Bluto - Name

Name

After the theatrical Popeye cartoon series went out of production in 1957, Bluto's name was changed to Brutus because it was (wrongly) believed that Paramount Pictures, distributors of the Fleischer Studios (later Famous 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, but due to poor research, they failed to realize this and re-made him as Brutus to avoid copyright problems. "Brutus" (often pronounced "Brutusk" by Popeye) appears in the 1960–1962 Popeye television cartoons (with his physical appearance changed, making him morbidly obese rather than muscular), but he is again "Bluto" (and back to his original muscular physique) in the 1978 Hanna-Barbera Popeye series and the 1980 live-action Popeye movie, as well as the 1987 Popeye and Son series also by Hanna-Barbera. The character was also named Bluto in the 2004 movie Popeye's Voyage: The Quest for Pappy.

Brutus was the name Nintendo used for their arcade game based on the property.

Prior to the name change to Brutus, the bearded strongman was known as "The Big Guy That Hates Popeye," "Junior," "Mean Man," and "Sonny Boy" in the comic strip and comic books. The name "Brutus" was first used on Popeye-related products in 1960 and in print in 1962. It is generally accepted that Bluto and Brutus are one and the same. However, a 1980s Ocean Comics Popeye comic book miniseries presented the two characters as twin brothers.

Bobby London, who did the Popeye daily strip for six years, wrote and illustrated the "Return of Bluto" story where the 1932 version of Bluto returns and discovers a number of fat, bearded bullies have taken his place, calling themselves "Brutus" (each one being a different version of Popeye's rival). On December 28, 2008 and April 5, 2009, the Popeye comic strip added Bluto in the capacity of twin brother of Brutus.

In all Spanish-speaking countries, in Brazil and in the Philippines, the character is mostly known as "Brutus". His name, in Italian, has been translated as "Bruto" or, occasionally, as "Timoteo" (Timothy). In French, it has also been translated alternatively as "Brutus" or "Timothée".