as well as benefitting world peace.
  • Wimpy is also referenced in the MMORPG World of Warcraft. Beggars in Stormwind City will sometimes spout his famous line to passing players.
  • Homsar, a character from the popular Homestar Runner Flash cartoon series, once dressed up as Wimpy during a Halloween Special. He also paraphrased Wimpy's famous catchphrase with, "I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for some candy today."
  • Wimpy made a guest appearance on the TV Show Good Eats, in an episode featuring ground beef. For trademark reasons he was never explicitly named.
  • In the 1980 film directed by Robert Altman, Wimpy is played by character actor Paul Dooley.
  • Wimpy made a special appearance in a 1990s Burger King commercial for their hamburgers.
  • The Italian full name name for this character is "Poldo Sbaffini", his 'surname' refers to his scrounging habits.
  • The name of Wimpy in Latinamerica and Spain is "Pilón" (Pestle) that may refer the character's body shape
  • While broadcasting as color commentator for the Chicago White Sox, Tom Paciorek was nicknamed Wimpy by fellow broadcaster Ken Harrelson for his fondness of the culinary delights at US Cellular Field (nee New Comiskey Park).
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