Eugene the Jeepis acharacterin thePopeyecomic strip.A mysterious animal with magical or supernatural abilities, the Jeep first appeared in theThimble Theatrecomic strip (March 16, 1936). He was also present inanimatedversions of Popeye's adventures, including three of theFleischer Studiosshortsof the late 1930s/early 1940s, with more extensive appearances in laterPopeyecartoons produced for TV.[1]
| Eugene the Jeep | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | King Features Syndicate |
| First appearance | Thimble Theatre(March 16, 1936) |
| Created by | E. C. Segar |
| Voiced by | Don Messick |
| In-story information | |
| Species | Jeep |
| Abilities | Teleportation |
Fictional character biography
editOrigin
editIn 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:
A Jeep is an animal living in athree dimensionalworld—in this case our world—but really belonging to afourth dimensionalworld. Here's what happened. A number of Jeeplife cellswere somehow forced through the dimensional barrier into our world. They combined at a favorable time with free life cells of the African Hooey Hound. The electrical vibrations of the Hooey Hound cell and the foreign cell were the same. They were kindred cells. In fact, all things are, to some extent, relative, whether they be of this or some other world, now you see. The extremely favorable conditions of germination in Africa caused a fusion of these life cells. So the uniting of kindred cells caused a transmutation. The result, a mysterious strange animal.
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 ofdog.InThe Jeep(1938), Popeye presents the animal toOlive OylandSwee'Peawith the simple explanation, "The Jeep's a magical dog and can disappear and things". InPopeye Presents Eugene the Jeep(1940), it is Popeye who receives the creature from Olive, in a box via a special delivery man (voiced byPinto 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 several Popeye TV series, includingPopeye the Sailor(1960-1963),The All-New Popeye Hour(1978-1983) andPopeye and Son(1987). In the latter two series he was voiced byDon Messick.
Eugene the Jeep did not appear in the live-action 1980Popeyemovie. The Jeep was included in early drafts of the original screenplay but was soon deemed too difficult and too expensive to render believably, so the character was dropped and elements of the character were given to Swee'Pea. The baby's mysterious ability to answer questions and make predictions through the use of whistles were scenes originally written for Eugene the Jeep.
Eugene was slated to appear in the animated Popeye film produced bySony Pictures Animationbut production of the film was cancelled in 2016.[2]
Attributes and abilities
editIn the context of the comic strip, Eugene the Jeep was a gift to Popeye's girlfriend Olive Oyl from her Uncle Ben who found Eugene in Africa. The Jeep is a yellow creature about the size of a dog who walks on his hind legs. He has a bear-like head and ears but a large nose, long tail, and protruding belly. The Jeep's diet consists only oforchids.
As his language is limited to the word "jeep", Eugene primarily communicates throughbody language.Eugene always tells the truth, even to criminals. He possesses high intelligence, so is able to help humans such as Popeye and Olive Oyl solve complex problems. He makes use of a limited form ofteleportation:he can disappear from one place and reappear in another, and can walk through and on walls and ceilings. These teleportation powers are said to stem from the Jeep's ability to cross into thefourth dimension.
Other uses
editEugene the Jeep is the schoolmascotforNortheast Dubois High SchoolinDubois, Indiana,andSouth Webster High SchoolinSouth Webster, Ohio,although the Jeep for Northeast Dubois is blue and gray, while South Webster's is red instead of yellow. An old elementary school inWheatland, Indianaalso used the Jeep as its mascot, but this school was consolidated, and the symbol is no longer in use.
Many suggest that soldiers ofWorld War IIwere so impressed with the newWillys MBlight utility vehiclethat they informallynamed it after Eugene the Jeep,as it was "small, able to move between dimensions and could solve seemingly impossible problems".[3][4]Further suggestions say it comes from the initials of the Ford version called the "Ford GPW".
References
edit- ^"Eugene the Jeep was the Snoopy of his day and possibly inspired the Jeep SUV".Me-TV Network.
- ^"Watch Popeye Get Ready for His First Big-Screen Turn in More Than 30 Years".yahoo.19 September 2014.
- ^"Wordorigins.org".Wordorigins.org. Archived fromthe originalon 2010-03-28.Retrieved2010-07-04.
- ^Anatoly Liberman(2008).An analytic dictionary of English etymology: An Introduction.University of Minnesota Press.ISBN978-0-8166-5272-3.OCLC254563844.OL11384448M.WikidataQ100978596.