I would ask everyone who wishes to participate in this discussion to, please, refrain from personal attacks and patronizing/insulting attitudes if in disagreement with another person's point of view (this was a problem in the recently closed thread on Popeye's popularity). So, let's be civil about this:
Here is a quote from 1935, which challenges the perception that MPH polls were the only, value-neutral, and objective indicators of cartoon characters' popularity. This quote deals with the popularity of Mickey vs. Popeye among schoolchildren.
From
William DeMille "Mickey vs. Popeye" from The Forum (Nov. 1935),
reprinted in The American Animated Cartoon ed. Danny & Gerald Peary, p. 241:"A vote was taken recently among schoolchildren of the United
States, to decide which of the well-known cartoon characters was the
most popular. The ordinary adult would say at once that Mickey Mouse, the 'little firend of all the world,' would win in a walk. But the election went otherwise.
Popeye, the Sailor Man, carried many states by safe majorities,
and, while the balloting as a whole was close, it is probable that Popeye has carried the country by a small number of votes. This is amazing and revolutionary."
Obviously, kids in the 1930s had a perception of the most popular cartoon character of their time ( ) that was slightly different from theatre owners' accounts of cartoon series' profitability as seen in the MPH polls from 1939-1942.
So, here is a critical question: What constitutes an animated character's popularity? A poll of exhibitors or a poll of schoolchildren? Or something in-between?