(Source: http://www.archive.org).

Still from Popeye the Sailor: Little Swee' Pea (1936), Fleischer Studios

In this movie Popeye shows a 'fatherly' side to his character, taking Little Swee' Pea to the zoo. Popeye does battle with a number of the animals trying to protect the child who is obviously quite capable of taking care of himself. On return home the child has a tamtrum and Popeye is rewarded for his trouble with a walloping from Olive. The 'domestic violence' depicted is typical of what eventually caused the moral outrage that became the downfall of the comic industry. A remarkable aspect of the Popeye character (by today's standards) is his pipe-smoking. Not that we don't see smoking in today's cartoons, we do. Think of Marge Simpson's sisters. But it is rare to find such sympathetic treatment of a hero character who smokes in today's relatively sanitised cartoon world.