Popeye [Includes Digital Copy] [Blu-ray]

Director: Robert Altman Robert Altman

Overview

In the town of Sweetville, lovable sailor Popeye seeks out his long-lost father. Along the way, he vies with the rough Bluto for the affections of Olive Oyl and adopts the young Sweet Pea. This unconventional musical was based on the enduring (and endearing) cartoon character.

Product Details

Release Date:	12/01/2020
UPC:	0032429349453
Original Release:	1980
Rating:	PG
Source:	PARAMOUNT
Region Code:	1
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo]
Language:	English
Time:	1:53:00
Sales rank:	2,259

Special Features

Return to Sweethaven: A look back with Robin and The Altmans; The Popeye Company Players; Popeye's Premiere; The Sailor Man Medleys

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Robin Williams	Popeye
Shelley Duvall	Olive Oyl
Ray Walston	Poopdeck Pappy
Paul Dooley	Wimpy
Richard Libertini	Geezil
Roberta Maxwell	Nana Oyl
Donald Moffat	Taxman
MacIntyre Dixon	Cole Oyl
Donovan Scott	Castor Oyl
Allan Nicholls	Rough House
Wesley Ivan Hurt	Swee'pea
Bill Irwin	Ham Gravy
Robert Fortier	Bill Barnacle
David McCharen	Harry Hotcash
Sharon Kinney	Cherry, His Moll
Peter Bray	Oxblood Oxheart
Linda Hunt	Mrs. Oxheart
Susan Kingsley	LaVerne
Paul Zegler	Mayor Stonefeller
Pamela Burrell	Mrs. Stonefeller
Ray Cooper	Preacher
Geoff Hoyle	Scoop
Wayne Robson	Chizzelflint
Larry Pisoni	Chico
Carlo Pellegrini	Swifty
Michael Christensen	Splatz
Noel Parenti	Slick
Karen McCormick	Rosie
John Bristol	Bear,Bear
Pietro Torrisi	Bolo
Julie Janney	Mena Walfleur
Margery Bond	Daisy
Patty Katz	Mina Walfleur
David Arkin	The Mailman/Policeman
Diane Shaffer	Mona Walfleur
Nathalie Blossom	Blossom Walfleur
Van Parks	Hoagy
Dennis Franz	Spike
Allison Caine	Voices
Ned Dowd	Butch
Alan Autry	Slug
Hovey Burgess	Mort
Roberto Messina	Gozo
Klaus Voormann	Von Schnitzel
Paul L. Smith	Bluto

Technical Credits

Robert Altman	Director
C.O. Erickson	Executive Producer,Producer
Robert Evans	Producer

Editorial Reviews

Maverick director Robert Altman’s career has been a succession of hits and misses, and this 1980 musical was, according to critics, a Bluto-sized miss. Entrusted with a big-budget family film based on a beloved cartoon character, Altman chose not to compromise his style, retaining the signature overlapping dialogue and all the rest. Twenty-plus years later, on DVD -- blow me down -- there is much to recommend. This was a pioneering attempt to adapt a comic strip and cartoon universe to live-action. The seaside town of Sweethaven is a marvel of production design, and in the Altman canon, it is as cockeyed a community as the 4077th in M*A*S*H or the Presbyterian Church in McCabe & Mrs. Miller, filled with memorably quirky characters. In his first film, Robin Williams keeps his gag reflex in check as Popeye, who is searching for "me poppa," who abandoned him. The sailor man's mumbled asides are perfectly attuned to Williams' s improvisational style. And who else but Shelley Duvall could play Olive Oyl, who is engaged to the bully Bluto? As Wimpy, who would gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today, Paul Dooley's performance is a deluxe with cheese, and Wesley Ivan Hurt's Swee'pea, an infant Popeye takes under his wing, is an adorable film tyke without peer. Jules Feiffer's script could use some spinach, but Harry Nilsson's songs charm in a typically Nilsson fashion. (It's worth noting that Paul Thomas Anderson put Duvall's "He Needs Me" to endearingly quirky use in Punch-Drunk Love.) This wide-screen DVD presentation is leaps and bounds ahead of the confused VHS pan-and-scan version and will invite many critics to reconsider this quirky gem.