In today’s Wayno / Piraro Bizarro, a Blutonic dialogue: an encounter in which a young woman discusses a platonic relationship with an apparently tamed (and clearly dismayed) incarnation of the villainous and brutal Bluto from the Popeye comics and animations:
(#1) A pun on platonic relationship (NOAD: adj. platonic: (of love or friendship) intimate and affectionate but not sexual) (if you’re puzzled by the odd symbols in the cartoon — Dan Piraro says there are 3 in this strip — see this Page)
Wayno’s title: “The Mistaken Mariner” — simple friendship not being what Bluto had in mind.
Meanwhile, there’s my Blutonic dialogue, a pun on Platonic dialogue:
Plato wrote approximately 35 dialogues, in most of which Socrates is the main character. (Wikipedia link)
The cartoon characters. Bluto, as above; from Wikipedia:
Bluto, at times known as Brutus, is a cartoon and comics character created in 1932 by Elzie Crisler Segar as a one-time character, named “Bluto the Terrible”, in his Thimble Theatre comic strip (later renamed Popeye). Bluto made his first appearance on September 12 of that year. Fleischer Studios adapted him the next year (1933) to be the main antagonist of their theatrical Popeye animated cartoon series.
(#2) Bluto and Popeye going at itCharacter: Bluto is a cruel, bearded, muscular bully who serves as Popeye’s nemesis and archrival for the love of Olive Oyl. He usually uses brute force and/or trickery to accomplish his various goals. His voice is very loud, harsh and deep, with an incomprehensible bear-like growl between words and sentences. This voice, as well as the dark beard, crooked teeth, and bulk, was similar to that of the villain Red Flack, well known at the time, played by Tyrone Power Sr. in the 1930 film, The Big Trail.
Then there’s Olive Oyl, the object of both Popeye’s and Bluto’s affections, who is very much not the woman in #1; from Wikipedia:
The version of Olive Oyl most widely familiar is the coyer and more nervous 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 (the latter sometimes used to comedic effect). Popeye’s comment about her measurements is that she is a perfect 57… 19-19-19.
(#3) The classic version of Olive OylIn 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 (aka Brutus), who is Popeye’s arch-rival for her affections; 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.
