Olive Oyl


Olive Oyl is a cartoon character created by E. C. Segar in 1919 for his comic strip Thimble Theatre. The strip was later renamed Popeye after the sailor character that became the most popular member of the cast; however, Olive Oyl was a main character for 10 years before Popeye's 1929 appearance.

Fictional character biography

In the strip as written by Segar, Olive was something of a coy flapper whose extremely thin build lent itself well to the fashions of the time; her long black hair was usually rolled in a neat bun, like her mother's. She is the youngest sibling of Castor Oyl and Crude Oyl. She was the more-or-less fiancée of Harold Hamgravy, a "lounge lizard" or slacker type who did as little work as possible and was always borrowing money. His attraction to other women—particularly if they were rich—naturally incensed Olive, and she once succumbed to a fit of "lunaphobia" over one of his amours. She was not immune to flattery from other men, but remained committed to Ham until Popeye's appearance. Olive and Popeye actually hated each other when they first met ; they fought bitterly—and hilariously—for weeks until finally realizing that they had feelings for each other.
The version of Olive Oyl most widely familiar is the version from the theatrical animated cartoons created by Fleischer Studios and continued by Famous Studios. Unlike most modern damsels in distress, Olive Oyl is tall and skinny, with tightly wound hair and enormous feet. Popeye's comment about her measurements is that she is a perfect 57... 19-19-19.
In the films and later television cartoons, Olive Oyl is usually Popeye's girlfriend, although she could be extremely fickle, depending on who could woo her the best or had the flashier possessions, and she was prone to become angry with Popeye over seemingly minor issues. She constantly gets kidnapped by Bluto, who is Popeye's archrival for her affections, and when she gets angry with Popeye for whatever goes wrong, it's usually as a result of Bluto's trickery. But Popeye always rescues her and wins back her affection in the process.
In the cartoons, she helps take care of a baby named Swee'Pea or she usually asks Popeye to take care of him if she's too busy; it's unknown if Swee'Pea is Olive Oyl's biological or adopted son. In the comics, Swee'Pea is a foundling under Popeye's care. Later sources say that Swee'Pea is Olive Oyl's cousin or nephew that she has to take care of from time to time.
Like Popeye, there are times where Olive gains superhuman strength from eating spinach.

History

Olive Oyl is named after olive oil, used commonly in cooking or in salads. Segar's newspaper strips also featured a number of her relatives named after other oils, including her brother, Castor Oyl, their mother, Nana Oyl, their father, Cole Oyl, and Castor's estranged wife, Cylinda Oyl; more recently, Olive's nieces Diesel Oyl and Violet Oyl have appeared in the cartoons. Also among Olive's family are her two uncles, Otto Oyl and intrepid explorer Lubry Kent Oyl. Lubry Kent's gift to Castor and Olive, a lucky Whiffle Hen, led them into the adventure where they met Popeye. When Bobby London took over the strip from 1986 to 1992, he added the sultry blonde Sutra Oyl, Olive's cousin, and Standard Oyl, a distant relative who was an extremely wealthy corporate magnate.
The first two Popeye cartoons, Popeye the Sailor and I Yam What I Yam, featured Bonnie Poe as the voice of Olive Oyl. She was thereafter voiced by character actress Mae Questel. Questel styled Olive's voice and delivery after those of actress ZaSu Pitts.
In 1938, Margie Hines took over as the voice of Olive Oyl, starting with the cartoon Bulldozing the Bull. Questel returned as her voice in 1944, starting with the cartoon The Anvil Chorus Girl. Questel would remain so until after the King Features Syndicate made-for-TV Popeye shorts in 1960.
Marilyn Schreffler became the new voice of Olive when Hanna-Barbera obtained the rights to produce made-for-television Popeye cartoons for The All-New Popeye Hour in 1978. Questel auditioned to reprise her role, but was rejected in favor of Schreffler. Despite being officially replaced by Schreffler, Questel later returned to voice Olive Oyl for a 1983 commercial promoting the Popeye video game.
In the 1980 musical live-action feature film Popeye, Olive is portrayed by Shelley Duvall opposite co-star Robin Williams as her lover Popeye.

Appearance

In her Famous Studios version, Olive Oyl is given more hair, smaller feet, wider eyes, more feminine face, a tomboyish streak and a slightly less silly personality. She had black hair with a red bow. She wears a red shirt with short sleeves, black skirt with a red line on the bottom and black high heels. Olive Oyl is foolish, full of energy, enthusiasm, and the joy of living.

Personality

In MAD Magazine #21, a parody of Olive called "Mazola Oil" appeared in Poopeye. Mazola supplies Poopeye with various spinach recipes to help Poopeye defeat other comic strip characters such as "Mammy Jokeum", "Melvin of the Apes" and "Superduperman". The story was reprinted in the paperback MAD Strikes Back, which was later reprinted in a 50th Anniversary Edition.