This is a follow up to a post I made in January of last year, make sure to read it first.
Popeye is in the Public Domain now, but many aspects of his lore are not yet, most notable some key supporting characters like Bluto.
Some have made a thing out of the Spinach connection technically being added years later, but that lame Horror movie felt safe including it. Since Spinach itself as a real vegetable can't be Copyrighted there's a good chance including it in ways other then as a Power Up is probably fine.
Poopdeck Pappy will be one of the last major Popeye characters to enter the PD. But on some level now that Popeye's the PD can you really copyright the idea of having a character who looks like him but older and saying that's his Dad? It's really just a matter of specific names. (For years my ideal fan casting for Popeye's dad has been Michael Hogan most known for playing Colonel Tight in BSG 2004, but due to his recent Medical Concerns he may not be acting again in the future.)
Maybe you can try to argue the same thing about Bluto? A Character who's at his core just Bigger bad Popeye? But I think that'd be a harder case to argue, and that no fans of the character would be happy with a version changed and renamed to avoid Copyright.
I want to return to the topic of the biggest next year entrant, Betty Boop. I've recently learned she was originally an Anthropomorphic Dog and that the the Character Design we usually think of when we hear the name isn't introduced till 1932. Now I wouldn't be opposed to Mahou Shoujo Betty Boop also being a Dog Girl Furry. But still what people really want to see won't be available till 2028.
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