Action
Adventure
Comedy
Family
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.
Directors
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
Wesley Ivan Hurt
Swee'pea
Bill Irwin
Ham Gravy
Robert Fortier
Bill Barnacle
David McCharen
Harry Hotcash
Sharon Kinney
Cherry
Peter Bray
Oxblood Oxheart
Linda Hunt
Mrs. Oxheart
Directors
User reviews3
Review
Featured review
Popeye (1980): A Nostalgic Cartoon Come to Life
Robert Altman's Popeye isn't going to change anyone's weltanschauung. But good grief, is it delightful. A loving, slightly mad translation of the comic strip to screen, the film is a triumph of pure, unapologetic whimsy.
Harry Nilsson's musical numbers are wonderfully bizarre - strange, singable tunes that capture the film's cartoonish spirit. Robin Williams and Shelley Duvall don't just play Popeye and Olive Oyl; they become living, breathing cartoon characters. Their physical comedy is so precise, so exaggerated, that each movement feels like a panel from E.C. Segar's original comic strip.
The visual style is extraordinary. Sweethaven, built entirely on location in Malta, looks like a three-dimensional cartoon - all tilted angles, saturated colors, and impossible architectural perspectives. It's a world that exists somewhere between reality and illustration.
For those of us who grew up with these people - Williams, Duvall, Ray Walston, and Jules Feiffer (screenplay) - the film is pure nostalgic joy. A reminder of a simpler, more sane period in our lives.
Not every film needs to be serious. Sometimes, it just needs to be fun.
badelf17 Jan, 2025
Top picks
TV shows and movies just for you
Box office
Budget
$20,000,000Gross worldwide
$49,823,037More to explore
Editorial lists
Related lists created by IMDb editors
- The Billion-Dollar Film Club: 50+ Movies to Reach $1 Billion Worldwideupdated 1 day ago • 52 images
- The most anticipated sequels, prequels, and spin-offs coming in 2023updated 4 days ago • 26 images
- The best things to watch this weekend: Dec. 16 - Dec. 19updated 2 months ago • 7 images
- December Picks: The Movies and TV You Can't Missupdated 2 monts ago • 20 images
- New and upcoming sequels, prequels, and spin-offsupdated 3 monts ago • 45 images
