If you like watching documentaries about video games, then there's a good chance you've seen Game Changers, which streaming now on the Discovery channel.
This eight-part limited series looks at "the history behind the most iconic games and how they went on to influence the world of pop culture and beyond" and features episodes on Nintendo, EA Sports, Call of Duty and Minecraft.
Naturally, a series like this relies heavily on the accumulated knowledge of an entire industry; not only does the production team behind it speak to some of the most notable people in gaming history, but each episode draws on the tireless research undertaken by countless historians and journalists – one of whom feels like she hasn't been appropriately credited.
"I loved Toys That Made Us, so was excited to learn they’re behind Game Changers," says "Critical Kate" Willaert on social media. "But while watching the Nintendo ep with Gaming Alexandria folks, I was shocked to see my own color sprite interpretations of Bluto and Olive. Not sure how I feel about that."
As you can see, Willaert's Popeye sprites feature in the footage. She created these sprites for use in her original video, which you can view below. This video digs into the creation of 1981's Donkey Kong, which began life as a Popeye video game.
It seems like The Nacelle Company, which is behind this show and several other pop culture series, has made this mistake before.
As was reported back in 2021, Nacelle's Behind the Attraction series for Disney+ used artwork without permission. To his credit, director Brian Volk-Weiss apologised directly to the artist whose work was used and re-edited the episode in question to properly credit them.
It remains to be seen if similar action will be taken to credit Willaert in this case.