Hollywood, CA (WFN) -- Popeye turns 75 this Saturday (Jan. 17), but it's not a happy day for some fans of the spinach-chomping cartoon hero.

Fans who love the classic Popeye clips from the 1930s and '40s haven't been able to see them for decades because of a squabble over rights that has left the sailor man the only major cartoon star who doesn't have his classic films available on video.

Popeye fan club head Fred Grandinetti says he is heartbroken when mothers come to him asking where they can find the films for their kids, and he thinks its time that Time Warner and King Features end their dispute over distribution.

There is hope. Cartoon historian Jerry Beck says lawyers for both companies have been negotiating and it's likely they'll make a deal for a DVD this year.

Still, he says this casts a heavy shadow over the upcoming anniversary, which King Features is celebrating by turning the Empire State Building as green as Popeye's spinach.

In Beck's words, "It is foolish for King Features to celebrate Popeye's 75th birthday while still playing hardball over these classic films."

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