Two sailors Sindbad and Popeye decide to test themselves in order to prove their supremacy. Popeye is then presented with a series of daunting tasks by Sindbad.
Popeye the Sailor, accompanied by Olive Oyl and Wimpy, is dispatched to stop the dreaded bandit Abu Hassan and his force of forty thieves.
Popeye sails to Goon Island in search of his Pappy. He finds the place populated by the imposing, but ugly, goons, and a "no humans" sign. His imprisoned pappy at first ignores him, but when Popeye is caught by the goons and carried off, his can of spinach lands near Pappy and it works just as well on him as it does on Popeye.
In Judge Wimpy's courtroom, Bluto accuses Popeye of assault and battery; he claims to have been attacked by him on several occasions, without provocation. Popeye then tells his side.
Popeye and Bluto are, believe it or not, pals and partners in a moving company. (Maybe it's because Popeye isn't squinting here.) Anyhow, Olive has made the mistake of hiring them. She hasn't finished packing yet, so the boys, smitten as soon as she answers the door, compete to help her. Once packed, they compete to move more impressive piles of her belongings. Popeye easily wins these contests, even though Bluto locks him in the van at one point. At the end, Bluto socks Popeye into the piano, then into a table; though he hardly seems to need it, Popeye still eats his spinach, then thrashes Bluto.
Bluto is the boxing champ, Popeye his challenger, Wimpy the timekeeper. Popeye is pounded mercilessly until Olive comes by with a can of spinach.
Popeye takes Olive mountain climbing. Bluto sets various traps for them along the way.
Popeye is wooing Olive on the phone when Bluto comes over. He overhears, taps into the line, and impersonates Popeye. They proceed to have a high-wire fight on the telephone lines outside Olive's house.
Popeye applies for a lifeguard job when he sees Olive in the pool, but Bluto also wants the job (and Olive). The manager, Wimpy, asks them to demonstrate their skills in a contest. Popeye does well, until Bluto demonstrates lifesaving and first aid on him.
Popeye takes Swee'pea to the zoo and spends most of his time rescuing the tot from the various animals.
Popeye teaches Olive the art of self-defense, which comes in handy when a woman boxer flirts with him.
Popeye is running a women's gymnasium next door to Bluto's cabaret. Seeing Popeye's greater success with women, Bluto dresses in drag and challenges Popeye to various feats of strength.
Popeye and Olive, adrift on a raft, land on what apparently is Africa, and are immediately battling elephants and gorillas (also a moose!). Popeye eventually battles an entire menagerie at once - after first gulping down a can of spinach, of course.
Popeye skates over to Olive's house to give her a Christmas present: ice skates of her own. While he's teaching her, Bluto skates up and gets fresh; of course, Popeye fights him. When Olive rejects Bluto again, he sends her careening on an ice floe towards a waterfall.
Popeye and Bluto stop by to see Olive and fix her leaky faucet. Popeye does it better, and Bluto gets jealous, so he starts rerouting Olive's plumbing and causing all sorts of leaks.
Olive is reading a romance novel and munching on a gift box of candy from Bluto when Popeye drops by. She's too absorbed to notice him, so he feigns illness. The doctors are at a loss for a cure.
Popeye takes Olive roller skating in a rink. She's never skated before, so he has to teach her, and she's not a quick learner. Before long Olive ends up outside the rink, rolling wildly out of control.
Olive tells Popeye and Bluto that she loves a man in a uniform, so they try to sign up at the recruiting station - that can only take one of them.
Popeye drives up to take Olive for a ride, but Bluto in his much fancier car does what he can to spoil their jaunt.
Bluto dirties all of an office building's windows himself, to drum up business for his window cleaning service. When he gets to Olive's stenographer office, about ten floors up, she says no: Popeye's going to wash her windows. And the battle with Popeye is on.