In 1980, Paramount Pictures and Walt Disney Productions undertook to
produce a Popeye adventure movie in Malta. They spent a great deal of
money to construct a set adapted to the story - an old type Canadian seaside
village.
Special wood was imported from Canada and it-took seven months to complete
the construction work, with 165 men working round the clock. The nineteen
wooden structures which make up Sweethaven, as the village was called,
include sailors' taverns, a hotel, a school-house, a store, a post office
and a church.
After more than a decade, Sweethaven still occupies the craggy slope
at Anchor Bay, a lonely cove just one kilometre west of Mellieha Bay.
The Village, which is managed by a private company, has been turned into
a tourist attraction. Many local and foreign visitors, particularly children,
visit this curious film-set, and stroll in the enchanting world which
the film industry has created around the fascinating character of Popeye,
the Sailor Man.
The calm sea at Anchor Bay heightens the attraction of the place. Many
go there for a quiet outing with the children. Line fishermen take their
seat on the little quay left by the film company: others prefer to take
a dip in the refreshing waters of the secluded bay.
