Popeye (Fake Movie)

Note: This film does not exist so it's more of an idea/alternate dimension of what if Popeye didn't get canceled.

Popeye is a 202X animated film developed by Sony Pictures Animation and distributed by Sony and Columbia. This movie is based on the comic strip and cartoons of the same name made by E. C. Segar. The movie is directed by Genndy Tartakovsky and the producers are Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. It stars the voice of Tom Kenny as the titular sailor man himself and it was released theatrically worldwide. This is the second time Popeye got a film adaptation with the first being the live-action 1980 Popeye film starring Robin Williams.

Plot
This is Genndy's take on Popeye himself as it's an origin story of how Popeye met Bluto, Olive, The Sea Hag, and many more. He was born as the son of Poopdeck Pappy and Mammy (the latter divorced Pappy later on due to drama in regards to real-life issues). One day Popeye was sick to the point where he was taken to The Sea Hag for a cure but sadly things go bad when chaos with The Sea Hag occurs. Pappy was captured by The Sea Hag thus abandoning Popeye into an orphan and was raised by an orphanage keeper. There he would have met Bluto who hates Popeye. As Popeye grew up, he lived with a guardian who did take care of Popeye he had a rough childhood yet he did make a few friends. As Popeye grew up he goes on a quest to look for his father after finding a diamond that once belonged to The Sea Hag thus building a boat since at young age. So yeah it's based on this animatic yet it's going to have a lot of differences like Cole and Nana being present as Olive's parents. Rough idea but still I'm just thinking...

Cast

 * 1) Tom Kenny as Popeye - The main character of the movie is a one-eyed sailor that was an orphan
 * 2) Grey DeLisle as Olive Oyl - The love interest of Popeye
 * 3) Fred Tatasciore as Bluto - Popeye's rival
 * 4) Maurice LaMarche as Poopdeck Pappy - The tough-as-nails father who disappeared at sea shortly after Popeye's birth
 * 5) J.J. Sedelmaier as Wimpy - A hamburger lover who is a best friend to Popeye.
 * 6) Dee Bradley Baker as Eugene the Jeep - Popeye's pet Jeep.
 * 7) Courtenay Taylor as The Sea Hag - a witch that is Popeye's most fearsome nemesis.
 * 8) Jill Talley as the orphanage keeper.
 * 9) Bob Joles as Cole Oyl - Olive's dad.
 * 10) Allison Janney as Nana Oyl - Olive's mom
 * 11) Josh Brener as Ham Gravy - Olive's old boyfriend who slacks off. He makes a cameo in the film where he appears in one scene being dumped by Olive due to slaking off.
 * 12) Eric Bauza as Castor Oyl - Olive's brother. He also makes a cameo in the film sometimes.
 * 13) Charles Martinet as Bill Barnacle - A tough sailor who is a friend to Popeye and he told Popeye about the Sea Hag's island at a seafood place.
 * 14) Kevin Michael Richardson as Whaler Joe - Popeye's guardian.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) For starters, the entire film is pretty faithful to the comics just in the eyes of Genndy himself only it still uses some elements found in the cartoons and comic strips such as Popeye's love for spinach and the appearances of certain characters. Heck's Popeye's backstory does appear too only with some differences here and there yet still follows what has Popeye gone through.
 * 2) Some more lesser known Popeye characters make appearances as minor/side/cameo characters in the movie which has given more exposure to the characters in some way as well as Cole, Nana, Ham, Castor, Toar, Geezil, Bill, and Whaler being prime examples. Even Rough House makes a small cameo in the film via the Rough House Cafe. Some of Olive's other members of her family do make brief cameos as pictures on the wall.
 * 3) The animation here is cartoony and over-the-top in a good way which fits really well with the tone Popeye usually goes for. The animation is known when to be more down-to-earth and went to go all out in given situations. You can tell that the animators did take some inspiration from another Genndy film Hotel Transylvania. Heck, Genndy did want the film to be as artful and unrealistic as possible which works so well for a movie based on a comic strip/cartoon series. Sometimes some old-school comic effects can appear as well which makes the film have a nice touch of visuals not to mention the art style is pretty faithful as well albeit with Genndy's art style being thrown into it. Thanks to the color palette, it's also nice to look at.
 * 4) *Because of some comic-esque effects to reflect the strip, you can tell that Genndy took some cues from Sony's other fellow film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse which also had some comic-like effects.
 * 5) The characters are just as likable as they were in the comics and most of the cartoons. In fact, it's worth mentioning that the characters are given much more character than usual without having to make the characters misrepresented. You still have the basic traits of some characters like Popeye being a tough bruiser who loves spinach, Olive being an insecure damsel in distress, and Bluto being a rival to Popeye only with the characters getting much more depth.
 * 6) Great voice acting. Just like Sony's fellow film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse it does not rely too much on big-name celebrity voice casting and instead decides to focus on talent. The cast consists of some professional voice actors that you typically see in animated shows and some of the cast members who did work on previous Popeye projects did return to voice the characters.
 * 7) The setting as aesthetic looks really good for Popeye standards. It captures the setting and time period of the original cartoons/comics which is why we have old things appearing. Plus, the film takes place on an island that is sure quite refreshing with Popeye's voyage being a wonderful tour.
 * 8) The movie does not take itself so seriously so it embraces the wacky nature of the Popeye cartoons. The action scenes are silly yet remarkable due to the film's nature because of the fact that the film decides to go all out in a good way. You can say that the filmmakers did have fun doing a lot of things with their sailor man.
 * 9) Lots of good comedy which is acceptable because Popeye is pretty well known for the humor is really good as one of the key elements. The comedy is somewhere between the lines of what you would expect from cartoons and comics which does pay for Genndy's goal of having the film be unrealistic as possible.
 * 10) Has a lot of nice callbacks to Popeye in general without forcing anything such as this town's incarnation being named Sweethaven, Ham used to being Olive's love interest prior to breaking up, and a theater named Thimble Theater which is a nod to Popeye's origins, and some of Popeye's quotes.
 * 11) The way Popeye design his boat looks crazy good.
 * 12) This can be considered to be good nostalgia to those who grew up with Popeye which is a good sign that the creators did show a lot of respect for Popeye.
 * 13) Good direction from Genndy who had lots of experience with working with cartoons and animated films. Not to mention that Genndy did grow up with Popeye so he had a lot to work with on making his own vision of Popeye without disrespecting anything.
 * 14) One scene mocks the show Popeye and Son. You see when Olive mentioned that if Popeye had a son, what would he name it? Popeye responded "I'm not naming my son Junior, sounds too generic" and there is another scene where Bluto mentioned, "I think my son would be named Tank" only for Wimpy saying "What kind of name is that?"
 * 15) *There's even a scene where it mocks Popeye's Island Adventures" with Popeye saying "I don't need no whistle, now where did I place my pipe"
 * 16) A great score that feels like a true voyage while the other feels a lot like the setting of where Popeye takes place. Sometimes it can be beautiful while other times it can be frantic just like a cartoon.
 * 17) Though different from E. C. Segar's The Private Life of Popeye, we do finally get to see a ligament origin story of Popeye in some way. Even some elements in E. C. Segar's short series we just mentioned do get to be recognized here.
 * 18) It's one of those movies that doesn't need to win the hearts with its growth and story so it instead wins with its fun characters, action, and humor.
 * 19) Who could not forget that awesome scene of Popeye legit eating his spinach in the climax after realizing that his love for spinach gave him strength in a cartoony way? There's even the song that plays when Popeye eats his spinach when he's in trouble.
 * 20) The scene where Popeye decided to let The Sea Hag live with the ring is quite touching. Of course, The Sea Hag isn't a redeemed villain after freeing Pappy which does show a bit of a sarcastic side to her. You can tell that The Sea Hag is more than just a generic villain but rather an entertaining one. Heck, this is considered to be very in-character for Popeye because he made an honor in the source material including this movie that he would never hit a woman no matter how vile, evil, and ugly they are.
 * 21) The ending where Popeye finally hits Bluto with a punch is pretty funny which reflects Popeye and Bluto's long-time rivalry showing that you should never mess with Popeye.
 * 22) Nearly at the end of the film after beating Bluto, Popeye sings a brief song that he would typically sing just like in the cartoons which is such a nice nod to the source material.
 * 23) Despite going more a mostly comedic tone that fits well with Popeye, sometimes it knows when to be more serious and dark in a good way without being jarring. So you see, even Popeye would need a chance to be serious at a given time.
 * 24) Believe it or not, there is a limited-time version of the film that was released alongside the film. The other version of the film appears to be a black and white version of the film complete with a filter that closely resembles those of the lines that blink a lot which works kinda like how some movies have a regular or IMAX version of a film or how some anime films have either a subbed or dubbed version. The black and white version of the film does make a good reflection of how the older Popeye cartoons were black and white which is a good callback to those who have seen the originals that had no color.
 * 25) After having some duds like Popeye and Son and Popeye's Island Adventures, this film brings back the charm of what made Popeye special in the first place thanks to its good humor and whatnot.
 * 26) This gave Popeye as a franchise much more attention overall in a good way. The success of the film helped Popeye get much more recognition after a lot of duds from the past including 2021 video game that was bad. So you can tell everyone deserves a chance.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) There are some contradictions with many Popeye-related media. To be fair, however, Popeye's story, characterization, lore, and stories vary a lot thus having no continuity yet still.
 * 2) Even though the animation is good it can sometimes be a bit uncanny at times albeit this is intentional.
 * 3) While the story is good, it can be a bit cliche as well. One can still argue that the film does not take itself seriously for intentional reasons yet still.
 * 4) For some reason there is some brief mention of some product placement consisting of 7-Eleven and McDonalds (referred to as Mickey D's). You might think it's anachronism due to the film's time period but keep in mind that 7-Eleven opened in 1927 while McDonald's was opened in 1940.
 * 5) Plot hole: Even though The Sea Hag would need the gem to live, it kinda contradicts that she doesn't have a gem elsewhere and she can live without it. Though this is a different take on Popeye.
 * 6) Though funny, the fish characters that sometimes pop out can also be a bit annoying. Though they are not prominent characters and don't hog up the screen time.

Production
Popeye had an animated film planned as early as March 2010 with Sony Pictures Animation being involved in the project. It was going to be released around 2016 with Genndy being the director. It was canceled due to some employee management at Sony of some type and he wanted to work on other projects that he intended to do. On May 11, 2020, it was announced that a Popeye movie is in development at King Features Syndicate with Genndy Tartakovsky coming back to the project yet on July 21, 2022, Genndy said the project was dead. Despite this, Genndy did give the Popeye movie a second chance after completing Fixed thus Sony gave Genndy the OK to bring back Popeye on the big screen and in production at Sony Pictures Animation. So in other words, development hell.

Reception
The film has gotten very positive reviews from both critics and fans alike with a whopping 93% on Rotten Tomatoes with the flavor text stating "Popeye manages to take fans and newbies alike to a voyage at the sea filled with fun, heart, and laughter" while Metacritic gave it a "Generally favorable reviews". It was praised for its faithfulness to Popeye's cartoons and comics and managed to win plenty of awards.

Trivia

 * The diamond that would have given Popeye spinach powers does not happen in this version because some Popeye cartoons had Olive and Bluto consume spinach and got strength so instead the gem did not power up Popeye's spinach and instead Popeye would have learned that since he was put in a crate with spinach he has lived with spinach during the predicament he was with thus getting very used to spinach so much that he became strong and healthy.
 * Popeye was originally going to be an outcast but that element was scrapped. The animatic version did have that plot element.
 * Popeye and Pappy in the canceled Sony movie do not have a pipe but in this version of the film they do.
 * As a result there has been some outcry by a few moral guardians who wanted Popeye's and Pappy's pipes to be removed thinking that it promotes kids to take drugs even though the film does not intend to teach kids to use drugs just because Popeye has a pipe.
 * There was going to be a scene where Popeye mocks the 2021 game but it was scrapped due to being out of place.