The ages of cartoon characters

[FlapperPrower]

I'm not talking about how long they've been around in real time, but have you ever wondered about how old are your favorite cartoon characters?

I've always seen Mickey and Minnie either in their late teens or early twenties since they seem pretty young even though they live on their own. And for some reason, I've always seen Bugs and Daffy somewhere in their mid-late twenties.

[Ray Pointer]

POPEYE was established as 40 in POPEYE THE ACE OF SPACE in 1953. That would have made him 20 when the series began.

[David Gerstein]

Originally Posted by Ray Pointer

POPEYE was established as 40 in POPEYE THE ACE OF SPACE in 1953

Yep. And in GOONLAND in 1938.
Segar's comics had him at—I think—42 (going by memory here), while the later Sagendorf era stated that he was 34.
When writing professionally, I interpret the major Disney and Warners characters as being in their early twenties. Some early Disney comics made Mickey and Minnie a little younger than that (Minnie's a high school girl living with her parents in 1930).

[Paul Penna]

How old was Uncle Scrooge when he took part in the Klondike gold rush? If he was, say, 25, then he'd be around 80 in 1953, when he went Back to the Klondike. Pretty spry for an old coot (and I don't mean Cornelius).

[cartoonfan4ever]

I see character's ages as this,

Mickey and Minnie are both early twenties
Donald, Daisy and Goofy are late twenties (Goofy possibly in early thirties)
Bugs and Daffy are mid-twenties
Popeye in his early forties and Olive in her mid-thirties.

[oceansoul]

Tweety must be as old as Granny.

[Jon Cooke]

Originally Posted by oceansoul

Tweety must be as old as Granny.

I thought Tweety was just three and a half years old.

[Mr. Semaj]

I know Donald Duck and Goofy matured in their theatrical appearances.

Donald went from being a troublemaking kid going to school in the 30's to a hapless 20-something battling wits with his nephews from the 40's onward. Goofy went from a carefree bachelor in the 30's to a bumbling family man by the 50's.

[Ray Pointer]

Originally Posted by David Gerstein

Yep. And in GOONLAND in 1938.
Segar's comics had him at—I think—42 (going by memory here), while the later Sagendorf era stated that he was 34.
When writing professionally, I interpret the major Disney and Warners characters as being in their early twenties. Some early Disney comics made Mickey and Minnie a little younger than that (Minnie's a high school girl living with her parents in 1930).

Twenty year old mice? Aren't we stretching the human element a bit here?

[larriva9/11]

Originally Posted by oceansoul

Tweety must be as old as Granny.

Well, Granny would have been in C. Montgomery Burns territory circa "Hare Trimmed" (i.e. the "nothing like this has happened to me since the boys got back from Gettysburg" line)