The comic strip adaptation Popeye hit theaters in December 1980. Directed by Robert Altman, it starred Robin Williams as the iconic spinach-eating titular hero and Shelley Duvall as Olive Oyl.

Thimble Theater had already been running in the New York Journal for a decade — Popeye was merely a one-arc guest character in the adventures of Ham Gravy (boyfriend to Olive Oyl) and Castor Oyl ...