I'm surprised there are loopholes. I guess the not letting anyone touch his work only meant he didn't want anyone to forge the comic strip (something that happened to most comic strips over time, the quality lags... but then again, that usually happens when the same guy still does it) or to make television specials that weren't based on his previous works. Boom's comic books have new stories with some Sunday Strips reprinted, and they're of pretty high quality and only available in volumes of 4. I just wonder what that could mean for a movie. Will they manage to make a new story line, or will it be based on months of strips, like Happiness is a Warm Puppy was.I thought Charles Schultz didn't want anyone to touch the Peanuts? While he was alive he didn't want anyones ideas but his own. Because it didn't feel like it was his anymore if he did. He wanted the same after he died.
But it's like why not. They will become forgettable if you don't air or think of them once the next generation comes around. They had it stapled in their minds that "people still know who Popeye is". But it's like nower days Popeye cartoons don't get aired anymore as to back then. So him and anything can be forgettable in time.
As for Popeye, at least he's having his own comeback. He's still beloved by classic animation fans and all, but he doesn't have anything near the exposure he used to have. No syndicated programing blocks of old Popeye cartoons for example. But Roger Langridge's IDW published comic is great... almost a Thimble Theater forgery with rare examples of references (and even then, the only references were to Tintin and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, fleeting ones at that)... and even respects to very obscure Thimble Theater characters like O.G. Whattaschnozzle in back up comics. I wish they'd take a cue from Langridge and go full on classic Popeye. Thimble Theater strips were the best.