Tucker Carlson, who used to go from TV job to TV job like a bee who can't find pollen, recently made some rather silly comments about Popeye, Thor and Wonder Woman. Most people on Fox News strike me as folks who sit around thinking of things to get needlessly outraged about because, well, that's their job. I can't believe Mr. Carlson really thinks it means anything if the Sailor Man is sans pipe but if you're on Fox, you have to attack Liberals about something so…
Nothing is scarier to a modern liberal than tobacco. If Popeye were driving around giving the morning after pill to fourth graders that would be totally fine. But smoking a pipe, a symbol of freedom and masculinity in America itself, the reason this country exists, tobacco, that's like, "Oh, that's outrageous. That's a major sin."
Well, of course that thing about the pill is not so. But there are two things Carlson either doesn't get or doesn't want to get because he needs to come up with something like this. One is that the pipeless Popeye appears in a recently-released demo scene by animator Genndy Tartakovsky…a test for a proposed feature. The whole thing is a bit over a minute long and they're probably still discussing whether or not Popeye will have his pipe at some point in the movie.
Heck, they're probably still discussing whether there's even going to be a movie. I hope so because I sure liked what I saw. (By the way, a couple folks wrote to ask if I could identify the actors who did the voices of Popeye and Olive Oyl. I can. That's Tom Kenny and Grey DeLisle — who now sometimes goes by her married name of Grey Griffin. Regular attendees of my Cartoon Voice Panels at Comic-Con International know both of 'em.)
Our pal Jerry Beck liked it, too. If you'd like to see the clip, it's over on this page where he explains why he liked it.
The other thing Mr. Carlson doesn't get about it is that this is not a political decision. It's a marketing concern. Most of the time when someone decides to launder animation — tone down sex or violence — it's because they want to make sure they can sell reruns of the product to the widest audience for the longest time.
About ten years ago, I was approached about writing a Popeye animated project. It never happened but we had a meeting or two and it was made pretty clear to me that merchandising and marketing were driving this particular venture; that any decision about Popeye having a pipe or Popeye punching out Bluto would be decided on that basis. They were going to make some assessment based on an estimate of how many parents wouldn't buy a toy if the character had a pipe…or how many countries or networks wouldn't buy and air the show.
A principle Tucker Carlson has voiced as long as I've followed him on TV is that companies should be free from regulation and outside pressures that might minimize their profit margins. And now here he is, arguing that the people who are marketing Popeye need to give Popeye his pipe. Someone needs to ask Carlson, "Even if they think they'll make less money if they do?" Because if they don't give Popeye a pipe, that'll be the reason.
It's pretty much the same thing with Thor becoming a woman. It's obviously not an attempt to "feminize" the God of Thunder. It's just a gimmick to attract attention and sell some Female Thor product before they revert to the male version. (The in-house term for this sometimes is "extend the franchise." It's like when they did the Muppet Babies. People are already buying Kermit and Fozzie merchandise. Here's a chance to bring out a whole new line of Kermit and Fozzie merchandise.)
Wonder Woman's change of attire is the same thing. Something thinks those outfits are more commercial in the present-day marketplace. That's all that's involved here. No politics. No hidden agenda. Just someone's idea of how to exploit a property.