#mickey cartoons

[prokopetz]

Mickey Mouse's entry into the public domain comes with significant caveats. While the Mickey Mouse who appears in Steamboat Willie (and other media published in 1928 or earlier) is free to use, there's established precedent that specific elements of a character which appear exclusively in later works which still fall under copyright may be protected, if sufficiently distinctive.

(This is the basis of, e.g., the infamous "Sherlock Holmes can't respect women" lawsuit: the Doyle estate, which at the time owned only a tiny handful of the latest-written stories, the others having already fallen into the public domain, argued that specific personality traits which Holmes exhibits only in those later stories are sufficiently distinctive as to be the valid subject of an infringement claim.)

With respect to various elements of Mickey's visual design, such as his red shorts and signature gloves, the matter is clear: just don't use those for another few years. However, there's another thing Mickey's public domain iterations don't exhibit: speech.

The present consensus among copyright scholars seems to be that "a character speaking" is not sufficiently distinctive as to qualify for protection, but the vocal characterisation with which Mickey Mouse is famously associated may so qualify. So, if you want to be scrupulously safe, you can have him talk, but not in that exact specific voice.

Which raises a fun question: what voice would you give him? Wrong answers only.

[todayontumblr]

Wednesday, January 3.

Set sail for Freedom Island, baby.

Thomas, there's a mouse in the house. But don't worry, Thomas, this isn't a problem, as this isn't just any mouse. This little pal is more than welcome in our house, as it happens. That is because this here is Mickey Mouse, and our smiley rodent friend is here to stay. 

Copyright on the 1928 Disney short animation Steamboat Willie has expired and entered the public domain. Tumblr is being delightfully Tumblr about it. Welcome aboard. *whistles* 

@ifwebefriends

[angelleplaytoonbeary]

🎃🕸️ Halloween Movie AU First Advance 🕸️🎃

I've had this idea in mind for quite some time, and I even wanted to share it this year. However, I didn't know how to organize myself well and ended up postponing it for two Octobers. Now, with better planning, I make this small project known to you and I hope to finally be able to dedicate good work to it, even with my insecurities.

Enjoy the first four designs, there are still more to come!! :3

✨💜✨💜✨💜✨

[atomic-chronoscaph]

The Mad Doctor (1933)

[infernothechaosgod]

"What voice should public mickey hav-"

May I present my suggestion

✨️None✨️

[toonfoolery101]

Mickey's sister

[mistergaspertoons]

Ducks

[toontiedterror]

"Your retirement party has been long overdue, Mickey. So now I'm bringing you with me."

Art by my talented brother @blankboyo

[dictatortirah]

How do you do it

[ryssbelle]

Mickey mouse cartoon reference go brrr

[adventurelandia]

The Haunted House (1929)

[hpkomic]

Captain Mick "Steamboat" Williams, better known as "Steamboat Willie" wrested control of his boat from his corrupt former captain and travels the Mississippi in the search for adventure and treasure, pursued by dangerous river pirates.

First drawing of 2024. Available for commissions. :)

[angelleplaytoonbeary]

🎃 Happy Halloween 2024!! 🎃

The toons have cosplayed!!! Can ya guess?? ✨✨✨ :O

[mylittlevintageworld]

[enlightenedrobot]

Other Characters you can legally use for your Mickey Mouse project

Mickey Mouse is in the public domain, as is Minnie Mouse and Peg-leg Pete. There's some caveats to that, and I talk about that more in this other post, but for now, let's talk about other characters who you can also use to fill out the cast.

These characters should all be in the public domain, though some characters still have treademarks. I'll get into how to use them safely as we go. Anyways, let's start.

Other Disney Characters

Disney obvciously doesn't advertise this, but there's actually quite a few Disney originals who've actually been in the public domain for a while.

The Mad Doctor never had it's copyright renewed, and so it's very technically the first Mickey Mouse cartoon to enter the public domain. Keep in mind, the version of Pluto featured in the short isn't in the domain just yet, but the Doctor himself is free to use.

What's funny is that Disney would later use a version of Doctor for Epic Mickey. Obviously don't use that version of the character.

Aside from the Mad Doctor, we also have Oswald and Ortensia

Yeah, as it turns out, Oswald's been in the public domain for quite a while, but he's still trademarked by Disney. Easy recommendation... use the original "fat" design of the character and have him go by Lucky.

But before Oswald, we have the Alice Comedies

Everything about the Alice Comedies is Public Domain for a long time, and the Disney corporation very rarely acknowlege these characters existence. Which is a shame because These shorts were some of the first shorts Walt ever produced, and they have the unique gimmick of featuring a live action girl in an animated world.

Everybody already knows about Oswald, but nobody talks about Oswald and Mickey's older brother from these shorts, Julius the Cat

Like... yeah no, it didn't all start with a mouse. Or a rabbit. It started with a cat.

Foxy and Milton Mouse

Both Foxy (top) and Milton (bottom, pictured with his girlfriend Rita Mouse) were characters created by Warner Brothers and Van Beuren respectively to cash in on Mickey's success, and both characters are also in the public domain.

In fact, all Van Beuren cartoons are apparently in the public domain, and I encourage you to find their cartoons and use them as you please.

Fleischer Characters

Betty Boop is probably in the Public Domain, but there's a few caveats with this. From what I can tell, the name Betty Boop is trademarked, but the character herself isn't. Most of the old Betty Cartoons are free to use, but newer incarnations, including the versions used in 1985's The Romance of Betty Boop and 1989's The Betty Boop Movie Mystery are still very much under copyright.

To avoid any legal trouble, I have two big recommendations. Although everybody remembers Betty as having Black hair, in one of the few early instances of Betty being shown in color, she's actually depicted as Redhead.

This is Betty Boop in 1934's Poor Cinderella, and her hair color is pretty clearly red.

The other option is to just make her black.

Though there's been some debate as to whether Betty Boop was intentionally modeled after Esther Lee Jones or not, there's still no denying the influence of Jazz on the character. Betty Boop is a Jazz singer and is often depicted dancing to Cab Calloway. Hell, the Betty Boop musical features Jasmine Amy Rogers as the titular character.

Betty Boop aside, there's an entire world of defunct Betty Boop characters who are definately public domain, including Bimbo and Koko the Clown.

Next year, Popeye's also gonna enter the Domain. So keep an eye out for him too.

Anyways, these are my picks, but obviously this list isn't meant to be comprehensive. There's a ton of old cartoon characters out there who can be freely reinterpreted into newer works. Feel free to add your own favorite public domain cartoon to the list.