Search form

Tartakovsky Exits Sony’s ‘Popeye’

Director finishing ‘Hotel Transylvania 2’ before moving on to original project ‘Can You Imagine?’

In an interview published earlier today on Moviefone.com, director Genndy Tartakovsky dropped word he has left Popeye and will be moving onto his own project with Sony Pictures Animation, Can You Imagine? Putting a polite spin on the recent upheaval at the studio, Tartakovsky was quoted as saying, “I was in love with what we were doing, but I think the studio is going through changes and I don’t know if they want to make the 'Popeye' that I want to make.”  He went on to say, “Right now, I’m off that project and moving on to the other one we soft-announced, which is Can You Imagine?...It was hard to let Popeye go, but that’s the business.”

Popeye was announced with great fanfare last March. A significant amount of great looking visual development imagery and an animation test were released the latter part of last year, lending hope to the idea that one of animation’s most venerable properties was in good hands and positively moving forward. No word has yet been given by the studio as to what the film’s future will be.

Dan Sarto's picture

Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.