United States
1980 
I Am What I Am
Released in 1980 by Walt Disney and Paramount
Directed By Robert Altman
Written by Jules Feiffer and E. C. Segar
Starring Robin Williams and Shelley Duvall
Music by Harry Nilsson
Paramount Home Video released the film Popeye on DVD in the US on June 24, 2003. You can order the DVD from Amazon.com.
"Popeye" is a live action film which features Robin Williams and Shelley Duvall as Popeye and Olive Oyl. In the film, everyone's favorite spinach-eating sailor (although he hates spinach at the start of this film) falls for Olive Oyl and battles his arch-rival Bluto.
Paul L. Smith as "Bluto"
[Click photo to enlarge]
Near the end of the 1970's, Producer Robert Evans commissioned screenwriter (and political cartoonist, novelist,
and playwright) Jules Feiffer to write a script for a live action version of "Popeye." The script was passed from
one director to another (including Hal Ashby, Arthur Penn and
Mike Nichols) before Robert Altman ("M*A*S*H", "Nashville")
ended up heading the project. At one point Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin were signed on as Popeye and Olive.
Ray Walston (as "Poopdeck Pappy") and Robin Williams (as "Popeye")
[Click photo to enlarge]
 Altman took the
cast and crew to Anchor Bay on the island of Malta. Over 100 men worked seven months to construct the Popeye set. Wood had to be
imported from Canada. When they finished, the fictional village of Sweethaven consisted of nineteen buildings including a hotel,
a school-house, a store, a post office, a church, and, of course, a tavern.
The film's score and songs are by Harry Nilsson. "Nobody
wanted him at first except Robin
Williams. Everyone said 'You'll get in trouble with him -- he'll get drunk; he won't do it; he's all washed up.' As a matter of fact I said all of those things about Harry to Robin myself one day. Then I went home and thought about it and said to myself, 'Jesus, that's what some people are saying about me!' So I called Harry Nilsson, because I had never met him in my life, and we got along terrifically." -- Robert Altman.
Harry Nilsson took the musicians to Malta where a studio was constructed for their use. The musicians dubbed themselves, "The Falcons." Ray Cooper, Doug Dillard, Harry Nilsson, Van Dyke Parks, Klaus Voormann, and "The Mysterious Karsten" recorded the basic tracks on the island as the set was finished
and filming began. Van Dyke Parks arranged and conducted the music. Ray Cooper, Doug Dillard, Van Dyke Parks, and Klaus Voormann make brief appearances in the film.
The climatic octopus fight was filmed in Fifla.
The Sweethaven set still stands in Anchor Bay as a tourist attraction.
Soundtrack
Popeye Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Album
A Nilsson House Production
Manufactured by Boardwalk Records, Inc. a division of The Boardwalk Entertainment Company
Copyright 1980 Paramount Pictures Corporation and Walt Disney Productions
The soundtrack album was engineered by Rick Riccio and Mike Hatcher. Harry Nilsson wrote all of the songs except for "I'm Popeye the Sailor Man". The album was released on LP and may have been briefly available as a CD in Europe.
Mark Guerrero, son of singer/composer Lalo Guerrero, provided background vocals for the demo of "I'm
Mean".
The New Jersey group Guitari incorporated samples of "I Yam What I Yam", "Sailin'", and "It's Not Easy Being Me", from the Popeye soundtrack album in their songs "Hero" and "I Yam What I Yam (Popeye Rap)."
