Who remembers the lovable sailor with anchors tattooed on his forearms and the inevitable corn pipe in his mouth? He is in a constant conflict with the rugged guy Badja, who keeps shooting at the sailor's girlfriend Oliva, but thanks to spinach, the not-so-rugged sailor gains enormous strength with the help of which he easily defeats Badja.
Those of us who grew up watching cartoons at 19:15 will easily recognize the legendary Popeye in the description above. But did you know that this sailor also has his own village that you can visit?
Popeye's village, also known as Sweethaven Village, was a purpose-built village with a film set, which was subsequently transformed into a small attraction amusement park made up of a collection of rustic and dilapidated wooden buildings. It is located in Prajjet/Anchor Bay, 3 km from the center of the village of Mellieħa in Malta.
A story about the history of the village
The village was built as a film set for the production of the 1980 feature musical film 'Popeye' produced by Paramount Pictures and Walt Disney Productions starring Robin Williams and Shelley Duvall. After filming, it was opened to the public as an open-air museum and resort.
Construction of the film set began in June 1979. A construction crew of 165 people worked for seven months to build the village, which consists of nineteen wooden buildings. Hundreds of logs and several thousand wooden planks were imported from the Netherlands, while the wooden shingles used for the roofs were imported from Canada.
A seventy-meter breakwater was also built around the entrance to Anchor Bay to protect the set during filming.
The village was completed in seven months, with filming beginning on January 23, 1980 and ending later that year, on June 19. The plot of the film, based on the comics by EC Segara, takes place around the fictional village of Sweethaven, where the sailor Popeye arrives in an attempt to find his long-lost father.
The film received mixed reviews, but Popeye's Village became a popular tourist attraction
Fun with lots of interactive content
Popaje's village is open to visitors seven days a week and, in addition to the film set itself, offers a number of family attractions that visitors can experience. There are shows, rides and museums on offer, as well as playhouses where children can climb and explore the countryside. Children can meet the main characters from the series such as Popaj, Oliva, Badžo and little Kićo.
Some of the houses in Popeye Village are furnished with items related to the filming, including props used in the production of the film.
In the center of Popeye's Village Lower Complex, visitors can watch a 15-minute audio-visual history and information show that includes clips from the actual film and set construction. This cinema can accommodate about 40 people and has a show every hour.
The performers and animators at Popeye's Village provide entertainment for the whole family, and many of the shows in the repertoire are based on communicating with the audience. There are puppet shows that are fully interactive with children in the audience, musical and theatrical performances, a play that explores the old secret of Sweethaven in which the audience has the opportunity to ask questions to discover the end of the story, and many other entertaining contents.
Cover photo: Pixabay, Author: Magdalena Smolnicka
