Popeye the sailor is a character from the comics known to generations since the 1930s throughout the western world. We all know Popeye's strength when he ate the contents of a can of spinach. Popeye acquired an enormous strength that could overthrow his archenemy Brutus when he was subjected to an attack of jealousy by the courtesies of Brutus with his girlfriend Rosario. But as children and even adults we never understood that mystery of getting strength by eating spinach.
We remember pleasantly that our mothers showed us the hero Popeye so that we could imitate him in eating spinach that they usually gave us in soups that we did not like. As every child we rejected soups but when our mothers emulated the exploits of Popeye the sailor by his particular strength product of the intake of spinach, they convinced us to take that vegetable prepared in soups and as a companion of the lunches.
Certainly that character created at the end of the 20s by the American cartoonist Elzie Segar, had a success at that time of the beginning of the silent film when the comics were fashionable in Chicago, a city where many comics were popularized in the known "supplements" They came to be sold in the Venezuela of the 40s, 50s and 60s. In the US, numerous characters were born from the comics drawn by the different creators, in which one of the most famous was Walt Disney. In each one of those characters there was a reason behind their creation, which in general the artists sought was to highlight virtues or defects of humans in different real life scenarios.
I am not an expert in the history of these characters but I will try to explain the origin and reason of some of them, and I will do it only to illustrate the readers in the diversity of the culture that we have been inoculated as children by various means, starting with the comics written and finally with films from the sound cinema.
Popeye tells his origin in his own name. It is the composition of two words of the language of Shakespeare: "Pop" and "eye", which together mean "bulging eyes". Well, those bulging eyes occur with the ingestion of a distorted yerba in spinach, which in reality was marijuana, and consumed by the US "Marines" when they had to go to the front of the battle, to drown the fear that every young soldier recruited was launched to war to perform military service and defend the American flag in the numerous battle fronts that have deployed throughout the world wars and other wars that have sustained the US in various continents from the last century to the nascent XXI century. We all know how in the Vietnam War of the late 1960s, the US occupation army received marijuana to "enthuse" the soldiers in those often suicidal missions they faced in that nation.
In the First World War, soldiers were "enthusiastic" mostly with the mixture of aspirin and coffee. For that reason in the field hospitals in the front, the soldiers made long lines to receive aspirin, to reduce fever or headache. But that was the excuse to receive the acetylsalicylic acid in dragees that mixed with the black coffee potion and took before going out in front. Other soldiers, especially the "Marines", used marijuana, which they supplied to the battalions, either by land or by sea, in the various war missions entrusted to them. Of course, that act of handing the yachts to the Marines was not legal, so their commanders did it very discreetly. Troops of the sea were passed on to them by Popeye the seaman, to distract the troops in the long missions on the high seas. The bride Rosario was the personification of the brides or wives of those marines who left at home and longed for through letters sent to them from the battle front. That is the truth behind that character Popeye.
Other characters also have interesting origins to know. Walt Disney in its beginnings proposed in New York to the archimillonario Paul Getty will grant a loan him to make a film of long footage. Paul Getty, who was one of the owners of the oil company Standard Oil Company, denied it, alleging that he could lose money by announcing in advance Mr. Disney's failure. Then Walt Disney went to the mayor of New York to see if he participated in any civic campaign that the mayor could pay. It was then when that mayor presented to Disney the urgency of convincing the New Yorkers to accept living with the mice and rats that swarmed in that port city in the sewers and invaded the residences of its inhabitants. Greatly Disney then created the Mouse Miguelito or Mickey Mouse, where he made mice friendly beings that were accepted by children in the comics that narrated cases of home in real life. We know today that Mickey Mouse became a star of cartoons and is one of the main characters of the Magic Kingdom of Disney in the first park called Disneyland or land of Disney, located in Anaheim, California. Later Disney World was created in the city of Orlando, Florida, which provides that State with the visit of more than 20 million tourists a year, being one of the main sources of income for that region of the USA.
Walt Disney before the refusal of Paul Getty to lend money to him for his film, having observed that his office had numerous public telephones in the waiting room to avoid having to pay the calls of the restless citizens who waited for a hearing, said to him: Mr. Getty, I will not bother you again to borrow money. His attitude of lack of collaboration with the social needs of that city and especially for being such a pichirre will force me to immortalize him in some production that in the future I will realize without his help ". He fulfilled his promise and it was when he created the character "Rico Mc Pato" that we all know by the pichirre and avaricious that he is.
Other authors created characters that highlighted, for example, citizens' defects. This is the case of Goofy. Goofy or Tribilín is a fictional character created by Art Babbitt from Walt Disney Studios. He is a dog with anthropomorphic characteristics and is one of Mickey Mouse's best friends. His first appearance was in the 30s in a short animation shows Mickey Mouse, Horacio horse and cow Clarabella singing and doing a dance show. In this era, Mickey's shorts and his animated gang made songs and numbers danced almost routinely. What would give this animation a distinctive character was the debut of a new character, whose way of acting would serve as a source of joke. But he highlighted the fact that the defect of car drivers who in real life became aggressive behind the wheel, despite being very friendly as ordinary citizens. Undoubtedly he had a positive message explaining the aggressiveness of drivers in large cities, subject to the stress of daily traffic.
The first appearance of Donald Duck was in the animation "Silly Symphonies and The Little Hen", in the 30s. The appearance that Donald had in this animation is similar to the current one. Many of Donald's shorts during the war period were propaganda films, released in the 1940s. Other notable shorts of this period include the so-called "Army shorts" and they were several films that followed life of Donald in the United States Navy, from his recruitment to his life in a camp under Sergeant Pete El Negro, going through his first commando mission where a Japanese air base is sabotaged.
The Donald character began to appear in most of Mickey Mouse's animations as a regular figure of his group with Minnie, Goofy and Pluto. In a short film appears the character of Daisy, Donald's girlfriend. His nephews Hugo, Paco and Luis also made their appearance in the movie "Donald's nephews". During the Second World War, the audience expected more overwhelming characters. It is not a coincidence the birth of lucky rabbit Bugs Bunny, who also witnessed the rise in popularity of Donald Duck.
In this way, dear readers, we illustrate the origins of those characters so familiar to the children of later generations (50s and 60s) and who came to our country as phenomena of subliminal transculturation, which persist today in our minds. These propaganda channels, under the naive figure of these characters, transmitted to us messages and values alien to our idiosyncrasies, in the most naive way, such as a cartoon or a children's film. Characters created in Chicago as Superman, try to replace the figure of Jesus Christ superpower who fights as a justice of good, explaining that comes from the cosmos as children of angels from other worlds (Ka El, Jor El) with names similar to Christian archangels whose names they end in the suffix "el" like Gabriel, Rafael, Miguel, and with adoptive parents (Kent spouses) similar to José and María.
Today there are many new and varied characters imported from the US, Japan and other countries, which we must filter to prevent our children and grandchildren from receiving negative or distorted messages that harm their individual and collective mental development. Educators have the word and in some way direct and control the childhood distractions that come to our country through video games and fiction films. I take this opportunity to wish you all a Happy New Year 2018 full of health and prosperity and union with your loved ones.