Home Video
 "Popeye"
is available on VHS video tape. You can find it at your local
video store or order it online from retailers such as Amazon.com. Popeye was released on DVD in June of 2003. You can order the DVD from Amazon.com
"If you watch it backwards, it has a plot." -- Robin Williams
Credits:| Actor ("Bear, the Hermit"): | John E. Bristol |
| Actor ("Bill Barnacle"): | Robert Fortier |
| Actor ("Blossom Walfleur"): | Nathalie Blossom |
| Actor ("Bluto"): | Paul L. Smith |
| Actor ("Bolo"): | Pietro Torrisi |
| Actor ("Butch"): | Ned Dowd |
| Actor ("Castor Oyl"): | Donovan Scott |
| Actor ("Cherry, his Moll"): | Sharon Kinney |
| Actor ("Chico"): | Larry Pisoni |
| Actor ("Chizzelflint"): | Wayne Robson |
| Actor ("Cindy"): | Valerie Velardi |
| Actor ("Clem, the Banjo Player"): | Doug Dillard |
| Actor ("Cole Oyl"): | MacIntyre Dixon |
| Actor ("Daisy"): | Margery Bond |
| Actor ("Daphne"): | Barbara Zegler |
| Actor ("Geezil"): | Richard Libertini |
| Actor ("Gozo"): | Roberto Messina |
| Actor ("Ham Gravy, the Old Boyfriend"): | Bill Irwin |
| Actor ("Harry Hotcash, the Gambler"): | David McCharen |
| Actor ("Hoagy, the Piano Player"): | Van Dyke Parks |
| Actor ("La Verne, the Waitress"): | Susan Kingsley |
| Actor ("Mayor Stonefeller"): | Paul Zegler |
| Actor ("Mena Walfleur"): | Julie Janney |
| Actor ("Min"): | Eve Knoller |
| Actor ("Mina Walfleur"): | Patty Katz |
| Actor ("Mona Walfleur"): | Diane Shaffer |
| Actor ("Mort"): | Hovey Burgess |
| Actor ("Mrs. Oxheart, his Mother"): | Linda Hunt |
| Actor ("Mrs. Stonefeller"): | Pamela Burrell |
| Actor ("Nana Oyl"): | Roberta Maxwell |
| Actor ("Olive Oyl"): | Shelley Duvall |
| Actor ("Oscar"): | Stan Wilson |
| Actor ("Oxblood Oxheart, the Fighter"): | Peter Bray |
| Actor ("Petunia"): | Judy Burgess |
| Actor ("Pickelina"): | Peggy Pisoni |
| Actor ("Poopdeck Pappy"): | Ray Walston |
| Actor ("Popeye"): | Robin Williams |
| Actor ("Rosie, the Milkmaid"): | Karen McCormick |
| Actor ("Rough House"): | Allan F. Nicholls |
| Actor ("Scoop, the Reporter"): | Geoff Hoyle |
| Actor ("Slick"): | Noel Parenti |
| Actor ("Slug"): | Carlos Brown |
| Actor ("Spike"): | Dennis Franz |
| Actor ("Splatz, the Janitor"): | Michael Christiansen |
| Actor ("Swee'pea"): | Wesley Ivan Hurt |
| Actor ("Swifty"): | Carlo Pellegrini |
| Actor ("The Chimneysweep"): | Roberto Dell'acqua |
| Actor ("The Mailman"): | David Arkin |
| Actor ("The Policeman"): | David Arkin |
| Actor ("The Preacher"): | Ray Cooper |
| Actor ("The Taxman"): | Donald Moffat |
| Actor ("Violet"): | Saundra MacDonald |
| Actor ("Von Schnitzel, the Conductor"): | Klaus Voormann |
| Actor ("Wimpy"): | Paul Dooley |
| Additional Editor: | Raja R. Gosnell |
| Additional Score: | Tom Pierson |
| Animated Artifacts Creator: | Bob Williams |
| Animated Artifacts Creator: | Ellis Burman Jr. |
| Assistant Art Director: | Reg Bream |
| Assistant Art Director: | Stephane Reichel |
| Assistant Camera: | Robert Reed Altman |
| Assistant Camera: | Luigi Bernardini |
| Assistant Camera: | Mauro Marchetti |
| Assistant Camera: | Maurizio Zampagni |
| Assistant Camera: | Gianmaria Majorana |
| Assistant Editor: | Jacque Elaine Toberen |
| Assistant Editor: | Robert Lederman |
| Assistant Editor: | Stephen Tucker |
| Assistant Editor: | Eric Whitfield |
| Assistant Editor: | Paul Rubell |
| Assistant Hair Stylist: | Rita Innocenzi |
| Assistant Makeup Artist: | Alvaro Rossi |
| Assistant Makeup Artist: | Gilberto Provenghi |
| Assistant Music Editor: | Leslie A. Whitfield |
| Assistant Sound Effects Editor: | John Benson |
| Assistant Sound Effects Editor: | Edward A. Warschilka |
| Assistant Sound Effects Editor: | Roxanne Jones |
| Assistant Sound Effects editor: | Karen Rasch |
