Brand New 'Popeye' Animated Series Launches on YouTube

It's time to hit the weights and chug your spinach, because Popeye is returning with a brand new series of adventures on YouTube.

This week, King Features announced a new animated series titled Popeye's Island Adventures, which will air on YouTube to kick off Popeye's 90th anniversary celebration in 2019. The series will be aimed at a younger audience than previous Popeye's cartoons, and it going to make several changes to the characters in an effort to update it for 2018.

In this version of the story, Popeye will be a little more environmentally conscious, growing spinach on the roof of his houseboat. This also provides the main conflict with Bluto, whose main goal is to steal the spinach from Popeye to use as his own source of power. Olive Oyl will once again be a major character, but will no longer be used as a damsel in distress. This time around, she will be central to all of Popeye's adventures.

"We are thrilled to be bringing Popeye to YouTube and a new generation of kids," said Hearst President and CEO Steven R Swartz.

"It is fitting that Popeye, one of King Features' original animated characters, is the first of our brands to be reintroduced through short-form video content created specifically for the YouTube audience," added Hearst Entertainment & Syndication President Neeraj Khemlani. "King Features has a deep library of IP from Flash Gordon, Mandrake and The Phantom to partner properties like Blondie, Hagar the Horrible and Beetle Bailey and Popeye is taking the lead with the development of new entertainment, merchandising and e-commerce to serve a new generation of fans."

"Popeye is an iconic pop culture character and the responsibility to serve his fanbase while introducing him to a new audience of multiple generations is enormous," said President of King Features C.J. Kettler. "The Popeye 90th Anniversary celebration will include not only the short form animation on YouTube but a relaunch of E.C. Segar's Popeye Cartoon Club in print, digital and social media featuring some of the most notable talent in cartooning and illustration as well as key partnerships for streetwear apparel and trendsetting collaborations. We look forward to further developing Popeye with additional retail partners, licensees, and longer form storytelling in the future."

You can watch the first episode of Popeye's Island Adventures in the video at the top of the page.