This statue was dedicated in 2008.
Bluto, a character created in 1932 by Elzie Crisler Segar as a one-time villain, named “Bluto the Terrible,” in his Thimble Theatre comic strip, was erected here on the corner of West Holmes and Swanwick Streets in 2008. Bluto made his first comic appearance on September 12, 1932. Fleischer Studios adopted him the following year (1933) to be the recurring villain in their theatrical Popeye animated cartoons derived from the Segar strip.
Bluto is a large, bearded, muscle-bound fellow who serves as Popeye’s nemesis and arch-rival for the love of Olive Oyl. He generally uses his physical brawn to accomplish what he desires, but does at times display some ability for tactical planning. His voice is a very loud, harsh and deep one, with a bear-like growl between sentences or between words. The growling contains words that often cannot be comprehended.
After the theatrical Popeye cartoon series ceased production in 1957, Bluto’s name was changed to Brutus because it was incorrectly believed that Paramount Pictures, distributors of the Fleischer Studios cartoons, owned the rights to the name “Bluto”. King Features actually owned the name all along, as Bluto had been originally created for the comic strip. Due to a lack of thorough research, they failed to realize this and reinvented him as Brutus to avoid potential copyright problems.
Popeye Character Trail Map
Map link for Bluto Statue
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