History Film / Popeye

A 1980 [[TheMusical Musical]] LiveActionAdaptation starring Creator/RobinWilliams as the eponymous character and directed by Creator/RobertAltman, with a song score by Creator/HarryNilsson and a screenplay by Jules Feiffer.

* IHaveNoSon: When Popeye meets his father, the latter refuses to acknowledge him as his son at first.

* BabiesMakeEverythingBetter: Swee'pea! Finding and taking care of him brings Popeye and Olive Oyl closer together.

-->'''Poopdeck Pappy''': Bless their little hearts, if they was made out of gold, I'd like to sell 'em on the open market. I could make me a fortune. Kids! Eh, they don't what they're doing. Kids, dadblast 'em! They're gonna lead you to ruin. That's what they're gonna do, lead you to ruin. They cry at you when they're young, they yell at you when they're older, they borrows from you when they's middle-aged and they leave you alone to die. Without even paying you back! Children, phooey. You give them everything they want, and what do you get back in return? You get nothing! Why they're just smaller versions of us you know, but I'm not so crazy about me in the first place, so why would I want one of them? I'm asking ya. Children. Ah, children. Little children. You'll pour your heart to them, you give them everything they want. Give them candy and a lot of toys, and what do you get in return? You get a lot of noise: "Nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah, my poppa's a mean old man!" I'm through with children, I'm through with kids. They ain't nothing I'm never gonna do about it.

We're people from the sea, Safe from democracy,

* ChildHater: Downplayed with Poopdeck Pappy; his misanthropic song focuses on the fickleness and ingratitude of human nature:

* MyCountryTisOfTheeISting: "Sweet, Sweethaven -- An Anthem":

We the people, love Sweethaven, Hooray, hooray, Sweethaven,\\
Flags are wavin', We're people from the sea,\\
Safe from democracy, sweeter than a melon tree,\\
Put here for you and me,\\

* MythologyGag:
** At Olive and Bluto's engagement party a man can be heard complaining about Olive getting married. This man is Ham Gravy, who was Olive's fiance in the original ''Thimble Theater'' comic strip before he was PutOnABus and Popeye took his place.
** Swee'pea's introduction in the movie is a big ShoutOut to the way he was introduced in the comic strip. [[note]]In the comic, he arrives in a package addressed to Popeye, and the package makes so many strange sounds that Popeye and Wimpy think it must contain a dangerous animal and are about to kill it when they discover that the package contains a baby. In the movie, Popeye picks up a basket which he mistakes for Olive's, and Olive hears the baby's rattle and is convinced that there's a rattlesnake in the basket, and Popeye opens the basket to deal with the dangerous creature before he discovers it's a baby.[[/note]]
** When Rough House asks who's going pay for the burger Wimpy replies "I'm buying, he's paying." This was one of his {{Catch Phrase}}s in the original comic strip.
** All the Roughhouse roughnecks -- Spike, Mort, Gozo, Bolo, Slug and Butch -- are all named after various thug villains Popeye encountered (and defeated) in the ''Thimble Theater'' comic strips. About half of them were henchmen for The Sea Hag.

* KidsAreInnocent: Swee'Pea.

* LogoJoke: As the {{Retraux}} opening recreates the opening credits of the Fleischer Bros.-era Popeye cartoons Paramount distributed (see below), the 1930s-era Paramount logo used for those substitutes for the then-current one.

* IAmSong: "I'm Popeye the Sailor Man" serves as the film's final.

* IAmWhatIAmSong: "I Yam What I Yam" fits this trope perfectly as Popeye stands up for his principles when the others are interested in exploiting Swee'pea's abilities for profit.

The plot is an origin story of sorts -- Popeye arrives in the town of Sweethaven searching for his [[LongLostRelative long-lost pappy]] (Ray Walston) and winds up not only caught in a LoveTriangle with Olive Oyl ([[Series/FaerieTaleTheatre Shelley Duvall]]) and Bluto (Paul L. Smith), but also becoming an adoptive father to an abandoned baby he names Swee'Pea...

