Opinion The Third edit | Popeye, Tintin: The free to use icons this New Years

The nostalgia behind these characters has found a new home as they go out of copyright in a few weeks but there is a time and place for characters of the past -- teaching old dogs new tricks can’t be sustainable

Popeye, Tintin, Popeye the Sailor Man, Alfred Hitchcock, Cecil B DeMille, and John Ford, editorial, Indian express, opinion news, indian express editorial

Every January 1, along with a fresh set of New Year resolutions, there are more free-to-use icons up for reinterpretation.

By: Editorial

December 18, 2024 06:45 AM IST First published on: Dec 18, 2024 at 06:45 AM IST

Oh, I’m Popeye the Sailor Man… I’m strong to the finich / Cause I eats me spinach…”. Popeye with spinach is like Thor with Mjolnir (his hammer) — strong and packing in a mighty punch. So the fact that the set of comic characters and literary works entering the public domain, after going out of copyright, includes only Popeye’s first appearance in 1929 by cartoonist E C Segar in the newspaper strip ‘Thimble Theater’ is disappointing. Popeye for free use will be a weak, stuttering sailor man, with no spinach, and obnoxiously bulging triceps that are of little help.

Fortunately, many other works of art will also be free to use from January 1, 2025. This includes the beloved Belgian reporter Tintin (from Hergé’s Tintin in the Land of the Soviets), masterpieces by William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck, Virginia Woolf and the earliest sound films from Alfred Hitchcock, Cecil B DeMille, and John Ford. As with Popeye, only the earliest version of Tintin will be available in the public domain, which excludes his red hair that didn’t appear until years later. Even so, Tintin’s Soviet adventure could perhaps be modified to erase some of the anti-socialist propaganda behind it. His first and only depiction of actually writing a newspaper report is also in this comic.

Every January 1, along with a fresh set of New Year resolutions, there are more free-to-use icons up for reinterpretation. Last year was Mickey and Minnie Mouse from Steamboat Willie. That some of the most adored characters are now in the public domain means endless creative possibilities. However, at a time when film franchises like Marvel are producing movies with minimal original storytelling, drawing on characters created several decades ago, it may be useful to have newer voices and give unconventional narratives a chance. Mickey Mouse and Winnie the Pooh are endearing on t-shirts — but when it comes to movies, a Maui Moana or a Miguel from Coco trumps any day.

# tintin