"I aM PoPeYe ThE SaiLoR MaN"

Popeye’s theme song, titled "I'm Popeye The Sailor Man", composed by Sammy Lerner in 1933 for Fleischer’s first Popeye the Sailor cartoon, has become forever associated with the sailor. As one cartoon historian has observed, the song itself was inspired by the first two lines of the "Pirate King" song in Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta, The pirates of Perchance: "For I am a Pirate King! (Hoorah for the Pirate King!)"The tune behind those two lines is identical to the "Popeye" song except for the high note on the first "King."