Shorts! Popeye: It's the Natural Thing to Do
From How's It Hold Up? by Danika Juarez
May 27, 2026 · 16 min · Season 8 · Episode 190
About this episode
The episode explores a self-aware Popeye cartoon that challenges the typical violence in the series.
The Popeye cartoons tend to fall into something of a pattern: Popeye and Bluto are both interested in Olive Oyl, and they fight about it. But what if they... didn't? This self-aware cartoon comedically interrogates the violence at the heart of your typical Popeye cartoon, with the iconic trio being tasked to avoid brutality for the day. Does this result in a good cartoon, or is this one best skipped? Let's find out!
People in this episode
Host: Danika Juarez
Topics covered
- Popeye cartoons
- violence in animation
- comedy
- self-awareness
- character dynamics
Keywords
- Popeye
- Olive Oyl
- Bluto
- cartoons
- violence
- comedy
- animation
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: Popeye, It's the Natural Thing to Do
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