Popeye's Voyage: The Quest for Pappy

Popeye's Voyage: The Quest for Pappy
DVD cover
Based on	Popeye by Elzie Crisler Segar
Written by	Paul Reiser Jim Hardison
Directed by	Ezekiel Norton
Voices of	Billy West Tabitha St. Germain Garry Chalk Sanders Whiting Kathy Bates
Composers	Mark Mothersbaugh Kevin Kliesch
Country of origin	United States Canada
Original language	English
Production
Producers	Gio Corsi Barbara Zelinski
Editor	Colin Adams
Running time	47 minutes
Production companies	King Features Entertainment Mainframe Entertainment Nuance Productions
Original release
Network	Fox
Release	November 9, 2004 (2004-11-09)

Popeye's Voyage: The Quest for Pappy is a 2004 animated Christmas television special produced by Mainframe Entertainment for Lions Gate Entertainment and King Features Entertainment, in association with Nuance Productions. The special, created to coincide with the 75th anniversary of the Popeye the Sailor comic strip character from E. C. Segar's Thimble Theatre, first aired on Fox on December 17, 2004, and was rebroadcast on the same network on December 30, 2005.

Plot

Popeye is on a quest to find his missing father Poopdeck Pappy. Popeye is dogged by nightmares warning him that his Pappy, who abandoned him as a child, is in danger and needs him, so he bravely sets out on the open sea to find his long-lost father and reunite with him for the Christmas holidays. Accompanied by the admiring Olive Oyl, the brawny Bluto, the hungry Wimpy, and little Swee'Pea, he heads for the Sea of Mystery, which happens to be in the evil Sea Hag's domain. Strange things begin to happen along the way, as the group encounters sirens, serpents, and menacing mists. This was clearly all of the Sea Hag's attempts to destroy Popeye for good.

Cast

• Billy West as Popeye and Poopdeck Pappy
• Tabitha St. Germain as Olive Oyl and Swee'Pea
• Garry Chalk as Bluto
• Sanders Whiting as J. Wellington Wimpy
• Kathy Bates as Siren and Sea Hag

Production

Originally this special was set to be produced by Will Vinton, but when Vinton lost his studio in 2002, it was taken over by Mainframe Entertainment. Prior to the release, animator Joel Brinkerhoff wrote about Vinton's initial version of the CGI special (in response to an April 12, 2004 Cartoon Brew post which showcased an image from MainFrame's producton):

"I have mixed emotions looking at the Popeye still you posted. It was a project that I personally had worked on with great anticipation; it was also the project that helped remove Will Vinton from his studio after 27 years.

It's true that Paul Rieser [sic] wrote a version of the script, and not to discredit his input, he is a name that people will recognize. Jim Hardison wrote the last draft that I am aware of and I know he went back to the original Thimble Theater strip that Segar created for his characterizations.

I would have been a lead animator and co-animation director had the projected [sic] stayed with Vinton. I did models from the Fleischer models sheets and mouth charts for the cg modelers so the look would have the same integrity as the classic cartoons, (see below). I don't know if any cg models from Vinton are being used.

Time will tell how successfully MainFrame made their translation; it's all speculation as to what Will Vinton Studios would have done."

Billy West described the production as "the hardest job I ever did, ever" and the voice of Popeye as "like a buzzsaw in your throat."

See also

• List of Christmas films

External links

• Popeye's Voyage: The Quest for Pappy at IMDb
• Popeye's Voyage: The Quest for Pappy at Rotten Tomatoes