Popeye 80

And a note to vhspreowner - Disney and Paramount have actually had a pretty good relationship, even after Popeye went bust, (Which actually wasn't as bad as many think - it grossed $50 million domestically, making a $30 million profit.) including Paramount's recent collaboration with Disney (through Miramax) to produce The Hours.


The Legend of Popeye: Milestones and More...   May 7, 2004
johnnyitalian@aol.com (Bergen County, NJ USA)
In 2004, Popeye will be celebrating his 75th birthday! The anvil armed spinach eater is an icon to Americans (as well as Europeans) everywhere. And if you are like me, an American of European ancestry...

"Popeye the Sailor" was created by E.C. Segar as a character in the black & white (later color), Fleischer Brothers newspaper strip "Thimble Theatre" (which was a comic about The Oyl Family). He later made his debut with his own cartoon short, seen on movie screens everywhere in 1933.

Walt Disney Pictures teamed with Paramount Pictures to create the 1980 live action movie directed by Robert Altman, bringing the comic character turned cartoon star into a living breathing human. The parts of Popeye and Olive Oyl were originally going to be played by Dustin Hoffman and Lilly Tomlin but ultimately went to Robin Williams and Shelley Duvall in perfect casting roles. The entire gang was aboard for the ride (Bluto, Wimpy, Swee' Pea, and all the rest along with plenty of new friends and foes).

Despite Popeye being a Segar/Fleischer creation as well as having later associations with A.A.P. (Associated Artists Productions), Hanna Barbera, Disney & Paramount, Popeye is best known as being a "King Features Syndicate" and will forever be linked to all animators and produces as being King's trademark. In fact, because the exact rights for Popeye were so confusing, he was mysteriously missing from the 1989 cartoon/live action movie "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" as the most notably absent cartoon. Due to fear of being sued, Touchstone Pictures sadly left Popeye out of the film, while every other one of his contemporaries from Mickey Mouse to Bugs Bunny appeared in the famous "Toon Town" scenes. Today, Popeye is alive and well with the King Features clan. Sammy Lerner wrote the famous theme song that has been a staple wherever Popeye has appeared.

Although maybe not quite on the scale of "Pinocchio," Popeye is very popular in Italy where he is nicknamed "Iron Arm." Bill Costello provided the original voice in the cartoon and later in the 1970s, Hanna Barbera is best credited with bringing Popeye back to life in several new shows including an updated version called "Popeye & Son," where Popeye & Olive are married with their own kid (not Swee' Pea).

Perhaps his popularity in Italy and throughout Europe can be linked not so much for Costello's and Barbera's contributions, but to the filming of the movie in Anchor Bay (near the capital Valletta) in Malta, a small island in the Mediterranean, just 60 miles south of Sicily. After filming, it became a hugely popular tourist attraction, and even today movies are filmed there through MFF-Malta Films Facilities ("Troy" starring Brad Pitt just wrapped filming in Malta, Greece, Spain and Italy, and Pitt no doubt will be an even huger figure in Europe now).

Many of the "citizens" of the created town of Sweethaven, especially those who had to do some physical gags, were recruited from European traveling circuses. Most of the cast and crew (about 60% if you read the credits carefully) had Italian surnames! The following is a list of those credits: Richard Libertini (played "Geezil"), Larry Pisoni (played "Chico"), Peggy Pisoni (played "Pickelina"), Carlo Pellegrini (played "Swifty"), Noel Parenti (played "Slick"), Pietro Torrisi (played "Bolo"), Roberto Dell 'Aqua (played "Chimneysweep"), Valerie Velardi (played "Cindy"), Roberto Messina (played "Gozo" and was head stunt coordinator), Sammy Gemette (sound editor), Giovanni Fiore (camera operator), GianFranco Transunto (camera operator), Luigi Bernardini (camera operator), Mauro Merchetti (camera operator), Gian Maria Magorana (camera operator), Lorenzo Battaglia (underwater camera operator), Rudolfo Bramucci (gaffer), Vladimiro Salvatore (key grip), Alberto Emidi (key grip), Tony Maccario (property manager), Alvaro Belsole (construction manager), GianCarlo Del Brocco (makeup), Alfredo Tiberi (makeup), Gilberto Provenghi (makeup), Alvaro Rossi (makeup), Maria Teresa Corridoni (hairdresser), Aldo Signoretti (hairdresser), Gabriella Borzelli (hairdresser), Rita Innocenzi (hairdresser), Rita Galea (publicity), Paulo Lucidi (unit manager), Luciano Tartaglia (accountant), Gaetano Mirante (carpenter), Gugliemo Modestini (painter), Angelo Marta (sculpter), Angelo Zaccaria (sculpter), and last but not least, Mickey Chono (head caterer). Alitalia Airlines was the air transportation company of choice for all involved in the film.

So as you can see, Popeye can quite possibly be considered a foreign film (although it is in English) and the fact that it's popular from the US to Europe-to everywhere in between-is no surprise. It's amazing how many Italians were involved in the creation of the characters as well as the sets. Like Italy, Malta's official religion is Catholic and it's official languages are Maltese (which is a West Arabic dialect with some Italian words) and English. The country has Maltese and English newspapers and is a huge tourist spot for those visiting nearby Sicily and even stands wonderful on it's own. In fact, tourism is the main business in the country's economy and the mild yearlong weather and beautiful seaside villages (as seen in Popeye) are no doubt it's selling points. Just watching the movie makes me want to travel there someday and the beautiful cinematography bring the sailor to life as well as any of the animators who have tried their hand at drawing the famous sailorman.

Popeye has his own video game, his own stamp, a clothing line (and Halloween costume), not to mention his own real brand of canned spinach, the #2 seller in supermarkets everywhere just behind Del Monte. In fact, he is so famous that he has his own statue in Chester, Illinois-which is the birthplace of E.C. Segar. Today, Popeye can be seen on Cartoon Network and read in papers nationwide as well as on the internet. This year marks the 110th birthday of E.C. Segar as well as the 75th birthday of Popeye, and next year, Popeye the Movie will celebrate it's 25th anniversary with a new DVD.

Please send me all of your Popeye questions or comments and to join the Johnny DeCarlo Popeye Fan Club, e-mail me: JohnnyItalian@aol.com


Brilliant But Not Your Normal Kids' Musical   March 24, 2004
Robert Altman subverts, twists, plays, and ultimately redeems the Hollywood kids' musical with this unfairly criticized but brilliant rendering of the Popeye story. Let's start with the camera, which during large-scale musical numbers is focused on small details, the shoes, the eyes, the hair, but never pans wide. Frustrating, but after a while you see he is taking a very large, very open tale and reducing it to its humanity, its humor, its love of life. Robin Williams never gave a better performance, helped as he is by superb casting of Shelley Duval and the colorful and sweet characters who inhabit Sweethaven. The set design is highly imaginative and spares no expense, pleasing the eye and the aesthete.

No review should fail to mention Harry Nilsson's soundtrack, sadly unavailable on cd. Harry outdid himself, writing the soundtrack Randy Newman has spent the last 25 years trying to replicate. Every song is a classic, beautifully arranged and orchestrated by Van Dyke Parks, and works exceedingly well in the film.

This one is a keeper, but you have to be open to the small charms and subtle wit that eventually will have you continuing to come back to this delightful and seductive film.