Popeye - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of Popeye or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to Popeye

[oscar]

This is the first film released by Disney in which the word "shit" is heard (said by Popeye during his huge fight with Bluto). Disney did not start Touchstone Pictures until later that decade.

[beth]

The town drunk is named Barnacle Bill, after a 19th century drinking song "Barnacle Bill the Sailor". There was a Popeye cartoon named Beware of Barnacle Bill (1935).

[edgar]

This movie won Worst Picture at the Hastings Bad Cinema Society's 3rd Stinkers Bad Movie Awards (1980).

[veronica]

Dustin Hoffman was originally set to play the title role opposite Lily Tomlin as Olive Oyl.

[francisco]

In the movie, Popeye routinely says he's a "mudder" (mother) after finding Swee'Pea. He was also called a mother initially by Jonathan Winters' character, Mearth, in the fourth season of Mork & Mindy (1978).

[marc]

During a 1980 interview with Roger Ebert, Shelley Duvall said she loved playing Olive Oyl, not just because she enjoyed working on the film, but because Olive is such a strong character. "I've never before been allowed to play a woman of any strength, of depth. And although Olive Oyl is a cartoon character, I think she does have depth. All of the other characters I've played in the movies, to me, they never really broke the surface. But Olive Oyl is 101 percent woman! She's not Popeye's 'girlfriend' I see her as a real femme fatale."

[nora]

The set for the small town of Sweethaven was built at Anchor Bay on the Mediterranean island of Malta. After filming, it became a popular tourist attraction.

[maureen]

A sign can be seen in the Roughhouse Café that says, "Absolutely no credit. Especially you, Wimpy!"

[melinda]

This film ended Paramount's involvement in the "Popeye" franchise, having released the 1933-57 animated cartoons, and outsourced production on some of the 1960s television cartoons from King Features. In 2012, Paramount licensed American/Canadian home video rights to much of its catalog to Warner Bros., and this film was among the titles that were licensed to them. Warner Bros. has owned the Fleischer/Famous "Popeye" cartoons outright since 1996.

[bessie]

On all television prints of the movie until the 1990s, the final shot of Popeye dancing and then falling into the water is stretched vertically, resulting in both Popeye and Olive Oyl looking abnormally lanky. This was because that final shot would lead right into the end credits and Paramount had wanted the widescreen image of the credits to fill the entire screen.

[darrell]

Dennis Franz, Roberta Maxwell and Donovan Scott all separately appear in the Psycho franchise. Franz appears in Psycho II (1983) and Maxwell and Scott separately appear in Psycho III (1986).

[gerald]

In the film, Popeye (a sailor) becomes an enemy of Bluto (an evil pirate and bully). In Robin Williams' later movie Hook (1991) based on the classic fantasy novel "Peter Pan" by J.M. Barrie, Peter Banning (Williams), an adult Peter Pan, returns to Neverland to rescue his children from the evil pirate Captain Hook (played in that movie by Dustin Hoffman). Popeye is based on the classic cartoon "Popeye the Sailorman".

[sara]

Shelley Duvall and Robin Williams co-starred in this movie as Olive Oyl and Popeye, respectively. Later Williams would star in Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre (1982) for Showtime as the Frog Prince.

[lynn]

Paramount green-lit this film after losing a bidding war for the screen rights to Annie (1982). Producer Robert Evans called an executive meeting and asked about comic strip characters they had the rights to that could be used in a movie musical. One attendee recommended Popeye.

[morris]

The producers wanted the role of Olive Oyl to be played by Gilda Radner. However, Robert Altman held out for Shelley Duvall.

[duane]

Most of Popeye's lines were discovered to be inaudible once filming wrapped. Robin Williams had to re-dub much of the dialogue.

[fred]

Hoagy the piano player, portrayed by Van Dyke Parks, is probably named after Hoagy Carmichael.

[lena]

Oxblood Oxheart was taken from the original comic strip, where he first appeared as Bullo Oxheart (with a full head of hair). In the strip, he is depicted as a brute with an appearance similar to that of Bluto himself, save for being clean shaven.