Paramount Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection Robin Williams as Popeye, Wesley Ivan Hurt as Swee’Pea and Shelley Duvall as Olive Oyl in 1980’s 'Popeye.' Robert Altman directed Williams — who stepped in for original star Dustin Hoffman — and Shelley Duvall in the film. The Hollywood Reporter's critic deemed it a "disappointment," but the movie went on to box office success. Popeye, which turns 40 this month, owes a debt to another beloved character: Little Orphan Annie. Producer Robert Evans desperately wanted to make Annie for Paramount. But when it went to Columbia, he was determined to make his own comic strip musical, and learned that Paramount owned