Popeye (1980 film)

Popeye
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Robert Altman
Produced by	Robert Evans
Screenplay by	Jules Feiffer
Based on	Popeye by E. C. Segar
Starring	Robin Williams Shelley Duvall
Music by	Harry Nilsson
Cinematography	Giuseppe Rotunno
Edited by	Tony Lombardo (supervising) John W. Holmes David A. Simmons
Production company	Paramount Pictures Walt Disney Productions
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures (North America) Buena Vista Distribution (International)
Release date	December 12, 1980 (1980-12-12)
Running time	114 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$20 million
Box office	$60 million

Popeye is a 1980 American musical comedy film directed by Robert Altman. It is a live-action film adaptation of E. C. Segar's Popeye comic strip and stars Robin Williams as Popeye the Sailor Man and Shelley Duvall as Olive Oyl.

The film premiered on December 6, 1980 in Los Angeles, California, to mixed reviews and disappointing box office results. Harry Nilsson's soundtrack received mostly positive reviews.

Popeye, a sailor, arrives at the small coastal town of Sweethaven ("Sweethaven—An Anthem") while searching for his long-lost father. He is immediately feared by the townsfolk simply because he is a stranger ("Blow Me Down"), and is accosted by a greedy taxman. He rents a room at the Oyl family's boarding house where the Oyls' daughter, Olive, is preparing for her engagement party. Her hand is promised to Captain Bluto, a powerful, perpetually angry bully who runs the town in the name of the mysterious Commodore. In the morning, Popeye visits the local diner for breakfast ("Everything Is Food") and demonstrates his strength as he brawls with a gang of provocative ruffians who give him and the other customers a hard time.

On the night of the engagement party, Bluto and the townsfolk arrive at the Oyls' home. Olive, however, sneaks out of the house, after discovering that the only attribute she can report for her bullying fiancé is size ("He's Large"). She encounters Popeye, who failed to fit in with the townsfolk at the party. The two eventually come across an abandoned baby in a basket. Popeye adopts the child, naming him Swee'Pea, and the two return to the Oyls' home. Bluto, however, has grown increasingly furious with Olive's absence. He realizes that she means to break off the engagement. He eventually flies into a rage and destroys the house ("I'm Mean"). When he sees Popeye and Olive with Swee'Pea, Bluto beats Popeye into submission and declares heavy taxation for the Oyls.