Popeye

The sailor man with the spinach can!
Popeye (1980)
Timing: 1:54 (114 min)
5.4/10
39 264

no scores
5.6/10
721
5.4/10
37000
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Release date
Country
Budget
$20 000 000
Box office
$49 823 037
Website
Director
Scenario
Camera operator
Composer
Artist
Wolf Kroeger, Reg Bream
Audition
Editing
John W. Holmes, David A. Simmons
Whole Team (50)

Short description

Popeye is a super-strong, spinach-scarfing sailor man who's searching for his father. During a storm that wrecks his ship, Popeye washes ashore and winds up rooming at the Oyl household, where he meets Olive. Before he can win her heart, he must first contend with Olive's fiancé, Bluto.

What's left behind the scenes

  • To prevent the set from flooding during rough seas, a special 70-meter breakwater had to be constructed.
  • Many of the actors portraying the residents of Sweethaven, especially those with unusual appearances or physical abilities, were recruited from various European circus groups.
  • The roles in "Popeye" marked Robin Williams' and Linda Hunt's film debuts.
  • The construction of the main set for the town of Sweethaven took seven months and involved 165 workers. Tree trunks for the buildings were imported from Holland, and wooden roof shingles had to be brought in from Canada. Over 7 tons of nails and 7,500 liters of paint were used. In its final form, the town consisted of 19 structures, including a hotel, a school, a warehouse, a post office, a church, and a tavern.
  • The large-scale film set of the fictional town of Sweethaven was constructed in Anchor Bay on the northwest coast of Malta. After filming was completed, it became a popular tourist attraction. Popeye Village is open to visitors daily, and many of its houses contain furnishings preserved from the time of the film's production.
  • Many of the sunken ships in the harbor were perfectly seaworthy vessels that were bought or rented, and then deliberately scuttled in shallow water.
  • Many of the actors portraying the residents of Sweethaven, particularly those with unusual appearances or physical abilities, were recruited from various European circus troupes.
  • Paramount Pictures gave the green light to the project after losing the battle for the rights to adapt "Annie" (1982).
  • The position of director for the film was considered at various times by Mike Nichols, Arthur Penn, and Hal Ashby.
  • Much of Robin Williams' mumbling as Popeye was unintelligible to viewers after filming was completed. The actor had to re-record a significant portion of the dialogue during post-production.
  • The roles of Popeye and Olive Oyl were originally intended for Dustin Hoffman and Gilda Radner. Dustin Hoffman left the project due to his disagreement with the selection of Jules Feiffer as screenwriter. While the producers pushed for Gilda Radner, the director preferred Shelley Duvall.
  • The film was a joint project between Paramount Pictures and Walt Disney Productions. The former acquired the rights in the US, while the latter held them in all other countries.
  • The roles in 'Popeye' marked the film debuts of Robin Williams and Linda Hunt.
  • Shelly Duvall sang all of her own songs in the film.
  • Much of Robin Williams' mumbling as Popeye proved unintelligible to audiences once filming was complete. The actor had to re-record a significant portion of the dialogue during post-production.
  • The roles of Popeye and Olive Oyl were initially intended for Dustin Hoffman and Gilda Radner. Dustin Hoffman left the project due to disagreement with the choice of Jules Pfeiffer as screenwriter. Gilda Radner's candidacy was promoted by the producers, but the director preferred Shelley Duvall.
  • During one of the early stages of production, the role of Olive Oyl was assigned to Lily Tomlin.
  • The baby, Swee'pea, was played by Robert Altman's grandson, Wesley Ivan Hurt.
  • At one point early in production, the role of Olive Oyl was assigned to Lily Tomlin.
  • Composer Harry Nilsson took breaks from working on his album 'Flash Harry' to write the music for the film. He wrote all the original songs and served as co-producer of the soundtrack alongside Bruce Robb at Cherokee Studios.
  • The large-scale set of the fictional town of Sweethaven was built in Anchor Bay on the northwest of the island of Malta. After filming, it became a popular tourist attraction. Popeye Village is open to visitors daily, and many of the houses retain furnishings from the time of the film's production.
  • Many of the sunken ships in the harbor were fully seaworthy vessels that were purchased or rented and then scuttled in shallow water.
  • Paramount Pictures greenlit the project after losing the battle for the film rights to "Annie" (1982).
  • At different times, Mike Nichols, Arthur Penn, and Hal Ashby could have taken the director's chair.
  • Shelley Duvall sang all of her own songs in the film.

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