By Gina Gomez

Dec.08, (THAINDIAN NEWS) Search engine giant Google has undertaken a new initiative for celebrating the 115th birthday of legendary cartoonist E.C.Segar by depicting the cartoon character of Popeye in its main page. The cartoon character of sailor man Popeye- which was created by E.C.Segar, over the years became so popular that it gained almost a celebrity status. Today being the birth anniversary of the much acclaimed cartoonist, Google decided to commemorate this day by depicting the cartoon seaman as its Google Doodle.

The search engine is known for transforming its main page at regular intervals with the aim of giving recognition to a special day or event. This new initiative is an attempt to honor the illustrious work of the cartoonist who is best known as the creator of the spinach eating sailor Popeye. The iconic character was revealed publicly for the first time in the year 1929 when it appeared in ‘Thimble Theatre’, E.C.Segar’s own popular newspaper comic strip. Initially, the character had been introduced in a supporting role and was later removed from the strip when the role ended. However, due to the repeated demands from the readers, Popeye was brought back as the main character. Since then, the character witnessed a stupendous growth in popularity.

Elzie Crisler Segar is considered to be one of the most celebrated cartoonist, who was known for creating a host of interesting cartoon characters. However, the character of Popeye is considered to be his best work. Even after his death in 1938, he is still remembered as the creator of the animated seaman. He decided to become a cartoonist at the early age of 18 and later moved to Chicago to fulfill his dream.