This article is about the film. For the character, see Popeye. For other meanings, see Popeye (disambiguation).
Popeye is a cancelled computer-animated feature film starring Popeye, originally from Sony Pictures Animation. Initially scheduled to open in 2012, the film's release was pushed back several times until it was put on hold. Eventually, development on the film was restarted by King Features, although director Genndy Tartakovsky eventually confirmed that the film was no longer happening. [1]
Plot[]
One night, Poopdeck Pappy rows to Plunder Island in seek of aid from the Sea Hag, to cure his sick son. Noticing that the baby could only open one eye, much like how she only had one eye, the Sea Hag decides to use the magic of her crimson jewel, but takes the baby away from his father. Poopdeck could not lose his son, so later that night, he heists the boy back as well as takes the Sea Hag's jewel, letting his son and the stone sail away in a crate full of spinach. The Sea Hag is quick to notice, and declares that she will lose her beauty if her jewel is not returned by the 7th equinox of the crystal moon, on the night of a magpie's crow. Adrift at sea, the magic of the jewel mixes in with the spinach, and so the young boy is able to become greatly powerful when eating the vegetable. He ends up accidentally dropping the gem into the sea, before safely arriving in Seahaven. There he is found by Judy, who gives him the name Popeye. There, he lives in an orphanage, where he and Bluto meet for the first time. As the years pass, Popeye faces the trouble of not fitting in, as he is never adopted, and the other kids make fun of him for only having one eye. Late one day, the ocean life returns the Sea Hag's jewel to Popeye, and he sees inside it the vision of his dad on the night he was sent adrift in the crate, along with a shipwreck shaped like a shark. Filled with determination to find his real father, he heads to the Seahaven Junkyard to fetch pieces with which to build a boat. There he meets Eugene the Jeep (only referred to as "Jeep" in the film), who decides to help Popeye build the boat. Now a young adult, Popeye along with the Jeep has finished building the S.S. Pappy Finder, yet they have no idea where the shipwreck is located. Olive Oyl, inspired by witnessing Bluto's imagination at a young age, is unsure that her parents' choices and expectations for "the girl from the house on the hill" are right for her. Later, Popeye and the Jeep make their way to the Shark's Gut, a seafood restaurant, hoping that Popeye will be able to find someone who knows about the shark-shaped shipwreck. There, he finds someone who warns him about the location, Plunder Island. He tells Popeye that based on shanties old, to go there, he would have to sail through the Unseen Forest, the Island in the Sky, and beyond the Heart of Darkness. Bluto, upset because his wedding ring wasn seen as not good enough by Nana Oyl, sees that Popeye has exactly the type of big jewel sure to impress Olive's parents and, later that night, thieves it from under Popeye's hammock. The next day, Popeye and the Jeep see in the newspaper that Bluto had successfully proposed to Olive, by attaching the magic jewel to a ring. An upset Popeye spends the entire day walking from the dock up to the house on the hill, to Olive Oyl's bedroom. Popeye attempts to take the ring from Olive, but she then starts sleepwalking. This ends up escalating into a high-speed chase, not only for the jewel, but to also keep Olive safe from any harm. After running up to a hotel floor, Popeye accidentally ends up eating spinach from room service, and rockets into the air, catching Olive from a falling taxi. She eventually wakes up, alerting the whole town, having mistaken Popeye for a thief. Chased by the populace, Popeye and Olive get aboard the Pappy Finder and finally set sail for Plunder Island. Meanwhile, the Sea Hag had continued to grow more and more ugly and bitter, as she searched countless islands for her jewel. The next day, Bluto vows to the town that he would follow Popeye's trail and rescue Olive Oyl, but after making a short distance on his speedboat, he gets confronted by the Sea Hag and her goons. Bluto tells the Hag that he and the jewel, worn on Olive's hand, were on a course for Plunder Island, and she and the goons start heading their direction. Bluto starts to question his choice to be a hero, and instead decides to wait it out in the middle of the ocean, not risking either certain doom if he followed, or public humiliation if he were to retreat. Olive awakens to find she is aboard Popeye's ship, and she panics as Popeye single-handedly survives a storm-riddled night filled with thunder, rain, and heavy tides. After the storm settles, Olive overreacts when Popeye says how important the jewel is to him, and she starts frantically steering the ship back in Seahaven's direction, before Popeye accidentally throws her overboard. Popeye dives in to follow