Did You Know That During WWII........ The Popeye cartoons reached new heights of popularity and were regularly used to boost U.S. morale, partially because a handful of Popeye cartoons during the war years were incredibly racially offensive towards the Japanese. For instance, in the cartoons, the Japanese are referred to as “jap-pansies” and portrayed with vicious, buck-toothed faces, sporting thick glasses. A “banned” racist World War II Popeye cartoon called “Seein’ Red, White ‘n Blue” has the unique historical distinction of being the only Popeye where Bluto and Popeye join forces and gulp down a shared can of spinach to beat up on Japanese soldiers.