Popeye (1980)

The adventures of the famous sailor man and his friends in the seaside town of Sweethaven.

Director:

Robert Altman

Writers:

Jules Feiffer (screenplay), E.C. Segar (based on characters by)

Stars:

Robin Williams, Shelley Duvall, Ray Walston

3 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robin Williams	...	Popeye
Shelley Duvall	...	Olive Oyl
Ray Walston	...	Poopdeck Pappy
Paul Dooley	...	Wimpy
Paul L. Smith	...	Bluto
Richard Libertini	...	Geezil
Donald Moffat	...	The Taxman
MacIntyre Dixon	...	Cole Oyl
Roberta Maxwell	...	Nana Oyl
Donovan Scott	...	Castor Oyl
Allan F. Nicholls	...	Rough House (as Allan Nicholls)
Wesley Ivan Hurt	...	Swee'pea
Bill Irwin	...	Ham Gravy, the Old Boyfriend
Robert Fortier	...	Bill Barnacle, the Town Drunk
David McCharen	...	Harry Hotcash, the Gambler

Storyline

Buff sailor man Popeye arrives in an awkward seaside town called Sweethaven. There he meets Wimpy, a hamburger-loving man; Olive Oyl, the soon-to-be love of his life; and Bluto, a huge, mean pirate who is out to make Sweethaven pay for no good reason. Popeye also discovers his long-lost Pappy in the middle of it all, so with a band of his new friends, Popeye heads off to stop Bluto, and he's got the power of spinach, which Popeye detests, to bust Bluto right in the mush. Watch as Popeye mops the floor with punks in a burger joint, stops a greedy taxman, takes down a champion boxer, and even finds abandoned baby Swee'pea. He's strong to the finish 'cause he eats his spinach.

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Plot Keywords:

sailor | spinach | abandoned baby | bully | based on comic strip | 

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Taglines:

Chock-full of hearty laughs for the entire family!

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Family | Fantasy | Musical | Romance

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 December 1980 (USA)

Also Known As:

Popeye

Filming Locations:

Malta

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$6,310,520, 14 December 1980

Gross USA:

$49,823,037

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$49,823,037

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, Walt Disney Productions, Robert Evans Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min

Sound Mix:

Vistasonic

Color:

Color Black and White (prologue)

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The 1930s Fleischer Studios intro came from Blow Me Down! (1933).

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Goofs

During Popeye's fight in the boxing ring, the large banner at times has mirror writing revealing the shot has been flipped.

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Quotes

Popeye: I know you ain't down there. Truth is you ain't down there. Now, where ain't you? Where ain't me Swee'Pea?

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Crazy Credits

The film begins in black-and-white, showing a vintage Paramount logo and the opening credits for the 1930s Paramount-Fleischer Studios Popeye cartoons. However, an animated Popeye appears and sees this is the wrong opening. The movie then cuts to full color, and the opening credits continue.

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Alternate Versions

The British and European release versions run approximately fourteen minutes shorter than the American version, almost completely eliminating Ray Walston's Pappy from the story, and rendering at least one subplot incomprehensible.

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Connections

Referenced in Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)

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Soundtracks

Blow Me Down
(uncredited)
Music and Lyrics by Harry Nilsson
Performed by Robin Williams

User Reviews

I never liked the popeye cartoons but this movie is a treasure!

Let's get this straight right up front -- I LIKE this movie.

The Popeye cartoon strip was uninteresting to me, the movie cartoons a bit of a bore, but Robert Altman has managed to take Popeye and his weird friends and compose a wonderful film. Compose is the right term for me because this movie is basically music (not just a musical) from beginning to close to the end*. I've seen the overlapping dialog criticized in other comments. Try listening to it as a form of counterpoint. The meaning of the words is less important than the cadence and the structured overlap of sounds.

Nielson (just an OK musician to me in other things) pulls off some (not all) masterful songs to drop into the over-all musical fabric of this film. Robert Altman's imagination, creativity, and skill at its best! And the incredibly well-chosen cast lives and works right up to the standard of the film. Where is that DVD, people?

*OK, so the end is a little weak.