in the late 1950s, the original "popeye" theatrical shorts released by paramount studios from 1933 to 1957 began airing in many television markets and garnered huge ratings. king features syndicate, who owned the print rights to the "popeye" name, did not earn any money from the syndication of the paramount theatrical "popeye" films. in order to capitalize on popeye's television popularity, king features hastily commissioned a new series of made-for-tv animated "popeye" shorts. al brodax served as executive producer of the cartoons for king features' then-newly created television production and distribution division (known today as hearst entertainment, named after king features' parent company, the hearst corporation). jack mercer, mae questel and jackson beck returned for this series, which was produced by several different animation companies: gerald ray studios, jack kinney productions, rembrandt films/halas and batchelor, and larry harmon productions).