Genndy Tartakovsky’s ‘Popeye’ Feature May Live Again
by Erik Amaya
Samurai Jack creator Genndy Tartakovsky may have found another can of spinach.
Animation Magazine reports the director has teamed up with Popeye owner King Features to produce an animated film based on the comic strip sailor man. Tartakovsky was originally scheduled to helm a Popeye film for Sony back in 2012. The studio went so far as to release a brief video of test animation a few years later. Nevertheless, Tartakovsky walked away from the project sometime in 2015 while making Hotel Transylvania 2 for the studio. By that point, Sony was interested in something different.
Which is strange, considering how well the test reel marries Popeye with the studio’s overall animated feature tone. It feel like a cousin to Hotel Transylvania or The Smurfs.
Of course, this is all still early going and, it seems, King Features will still need to find a studio home for the project. But considering Tartakovsky’s strength as a pure animation genius and a maker of broadly-appealing 3D animated features, it should be long before Popeye finds some solid ground to weigh anchor.
Unless, of course, a Sea Hag or Bluto appears out of the mists to prevent the project once again.