Olive, and the two enter a dark cave filled with moray eels. He quickly gets the idea to use one of the eels as a mermaid's tail, and saves Olive from a big eel that almost eats her. Exiting the cave, the two find themselves face to face with the Unseen Forest; a forest that grows under the sea. At night, Popeye spots a passing ship heading to Seahaven, and offers Olive, still skeptic about the jewel, a ride back home. Just then, the jewel forecasts that Plunder Island is sinking, and Olive now believes that the jewel belongs to Popeye. Starting to grow accustomed to the beautiful sights and the sense of adventure she always wanted, she fakes the ring being stuck to her hand so she may continue along Popeye's journey to his dad. On the night of the 7th equinox of the crystal moon, the Sea Hag's beauty begins to drastically fade, and her goons start to disappear. She orders the goons to waste no time in the pursuit of the crimson jewel. The next morning, Bluto starts to hallucinate under the bask of the searing sun, and thinks he is in the presence of a magical wish-granting fish, who bestows him a whole sea of money. Bluto quickly snaps out of it and calls the fish out, who retorts "Sucks to be you" and splashes off. Meanwhile, Popeye heeds a warning about the Island in the Sky: to watch for treacherous things in the clouds. Soon after, Popeye and Olive are faced with an ambush from Sky Pirates, which results in the two getting tied up in a big ball of rope. The captain of the Sky Pirates steals the crimson jewel from Popeye, whom they refer to as "the one-eyed man", believing that with the jewel in their possession, they will be rich. The Jeep hides in the engine compartment of the captain's plane so as to eavesdrop on their celebration plan. The S.S. Pappy Finder reaches the Island in the Sky, where Popeye and Olive find the home of the Sky Pirates. Popeye's plan to get the jewel back is that the two go in disguise. While Olive has trouble blending in, Popeye dances in front of an awestruck crowd, which is fascinated by his female guise. Thinking that his name is "Poppy", the captain invites him to eat and dance, before serving him spinach hors d'oeuvres. Popeye, under the power of spinach, whacks the captain around senseless and blows his cover. The Sky Pirates chase Popeye, Olive and the Jeep off the island, and Popeye pulls a lever which opens the S.S. Pappy Finder's paraglider to break the fall. Still, the Sky Pirates continue to attempt to reacquire the jewel by circling the ship with their planes, as Olive compliments the uniqueness of how Popeye handles situations, giving him a new outlook on the phrase "one of a kind." After some calculations, Popeye figures to call the aid of a whale to swallow the ship and keep them safe from the Sky Pirates. Popeye and Olive start to grow a small connection between each other, as they set course for the Heart of Darkness. Elsewhere, the Sky Pirates are confronted by the Sea Hag and her goons, who beat them up because they do not have her jewel. One of the pirates overhears the Sea Hag talking about a one-eyed baby, whom he deduces is Popeye. He tells her that "the one-eyed man" is going to Plunder Island to find his father. The Sea Hag is overjoyed to get useful information, and orders her hundreds of bird minions to carry out an assignment. As Popeye and Olive sail into the Heart of Darkness, the S.S. Pappy Finder is found to be flooded by a flock of flamingos, courtesy of the Sea Hag. The two attempt to get them off the ship, but there are too many. Popeye suggests Olive may be able to figure out a way to get the flamingos to leave, so she gets the idea to take the posture of a flamingo herself, and speak to them in their native tongue. The flamingos reveal that the Sea Hag treats them poorly, and that they are sorry for trying to eat them. Olive tells them about a place where they can be safe and have plenty of food. The crimson jewel begins to glow again, alerting the two that they are nearing their destination of Plunder Island. Arriving on the shipwreck's shore, Olive worries that Pappy might not actually be there, but Popeye is still adamant that this was the place where he was. The Jeep alerts Popeye to a faint figure walking down a flight of stairs, and Popeye believes it to be his dad. He presents the jewel that led him and Olive to Plunder Island, but it turns out the figure is actually the Sea Hag in disguise. As the shipwreck begins to rise from the water, the Sea Hag prevents Olive from retrieving the jewel, but the Jeep comes in and saves her, and sends the Sea Hag to her assumed watery grave. Popeye, Olive and the Jeep barely escape a crumbling Plunder Island and a whirlpool, before Popeye starts to question whether his dad is truly still out there. A determined Olive still wants to search for Pappy, yet Popeye has given up and set a course back to Seahaven. Bluto, now using his shirt as a tent, sees Popeye's ship returning, and hops aboard. Olive