| Assistant Special Effects Coordinator: | Robert Willard |
| Assistant to Mr. Altman: | Ed Horwitz |
| Assistant to Mr. Evans: | Stephanie Aranas |
| Assistant to Mr. Evans: | Cathy Chazan |
| Assistant to Mr. Williams: | Mark Rutenberg |
| Associate Producer: | Scott Bushnell |
| Boom Operator: | Don Merritt |
| Camera Operator: | Giovanni Fiore |
| Camera Operator: | Gianfranco Transunto |
| Caterer: | Mickey Chonos |
| Choreographer: | Sharon Kinney |
| Choreographer: | Hovey Burgess |
| Cinematography: | Giuseppe Rotunno |
| Conductor: | Van Dyke Parks |
| Construction Coordinator: | Stephane Reichel |
| Construction Manager: | Alvaro Belsole |
| Costume Design: | Scott Bushnell |
| Dance Style Creator: | Lou Wills |
| Dialogue Loop Editor: | Larry Singer |
| Director: | Robert Altman |
| Draftsman: | Stephen Bream |
| Draftsman: | Lester Smith |
| Executive assistant to Mr. Evans: | Barbara Kalish |
| Executive Producer: | C.O. Erickson |
| Film Editing: | David Alan Simmons |
| Film Editing: | John W. Holmes |
| First Assistant Director: | Bob Dahlin |
| First Assistant Director: | Victor Tourjansky |
| Gaffer: | Rodolfo Bramucci |
| Hair Stylist: | Aldo Signoretti |
| Hair Stylist: | Gabriella Borzelli |
| Key Grip: | Vladimiro Salvatori |
| Key Grip: | Alberto Emidi |
| Key Hair Stylist: | Maria Teresa Corridoni |
| Location Auditor: | Luciano Tartaglia |
| Location Auditor: | Tim Engel |
| Location Auditor: | Dick Dubuque |
| Location Engineer: | Randy Honaker |
| Location Manager: | Robert Eggenweiler |
| Makeup Artist: | Alfredo Tiberi |
| Makeup Supervisor: | Giancarlo Del Brocco |
| Master Carpenter: | Bert Bowers |
| Master Carpenter: | Gaetano Mirante |
| Master Painter: | Guglielmo Modestini |
| Music Arranger: | Van Dyke Parks |
| Music Editor: | Richard Whitfield |
| Music Re-recording Mixer: | Dan Wallin |
| Original Music: | Harry Nilsson |
| Physical Therapist: | James A. Rumsey |
| Post-production Coordinator: | Suzanne Hines |
| Producer: | Robert Evans |
| Production Design: | Wolf Kroeger |
| Production Manager (Europe): | Frederick Muller |
| Property Man: | Tony Maccario |
| Property Man: | John Bucklin |
| Property Master: | Stephen Altman |
| Publicist: | Bridget Terry |
| Publicity assistant: | Cathy Keller |
| Publicity Assistant: | Rita Galea |
| Screenplay: | Jules Feiffer |
| Script Supervisor: | Luca Kouimelis |
| Sculptor: | Angelo Marta |
| Sculptor: | Angelo Zaccaria |
| Sculptor: | Michael Stroud |
| Set Decoration: | Jack Stephens |
| Sound: | Robert Gravenor |
| Sound Editor: | Hal Sanders |
| Sound Editor: | Bill Phillips |
| Sound Editor: | Sam F. Shaw |
| Sound Editor: | Michael Ford |
| Sound Editor: | John A. Larsen |
| Sound Effects Consultant: | Rodney Holland |
| Sound Effects Editor: | Andy Patterson |
| Sound Effects Editor: | Teresa Eckton |
| Sound Re-recording Engineer: | Steven Brimmer |
| Sound Recordist: | Doug Schulman |
| Special Effects: | R.J. Hohman |
| Special Effects Coordinator: | Allen Hall |
| Stunt Co-ordinator: | Roberto Messina |
| Supervising Editor: | Tony Lombardo |
| Supervising Music Editor: | Ted Whitfield |
| Supervising Re-recording Mixer: | Michael Minkler |
| Supervising Sound Editor: | Sam Gemette |
| Talent Coordinator: | Rick Sparks |
| Technical Advisor: | Steve Foster |
| Title Designer: | Patrice Ryan |
| Transportation Captain: | Bill Turner |
| Underwater Camera Operator: | Lorenzo Battaglia |
| Unit Coordinator: | Peter Bray |
| Unit Coordinator: | David Levy |
| Unit Manager: | Paolo Lucidi |
| Unit Photographer: | Paul Ronald |
| Wardrobe Consultant: | Kate McDermott |
| Wardrobe Mistress: | Yvonne Zarb Cousin |
| Wardrobe Supervisor: | John Hay |
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