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| | The Straight Dope Mailbag: Is Popeye's nemesis named Bluto or Brutus? |
 | | Bluto, introduced in 1932, was one of many villains Popeye faced, but had the good fortune to appear in the strip at the time that Max Fleischer, riding the success of Betty Boop, made the decision to animate the strip. |
 | | The first cartoon, "Popeye the Sailor" (1933), featured Bluto as the heavy (with a cameo by Betty Boop herself), in the now-familiar "Bluto harasses Olive until Popeye, under the influence of spinach, whomps his butt and saves the day, then sings his song" formula. |
 | | They were operating under the misapprehension that Bluto was created for the Fleischer cartoons, and that Paramount had exclusive rights to the name. |
| www.straightdope.com /mailbag/mpopeye.html (634 words) |
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