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 Altman's "Popeye" is one of the most under-rated films ever. A superb cast bring to life the humanity of Segar's characters, rather than the violence of Fleischer's animations. Shelley Duvall, though, just about steals the show with her magnificent Olive Oil, although Harry Nilsson's wacky songs - particularly "Everything is Food" - and Wolf Kroeger's amazingly dilapidated Sweethaven rival the brilliant actors for inspiration. This film is just too good to be left to kids. Thank you to everyone involved.
Dumb story, poor music and an ending that took way to long to get to. The ultimate test is that my children didn't care for it either. Don't bother.
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After Hollywood wunderkid producer Robert Evans (see The Kid Stays in the Picture) came out of the life affirming musical Annie, Evans wanted to make it into movie, but couldn't get the rights (it was later bought by someone else) so instead he got the rights to E.C. Segar's Popeye and made that into a musical. He got Robert Altman to direct with his ensemble cast, even though Altman hadn't had a hit in years (actually, Popeye ended up resembling M.A.S.H., what with its overlapping dialogue, large cast of characters, and self-contained set: instead of a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital you have the town of Sweethaven, constructed in Malta). He got Jules Feiffer to write the script, due to the fact Feiffer was a writer in a similar vein of Segar and loved Popeye as a child (Feiffer also wrote the incredibly cynical screenplay for Mike Nichol's Carnal Knowledge). Harry Nillson (The Point) wrote the music, with players including Klaus Voorman (a member of the Plastic Ono Band) and Van Dyke Parks. The cast is impressive as well, featuring Robin Williams in his first starring role. But the film flopped : those that wanted a life affirming fable were confused by the obvious cynical and confusing storyline. I, as a child, was completely fascinated by it, as were alot of children of my generation: Popeye was the one valiant character in the whole thing, which makes it resemble more the original Thimble Theatre strip rather that the Fleischer's cartoons. Looking back at it, it's a great film, one that deserves some special features that are, unfortunately, not on this DVD release.
So, you have just seen the Robin williams movie Popeye, how did you like it? The glassy eyed father with the 2 kids who are glad the movie is finally over says "He's Large". The music is not memorable at all. All I had in my head was the rundundant line from a song that sung by Olive Oil in answer to the question of what she liked about the man she was thinking of marrying... She sang: "He's Large".