assures Bluto that he needs not pay any mind to Popeye, and that she still has the ring with the crimson jewel on it. She goes with Bluto to Seahaven, as Popeye turns the other way, believing he does not belong anywhere. As her wedding to Bluto is being prepared, Olive has a conversation with her reflection and with Nana, about both the wedding and the ride Popeye took her through. Olive exits the room, faced with the fact that she will soon have to marry Bluto. The Jeep, disappointed by Popeye's decision to leave Olive behind, tries to convince Olive that she is "one of a kind", like Popeye, and he soon realizes this. Before he can return to Seahaven and get back with Olive, the Sea Hag arrives on a giant bird, and smashes the S.S. Pappy Finder to pieces. The Hag is upset that the jewel was not on the ship, but the giant bird directs her attention to the house on the hill, as the gem has a strong glow that gives away its presence. As the witch flies towards the light, Olive and Bluto are at the "I do"s of the ceremony, with Wimpy as the officiant. Olive begins to disagree with what her peers think is best for her, and openly declares her love and desire for adventure, and to follow what she alone think is best for herself. Suddenly, the Sea Hag and her giant bird crash the wedding, take the ring off from Olive Oyl's hand, and drop her from a tall height. Popeye and the Jeep continue to sink deeper and deeper into the ocean, before Popeye spots a can of spinach. Remembering the past times spinach had given him a massive boost in power, he eats the full can without hesitation, snatches the Jeep, soars through the ocean like a speeding torpedo, blasts out from the water, and saves Olive in the nick of time. As Popeye apologizes for what he had said to Olive, the Sea Hag inserts the jewel back into her eye socket, and unleashes her goons onto Seahaven. As Olive helps in fending off the goons, Popeye, still under the influence of spinach, knocks the Sea Hag off of her bird, and punches the beast so hard that it becomes a roast chicken. Popeye beats up the rest of the goons, making them land on the roofs of many houses, catches the Sea Hag in his arms, and removes the jewel. The crowd of townsfolk begin booing her while she is down, as the magpie crows. Yet, Popeye sees how badly she suffers without the jewel and, in an act of kindness, gives it back to her, understanding how much more important it is to her than it is to himself. The Hag starts to see Popeye in a new light as she wraps her head around his selfless aid. To reward Popeye for giving her back the jewel, the Sea Hag, in an act of kindness of her own, brings Poopdeck Pappy to Seahaven, reuniting him and Popeye at long last. As the Hag makes her leave, Popeye and Pappy hug, the Jeep includes Olive in the embrace, and the rest of the cast hug each other as well. Bluto tries to hug Popeye, but Popeye caps the movie off by finally punching Bluto for the first time.
Development[]
In March 2010, it was reported that Sony Pictures Animation was developing a 3D computer-animated Popeye film, with Avi Arad producing it. In November 2011, Sony Pictures Animation announced that Jay Scherick and David Ronn, the writers of The Smurfs, were writing the screenplay for the film. In June 2012, it was reported that Genndy Tartakovsky had been set to direct the feature, which he planned to make "as artful and unrealistic as possible." In November 2012, Sony Pictures Animation set the release date for September 26, 2014, which was, in May 2013, pushed back to 2015. In March 2014, Sony Pictures Animation updated its slate, scheduling the film for 2016, and announcing Tartakovsky as the director of Hotel Transylvania 2, which he was directing concurrently with Popeye. On September 18, 2014, Tartakovsky revealed an "animation test" footage, about which he said, "It's just something that kind of represents what we want to do. I couldn't be more excited by how it turned out." In March 2015, Tartakovsky announced that despite the well-received test footage, he was no longer working on the project, and would instead direct Can You Imagine?, which was based on his own original idea, but it too was cancelled. Nevertheless, Sony Pictures Animation stated the project still remains in active development. In January 2016, it was announced that T.J. Fixman would write the film. On May 11, 2020, it was announced that a Popeye movie was in development at King Features Syndicate.
On July 22, 2022 the day after Tartakovsky confirmed that the film had been scrapped, an 87-minute animatic of the cancelled movie (dated November 22, 2013) with full voice acting and musical score was leaked online. Although many of the uploads were taken down due to copyright strikes from Sony, including the original upload, they continue to be uploaded on several sites. [2]
Cast[]
- Tom Kenny as Popeye and Poopdeck Pappy
- Grey DeLisle as Olive Oyl and the Sea Hag
- Aaron LaPlante as Bluto
Animation test[]
