Popeye the Sailor is strong to the finish ’cause he eats his spinach and now he’s entered the public domain alongside thousands of other copyrighted works. This means the character is free to copy, use, and adapt in horror films, video games, and whatever else creators come up with.
With the turn of the New Year, the earliest version of Popeye reached the end of its 95-year period of copyright protection afforded to works in the US. Created by E.C. Segar, the character first appeared in a daily comic strip called Thimble Theatre in January 1929.
Though that version of Popeye was missing his spinach powers, Jennifer Jenkins, the director of Duke’s Center for the Study of the Public Domain, has confirmed the copyright from a 1931 strip when he first mentions spinach “has long been public domain.”
Another notable character who has entered the public domain is Tintin (and his pup Snowy). The two debuted in Le Petit Vingtième, a youth supplement to the Belgian newspaper Le Vingtième Siècle.
Popeye and Tintin join the Steamboat Willie version of Mickey Mouse and Winnie the Pooh in entering the public domain in recent years. Speaking of Mickey, 2025 has brought more than a dozen short films into the fold. This includes his first time speaking in The Karnival Kid and the animated debut of his signature white gloves in The Opry House.
Just like Winnie the Pooh and Mickey Mouse, horror directors have already set their sights on Popeye. Back in November, it was reported that three separate movies based on the character are in the works.