Popeye (film) - Plot

Plot

One night, Popeye (Robin Williams) rows his dinghy into the harbor of the Sweethaven. When he arrives there everyone seems to fear him merely because he is a stranger. He rents a room at the Oyls' boarding house, where he falls for their daughter, Olive (Shelley Duvall). Olive's hand has been promised to Captain Bluto (Paul L. Smith), a bully and ruffian who is in charge of collecting taxes for the mysterious Commodore. Popeye and Bluto are quick to dislike each other and fight.

Popeye, who was orphaned at an early age, is searching for his missing father. Along the way he encounters George W. Geezil (Richard Libertini), J. Wellington Wimpy (Paul Dooley), "Oxblood Oxheart" (Peter Bray), and a greedy, unnamed taxman (Donald Moffat). Popeye and Olive are brought together when they find Swee'Pea (Wesley Ivan Hurt), a foundling. Swee'Pea can predict the future, whistling when he hears the right answer to a question.

Popeye allows Wimpy to take Swee'Pea on a walk, but Wimpy takes him to the horse race. Wimpy uses Swee'Pea's power to find out which horse will win. Popeye and Olive Oyl are mad at Wimpy. Popeye then throws the tax collector into the sea, making the entire town happy. While the town is celebrating Popeye's victory, Wimpy steals Swee'Pea and gives him to Bluto. Popeye hurries to find Swee'Pea, but it is too late.

When Swee'Pea is kidnapped, Popeye and Olive Oyl go looking for him. Olive and Wimpy learn that Swee'Pea was taken on the Commodore's ship, and it turns out that the Commodore is Popeye's father, Poopdeck Pappy (Ray Walston). Bluto has tied up Pappy, and is going to use Swee'Pea to find Pappy's treasure. When Olive and Wimpy tell Popeye what they have discovered, Popeye thinks it is a joke and goes to the Commodore's ship to prove them wrong. He finds the Commodore and sees the family resemblance. He learns from his father the secret to gaining great strength by eating spinach, but states his dislike of it, infuriating Pappy.

Bluto kidnaps Swee'Pea and Olive Oyl, then sails to an island on which the Commodore has said his treasure is located. He tries using Swee'Pea's predictive ability to locate the treasure. Popeye, Pappy, Wimpy and their friends chase Bluto to Pirate's Cove. Using a cannon, Pappy tries to sink Bluto's ship, but, in the end, has to ram it. Olive is trapped in a tube that is tossed in the water, and Pappy manages to get up on the cove with Swee'Pea and Popeye's friends.

Bluto and Popeye get into a sword fight. Bluto, being bigger and stronger, knocks Popeye into the water. A giant octopus tries to eat Olive. Pappy calls to Popeye and tells him that if he ate spinach he would not be losing. Bluto attempts to add insult to injury by forcing Popeye to eat a can of spinach, then wrapping him in chains and dropping him into the water. Popeye, now with extraordinary strength, shoots up from the water and defeats Bluto with a mighty punch. He then rescues Olive using a "Twisker Punch", sending the octopus flying into the air. Now beaten, Bluto turns yellow (literally) and swims out to sea, never to be heard from again.

Pappy finds his treasure, containing items from Popeye's infancy, including a picture of "Me Son". The characters sing "Popeye The Sailor Man", while Popeye dances and falls back in the water, only to pop back up smiling. The credits then play through a scene of the cove showing Bluto still swimming out to sea.