Malta ~ Popeye Village

 Popeye Village, also known as Sweethaven Village, is a group of rustic and ramshackle wooden buildings located at Anchor Bay in the north-west corner of the Mediterraneanisland of Malta, two miles from the village of Mellieħa.

It was built as a film set for the production of the 1980 live-action musical feature film Popeye, produced by Paramount Pictures and Walt Disney Productions and starring Robin Williams. Today it is open to the public as an open-air museum and family entertainment complex.

The construction of the film set started in June 1979. A construction crew of 165 working over seven months was needed to build the village, which consists of nineteen authentic wooden buildings. Hundreds of logs and several thousand wooden planks were imported from the Netherlands, while wood shingles used in the construction of the roof tops were imported from Canada. Eight tons of nails and two thousand gallons of paint were also used in construction.

In addition, a 200–250 foot breakwater was built around Anchor Bay's mouth to protect the set from high seas during the shooting.

The set was completed in seven months, and filming commenced on January 23, 1980. The film, based on the comic strips by E.C. Segar, is set around the fictional village of Sweethaven where the sailor Popeye arrives in an attempt to find his long lost father.

Although the film was initially perceived to be a failure, Popeye Village remains a popular tourist attraction.

opeye Village is open to the public seven days a week and, apart from the film set itself, has a number of family attractions for the visitor to experience. There are shows, rides and museums, as well as play houses where children can climb and explore the village. Children may also get to meet the main characters from the show such as Popeye, Olive Oyl, Bluto and Wimpy.