Today, King Features and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has announced that for the first time in 60 years, Popeye the Sailor Man will once again set sail in the parade’s 100th march. Popeye, Olive Oyl, and Swee’Pea will be featured on the Macy’s All-Stars float with several other pop culture characters. The Popeye syndicated comic strip will also be celebrating the gang’s return to the parade each Sunday until Thanksgiving.
The spinach-loving sailor, Popeye, first made his debut at the 16th Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1939 on a float fashioned after his ship. According to the press release, “Popeye’s new design merges the original 1957 balloon design with his modern look.” Popeye was last seen as a balloon in 1968, almost 60 years ago. President of King Features, CJ Kettler, had this to say about the sailor’s return,
“Popeye has enjoyed a long history of taking part in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and we are honored that his return coincides with its 100th celebration. We wanted to mark the moment through one of the most cherished art forms there is: the comic strip. Like the parade itself, it’s a timeless format that carries a sense of nostalgia while remaining relevant and resonant today. As Popeye approaches his own centennial in just a few years, we’re proud to see two icons of American culture come together, and we congratulate Macy’s on more than a century of one of the season’s most beloved traditions.”
Alongside Popeye’s return to the parade, comic strip writer Randy Milholland will be celebrating with a series of gags about the Popeye family’s road to the parade. These new stories will play out over the four Sundays leading up to Thanksgiving. The first strip ran in yesterday’s newspapers, as well as on ComicsKingdom.
Below you can check out some historical photos of his floats:
