Sony Developing Popeye Computer Animated 3D Movie

[GreenScar]

Grew up with Popeye. Interested in seeing how this develops. Not excited Arad is producing though.

Sony has announced that they will be bringing a computer animated adaptation of Popeye to the big screen in 3D. The film will be released under the Sony Pictures Animation label, with Sony Pictures ImageWorks handling the computer animation. The real-look Popeye image above is probably far too scary for the animated film adaptation, but I’d much rather see a film featuring the character design of Rick Baker. At least that might be interesting.

Producer Avi Arad, who use to be attached to huge films like Spider-Man, has found himself more recently attached to films like Robosapien: Rebooted and the Bratz movie. Looks like that departure from Marvel really worked out for him. Former Variety writer Mike Jones, who was laid off from the Hollywood trade paper a year ago, is in talks to script the adaptation.

The storyline is being kept under wraps, but I’m pretty sure it won’t be good. We do know that Popeye’s love interest Olive Oyl, arch nemesis Bluto and adopted child Swee’Pea will be featured in the movie. Arad told Variety that the new film “will cover the themes of friendship, love, greed and life, and focus on human strengths and human frailties.”

Popeye first appeared in a comic strip in 1929, and became a cartoon in the 1930’s with a series of shorts produced by Max and Dave Fleischer’s Fleischer Studios. The last time Popeye was on the big screen it was in the notorious disaster starring Robin Williams and directed by Robert Altman in 1980.