Popeye - a small village in Malta that does not really exist

In the late 1970s, Walt Disney decided to make a film about the brave sailor Popeye, a cartoon and comic book hero who was very fond of American children. The film was a failure: the film company expected it to become a real blockbuster, but this did not happen. But nevertheless, thanks to this musical comedy, two things happened: the role of the sailor became the first serious work of Robin Williams in the cinema (before that he was shot only on television), and the village of Popeye appeared in Malta, which can be seen today.

The film takes place in the village of Sweetheven, spread out on the seashore. And this village became a reality: the film crew built up a whole village, choosing the ideal place for it - the island of Malta. This ridge of colorful houses is located three kilometers from the town of Mellieha, right on the coast. The village began to be built in the summer of 1979, a team of 165 people worked on it for seven months. And as a result, 19 lovely tree houses grew in Anchor Bay. Logs for them were brought from the Netherlands, and wooden tiles from Canada. Built around the bay and the breakwater, which protects Popeye from the open sea.

As a result, the film failed, but the set remained. Over time, there appeared all kinds of entertainment, souvenir shops, and the village itself turned into an open-air museum. Many houses have been equipped with the requisite from the shoot, and inside they look the same as four decades ago: all the same tables and chairs, the same curtains on the windows and wooden verandas from where you can watch the sunset. 100/100