Opper was one of the most popular comic creators of his time. "Happy Hooligan" and his other popular strips were collected in book form and developed into merchandise products. The comic got translated as well and was, together with the "Katzenjammer Kids" and "And Her Name Was Maud", one of the first North American comics to be published in Argentina, as "Cocoliche". The comic was also probably the very first American comic strip adapted for films, when J. Stuart Blackton directed six live-action shorts (1900–03). Some 15 years later, it was adapted for more than 50 animated cartoons, released from 1916 to 1921.