Malta - Popeye Village

I don't know why I was so keen to visit the Popeye Village when we were in Malta - I have no particular affection for the film, and won't have seen it for a good 20 years... I can't even pretend I wanted to go for the kids sake,  because they were barely aware that a fictional character called Popeye even existed. 

 I guess the answer is 'because it looked cute', and sometimes that's enough.

It did also help that the Popeye Village, the original filming location for the 1980 Robin Williams film, was within cosy walking distance of our hotel (I don't think I'd have convinced the kids another day out on the bus would be what they really wanted to do!) 

I was utterly charmed by the little village of Sweethaven, the ramshackle buildings and higgledy-piggledy houses were all just lovely to look at. 

Not jut for looking though - many of the cute buildings were used as shops, cafes or mini-museums, while others gave you the opportunity to look round the interiors of some of the films sets (like Olive Oyl's house, below).

You'd see some of the characters walking around the village too, and they do the occasional little show. I do wonder about these kinds of jobs sometimes .... like you go to the bank to apply for a mortgage and you have to explain to the bank guy that your job is being Popeye the Sailor Man. Anyway, these guys were all super! 

The village was built into Anchor Bay, and its' just the prettiest little cove. They do run boat trips out here included in the entrance fee, apparently, but this sadly wasn't running on the day we visited (weather was a bit iffy to be fair!)

There were a couple of games set up for the youngsters, and we found not one but two mini golf courses...

... and for reasons I'm not quite sure about, a little Christmas workshop. We all thought Santa spent all year at the North Pole preparing but looks like he might hand round in Malta a lot too - - can't really blame him to be fair! 

Without doubt, the best thing we did at Popeye Village was get involved with making a film. Twice a day, visitors have the opportunity to recreate a bit of cinema magic and star in a film they can then take away on DVD to cherish forever. 

The film was genuinely brilliant and hilarious and we all had loads of fun making it. I imagine it could be a different scenario depending on who was in your group, but ours was a gangs of good eggs. All the dads in particular really put a lot into their roles, it was quite impressive! 

Making the film took around an hour and a half to two hours (including screening time). If we hadn't taken part in that, I can't imagine it'd have taken us too long to explore the little village, lovely as it is, so it really added a lot to our experience and made this a really full afternoon out. 

I imagine if you have a particular love for the 1980 movie, Popeye in general, or just the process of set production and filming of movies, this would be a cracking place to visit. If you don't know the movie and don't care about Popeye,.. it's still definitely a well worth a trip!