. . . of movie characters supposedly spending extended time periods deep under water, breathing and talking with no apparent discomfort, as if they possess a secret unseen set of gills. Among live-action pictures, Esther Williams may have appeared in many such outings, but she was not as brazen about defying the Laws of the Sea as are Popeye and Brutus during POPEYE AND BUDDY BRUTUS. More recently, AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER has come close to equaling the implausible construct of this Popeye episode. When the pair of title characters' row boats bump into each other on a body of water that resembles a placid pond or serene stream more than one of the Seven Seas at its surface, Brutus suggests that the pair go skin diving. However, after Popeye immediately agrees to this suggestion, neither has any gear for such an underwater activity (except for Popeye's swim goggles). And It all goes downhill from there.