The movie grossed more than twice its enormous budget in the U.S. alone (it took two studios to mount it -- Paramount and Disney), but received extremely mixed reviews from critics. It was also a TroubledProduction; between that and its inability to live up to Paramount's high expectations, Robin Williams came to see it as something of an OldShame and it derailed Altman's mainstream directorial career for well over a decade. It hasn't yet been outright VindicatedByHistory, but it does have a slowly-growing CultClassic following.

** One minute, Popeye and his adopted kid are being congratulated by the entire town for getting rid of the hated tax collector. And suddenly, he realizes that somewhere in the crowd, ''Swee'Pea has disappeared''.

* ArrangedMarriage: Between Olive and Bluto, initially.
* AuteurLicense: Robert Altman, best-known at the time for iconoclastic comedies and dramas like ''Film/{{MASH}}'' and ''Film/{{Nashville}}'', getting the reins to a family musical is a perfect example of this. Because the film wasn't as profitable as hoped and reviews were so mixed, he immediately lost it and while he did a lot of film and [=TV=] work over the rest of TheEighties, none of it got mainstream attention until 1992's ''Film/ThePlayer'', which triggered a CareerResurrection.

* BadassGrandpa: He takes his old ship and pursues Bluto to Scab Island, and even rescues Swee'Pea from a mean-looking octopus.

* ContinuityNod: A lot of them. The movie was criticized for not being very faithful to the cartoons, but it actually has a lot in common with the original ''Thimble Theater'' comic.

* DinerBrawl: Popeye first springs into action at the aptly named Rough House. (As the gang taunts him in the leadup to the brawl, note that the workers are setting up gates/barracades, suggesting that this trope is a common occurrence there!)

* EvilDebtCollector: The Tax Man will come up with all sorts of frivolous charges to get arbitrary amounts of tax. And he demands exact change.

* IAmSong: Along with "I'm Popeye the Sailor Man", which serves as the film's finale, Popeye gets "I Yam What I Yam".

* KarmaHoudini: Wimpy causes a lot of complications for Popeye and The Oyls, yet he never really seems to pay for any of it.

** "Look at Bluto! He's gone yellow!"

* OriginStory: As with many movies that have launched superhero franchises, this is a tale of how Popeye gets started.

* StealthPun: All the Wallflower sisters are named after flowers.

The movie grossed more than twice its enormous budget in the U.S. alone (it took two studios to mount it -- Paramount and Disney), but received extremely mixed reviews from critics. It was also a TroubledProduction; between that and its inability to live up to Paramount's high expectations, Robin Williams came to see it as something of an OldShame and it derailed Altman's mainstream directorial career for well over a decade. It hasn't yet been outright VindicatedByHistory, but it does have its admirers.

The plot is an origin story of sorts -- Popeye arrives in the town of Sweethaven searching for his [[LongLostRelative long-lost pappy]] (Ray Walston) and winds up not only caught in a LoveTriangle with Olive Oyl ([[FaerieTaleTheatre Shelley Duvall]]) and Bluto (Paul L. Smith), but also becoming an adoptive father to an abandoned baby he names Swee'Pea...

* ClusterFBomb: Pappy delivers a "Cluster 'H.A.' " during the climactic rescue mission.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Poopdeck Pappy comes across as a genuine {{Jerkass}} at first, but towards the end proves to have had a heart all along.

* PapaWolf: Popeye to Swee'pea.

-->''Positively [=NO=] credit! Especially you, Wimpy''

* NotWhatItLooksLike: Just imagine what Bluto thought when he saw Olive carrying See'pea and walking with Popeye.

* WhatTheHellTownspeople: From the moment Popeye enters in Sweethaven, everyone, except for the Oyls, and Wimpy, either ignore him, or treat him with hostility. Once he gets rid of the tax collector however, everyone instantly loves him.

* DefrostingTheIceQueen: Olive is rather snooty at the beginning of the film -- especially towards Popeye.

* WhatTheHellTownspeople: From the moment Popeye enters in Sweethaven, everyone, except for the Oyls, Wimpy, either ignore him, or treat him with hostility. Once he gets rid of the tax collector however, everyone instantly loves him.

* LiteralMetaphor: "Look at Bluto! He's gone yellow!"

* BarBrawl: The fight with the thugs at Rough House's hash house is a classic example. It's also astoundingly cartoonish for a live-action film, combining clever practical effects and good physical actors.