Can Popeye the Sailor Man be retooled for the 21st Century? Sony and producer Avi Arad think so: they're preparing a 3-D CGI animated movie based on the classic character.
Hearst Entertainment and Syndication president Scott Stassa – whose subsidiary King Features Syndicate controls Popeye's rights – decided Arad was the man to bring the muscular seaman into the computer animation realm. Stassa and Arad previously worked together at Marvel, most notably to bring the wildly successful Spider-Man franchise to the big screen.
"Scott called me and said, 'I have something for you,'" Arad, who grew up watching Popeye shorts in movie houses in his native Israel, told Variety. "I literally started singing the famous Popeye song (after securing the rights). What always blew me away is the level of the animation. It was so beautiful and unbelievably detailed."
Popeye's last appearance on the silver screen was Robert Altman's live-action movie in 1980, with Robin Williams playing Popeye, Shelley Duvall as Olive Oyl and Ray Walston as Poopdeck Pappy, Popeye's father.
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Sony, who is also developing Peyo's The Smurfs for the big screen, was a natural fit for the project. Sony Pictures Animation (Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs) is making the flick, with Sony Imageworks handling the CGI.
Arad and Stassa are negotiating with Mike Jones to pen the movie's script. The writer came to their attention after his highly touted screenplay for The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break was snagged by the Gotham Group.
"I'm an unabashed, lifelong Popeye fan," said Jones. "Introducing this squinty-eyed sailor to a new generation also means reintroducing him to those who, like me, grew up with him."
There's as yet no word as to what the flick will be about, but Popeye's love interest Olive Oyl, nemesis Bluto and adopted child Swee'Pea have been confirmed as part of the cast. Arad claimed the new version will cover the "themes of friendship, love, greed and life, and focus on human strengths and human frailties."
"As one of the earliest animated characters ... Popeye has become one of the most enduring and iconic cartoon characters of all time and indelibly linked to the evolution of animation," said Hannah Minghella, president of production for Sony Pictures Animation.
The spinach-loving sailor man first appeared as a walk-on character in E.C. Segar's Thimble Theater comic strip in 1929, but swiftly became the strip's star. The Fleischer Brothers – who also produced the acclaimed Superman theatrical shorts in the 1940's – developed Popeye into the longest-running cartoon series of all time.
Even today, Popeye's image is used to sell toys, books, puzzles and games, and is the #1 licensed character to sell food, especially spinach.
"While each generation has discovered him in different incarnations, the fans have continued to embrace him through the years, coming back time and again to that quintessential collection of character traits that has made Popeye beloved around the world," claimed T.R. "Rocky" Shepard III, president of King Features Syndicate.
There is as yet no scheduled release date for the CGI Popeye movie.
Dominic von Riedemann - Dominic is the Animated Film Feature Writer, and winner of 11 Suite 101 Editors' Choice Awards.
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