And there’s a horror game based off of it, not even a few hours since it became public domain
When the clock struck 12 midnight and January 1 hit, there is already a huge news going on in the entertainment industry. That is, Mickey Mouse, Disney’s most popular characters, effectively their mascot, is in the public domain! Which means if you have an art project, you can use the character* (*conditions apply).
There is a catch though, and that’s why we added “conditions apply”. You can only use the earliest form of the character, the one appearing in Steamboat Willie as the short is already public domain. As a copyrighted work that was made in 1928, the short effectively entered public domain status on January 1, 2024, 96 years since the short was made, as stated through US Copyright Law.
Not even a few hours in and several YouTube channels uploaded the short multiple times in droves. We can upload it here too if we want to, but you can just watch it on YouTube.
Steamboat Willie was based on a song called Steamboat Bill, a song by the vaudeville group The Leighton Brothers. The song, as well as the short, caused a massive interest in showboats and steamboats at the time. The song was covered by numerous other singers including Irving Kaufman (shown above) and Arthur Collins.
The short was groundbreaking at the time of its November 1928 release as it was one of the first cartoons to implement synchronized sound in an era where silent films dominated. Remember, recording technology is very expensive and hardly developed in its time and there was no colour (in case there are youngsters reading our articles, it gives a bigger perspective of how technology advanced throughout the years and decades).
Of course, that was not the primary reason why this short is popular and culturally significant. This was the short that introduced the iconic little mouse we all know and love and the character that shaped what Disney is today and is a huge symbol of the animation industry in general.
Steamboat Willie was not technically Mickey’s first appearance. He first appeared in a short called Plane Crazy in its test run. However, Steamboat Willie was released first and was the one prominently featured on Disney’s anniversary logos. And speaking of anniversaries, Steamboat Willie, and by extension, Mickey Mouse, entering public domain is truly symbolic of the state the company is in, as in, it’s not good. Universal Studios tramped it in the Box Office 2023 and most of its newly released films flopped, including its supposed 100th anniversary film, Wish.
Source: Time Magazine
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