Eugene the Jeep

Eugene the Jeep
Popeye character
First appearance	March 16, 1936, appearance of Thimble Theatre
Created by	E. C. Segar
Information
Species	Jeep
Gender	Male

Eugene the Jeep is a character in the Popeye comic strip. A mysterious animal with magical abilities, the Jeep first appeared in the March 16, 1936, appearance of Thimble Theatre strip (now simply Popeye). He was also present in animated versions of Popeye's adventures, including three appearances in the Fleischer Studios shorts of the late 1930s/early 1940s, with more extensive appearances in later Popeye cartoons produced for TV.

In the August 9, 1936, strip, headlined "Wha's a Jeep?" [sic] Popeye asks Professor Brainstine what exactly a Jeep is. He gets the following response:

When asked if he had any further questions, Popeye, totally unenlightened by this explanation, repeated, "Wha's a Jeep?"

The animated cartoons took the straightforward approach of defining the character as some type of dog. In The Jeep (1938), Popeye presents the animal to Olive Oyl and Swee'Pea with the simple explanation, "The Jeep's a magical dog and can disappear and things." In Popeye Presents Eugene the Jeep (1940), it is Popeye who receives the creature from Olive, in a box via a special delivery man (voiced by Pinto Colvig), and with the premise that he had never seen the creature before: "Well, blow me down! A baby puppy!"

Eugene the Jeep appeared in The All-New Popeye Hour and Popeye and Son, voiced by Don Messick.

Eugene the Jeep did not appear in the live-action 1980 Popeye movie. The Jeep was included in early drafts of the original screenplay but was deemed too difficult to render believably, so the character was omitted and his part was absorbed by Swee'Pea. The baby's mysterious ability to answer questions and make predictions through the use of whistles were scenes originally intended for Eugene the Jeep.

However, he is slated to appear in the new Popeye film produced by Sony Pictures Animation.

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