Bluto AND Brutus?

[doc]

I've heard that there was a King Features cartoon from the 1960's that had Bluto and Brutus as two distinct characters in it. Does anybody have any information on this?

Also, how does everybody feel with the idea that they are really two different people; Bluto the muscular sailor and Brutus the slovenly civilian?

GW

[mhberest]

I don't know of any cartoon like that, although it could have existed.

I can't think of Bluto and Brutus as two distinct characters when the only reason the name "Brutus" was used was because someone thought Paramount owned the rights to "Bluto," or they thought Disney would sue because "Bluto" sounded too close to the name of Mickey Mouse's dog (why hadn't this been a problem before?).

Granted, all the improvements of the FS Bluto over the Fleischer Bluto (save, perhaps,. the FS Bluto's charm) had been eradicated, but it was still Jackson Beck doing the voice, and he was using the same voice he'd used for Bluto (as opposed to his "It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Superman" voice).

I know it's been said Bluto and Brutus were twin brothers in the Ocean Comics version of Popeye, yet I feel the same inner cries of "Apochrypha!" burbing up as I do for the "Poopdeck Pappy in drag" version of Popeye's mother in "Let's Talk Spinach," or the emasculated, beardless Poopdeck Pappy in that other flashback cartoon whose title I can't remember. (or, for that matter, Popeye's own son in "Popeye and Son.")

[bluto]

doc said:

I've heard that there was a King Features cartoon from the 1960's that had Bluto and Brutus as two distinct characters in it. Does anybody have any information on this?

Also, how does everybody feel with the idea that they are really two different people; Bluto the muscular sailor and Brutus the slovenly civilian?

GW

I like the idea that they are two different people. That's how I always viewed them. As for the King Features Syndicate cartoon, it doesn't exist, despite the fact that some sources mention it. Perhaps the authors of those sources vaguely remember the time Jack Mercer accidently called the character Brutus "Bluto" and the blooper was left in the cartoon.

[bluto]

Also, Ralph Stein did a comic strip continuity once that featured Bluto and his twin brother Burlo. And Bobby London did a continuity which featured Bluto and many, many, many "Brutuses" who were drawn in the manner of Blutoes and Brutuses down through the decades and even in the manner of international Blutoes and Brutuses. A brilliant piece of work currently being reprinted and serialized in the Official Popeye Fanclub News-Magazine.

[Sparkina]

I hold that Bluto and Brutus are two different fellows who happen to be twin bros