Popeye first debuted in an existing comic strip called Thimble Theatre in 1929, and he was created by cartoonist E.C. Segar. Although he was a minor character at first, Popeye quickly became the most popular character of the strip and it was soon reworked to focus on him. Since then, he has starred in countless cartoon adaptations as well as a feature film, video games and more. Here, you will get to color not only Popeye but also Olive Oyl, Bluto and Wimpy on their numerous adventures. Comic fans can also learn a bit more about their spinach-loving hero as I share some interesting facts about the history of Popeye.
25 Free Popeye Coloring Pages To Print And Color
1. Bluto And Popeye Arm Wrestling Coloring PDF
Popeye and his fellow sailor Bluto are always challenging each other to various activities to prove who is better, and it’s usually to win the affection of Olive Oyl. Bluto first appeared in the comic strip in 1932, a few years after Popeye debuted. Sometimes, Bluto is a lot stronger than Popeye, and other times they are equals. The comics and cartoon adaptations don’t usually have consistent details, and writers will change aspects of the characters to suit each story.
2. Bluto Chasing Popeye
3. Bluto Lifting A Barrel
Bluto is always showing off, and this is complemented by his vindictive and jealous nature. He has changed names once, as in some cartoons, he is known as Brutus instead of Bluto. This was because the company making the cartoons thought they didn’t own the rights to the name Bluto, but it turned out that they did after all! He’s usually called Bluto now, but in one comic, it was said that Brutus was actually a separate character who was Bluto’s brother.
4. Bluto Looking Angry And Strong
5. Bluto Pulling A Rope On A Ship
6. Olive Oyl Calling For Help
Olive Oyl is the object of both Popeye and Bluto’s affections, and they will often go to great lengths to win her love. Despite this, she is normally considered to be Popeye’s girlfriend. Interestingly, Olive was actually created before Popeye and featured in the Thimble Theatre comics. Once Popeye was introduced, the two characters couldn’t stand each other, but they did eventually develop feelings.
7. Olive Oyl Berates Wimpy
Poor Wimpy is usually being berated by other characters, and here Olive Oyl is giving him a lecture! Olive was a much more headstrong, grumpy character in the comics, but in the animated adaptations, she is usually a more chipper, airheaded character.
8. Olive Oyl Surrounded By Hearts
9. Olive Oyl In A Dress
10. Popeye And Olive Oyl Dancing
11. Popeye Blowing Smoke From His Pipe
Popeye is rarely seen without his famous pipe, and he can use it for all sorts of purposes. He is believed to have been based on a real person that E.C. Segar encountered in his younger days named Frank “Rocky” Fiegal. Frank was a tough workman who frequently got into fights but showed a softer side when he would give candy to children.
12. Popeye Climbing A Rope
13. Popeye With His Arms Crossed
14. Popeye Eating Spinach Coloring Sheet
One of the most iconic aspects of Popeye is his ability to gain great strength from eating spinach. However, this was not always the case. When the character first appeared, he got his strength from rubbing the feathers of a special lucky hen. Later on, it was changed to the spinach gimmick we know and love.
15. Popeye Fighting An Octopus
16. Popeye Flexing His Muscles
17. Popeye Lifting Heavy Weights
18. Popeye Punching a Punching Bag
Popeye is showing off his strength wth this punching bag! The cartoon was adapted into a feature film in 1980 and starred Robin Williams and Shelley Duvall as Popeye and Olive Oyl, respectively.
19. Popeye Rowing A Boat
20. Popeye Standing With A Barrel
21. Popeye Steering A Boat
22. Popeye With His Anchor Tattoos
23. Popeye And Baby Swee’Pea
24. Popeye Playing With Swee’Pea
25. Wimpy Holding A Hamburger Coloring Page
Wimpy loves hamburgers more than anything else! Thus, he would be proud to know a hamburger joint was established in America in 1934 in his honor. These days, the chain is very popular in South Africa and also has branches in the United Kingdom.
After You Color Your Popeye Pages
Write some of the character’s catchphrases, like “I’m Popeye the sailor man!” for Popeye or “I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today” for Wiimpy. Use grey shades for one of the pages to make it look like an old cartoon Connect three or four of the pages and add speech bubbles to make your own comic strip.
Popeye won many fans ever since he first appeared, and he is still a cartoon icon to this day. Hopefully you enjoyed meeting him and his friends for this colorful adventure! It’s fun to let your creativity take over, so feel free to use all of your best ideas for these pages and see what happens. You can print the pages as many times as you like in order to try out your ideas. When you’ve finished some of the pages, you can share them on your social media accounts for others to see.
