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enlightenedrobot · 5 months

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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.

#Mickey Mouse #Public Domain #Betty Boop #Koko the Clown #Foxy #Milton Mouse #The Mad Doctor #Oswald the Lucky Rabbit #Alice Comedies #Disney #Walt Disney #Max Fleischer #Warner Brothers.#Cartoons #Animation #Editorial

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ultrakillblast · 7 months

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THE MAD DOCTOR (1933)

#1933 #30s #horror #animation #mickey mouse #disney #the mad doctor #black and white #gifs

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rockhousejai · 3 months

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Ha ha little Epic Mickey AU where Mickey die by falling into thinner and get turn into an animatronic

(this takes place near the ending of the second game and is fill of pure angst)

#my art #art #drawing #digital art #mickey mouse #jai art #oswald the lucky rabbit #disney #epic mickey au #animatronic Mickey AU #bro died saving the mad doctor what a legend #ortensia the cat #traditional sketches #sketch book

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obwald · 9 months

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i have been developing and changing this oswald au for over a year and im finally (maybe) ready to post about it RAAHAHHH

This is the Animatronic Heart AU!

This AU explores the idea that Mad Doc tested animatronic parts on a toon on Oswald before he turned himself part animatronic. In general, Oswald is much more resentful and angry.

Below the break are some facts about the story/au

• Oswald had been much more of a shut in even before the thinner disaster, believing that he needed to keep working alongside mad doc to make improvements to wasteland. Mad Doc would leave the workshop while Oswald worked, so he relied on Doc to give him any news from outside. He rarely left their workshop and was unaware of the occurrence of the thinner disaster until it eventually hit the workshop

• he trusted mad doc with anything and everything, so when mad doc lied and said Wasteland was doing okay, oswald had no reason to doubt

• in Oswalds absence, ortensia took on the role of ruler of Wasteland. she was rightfully angry with oswald when he finally left the workshop to see the destruction that had occurred.

• she barely recognized Oswald, his outward appearance was the same but he was like a different person

• oswalds exposed animatronic parts used to be concealed by toon, but due to irreversible damage from the blot and thinner, some parts are now permanently showing.

• oswald can no longer fly. when mad doc was working on animatronic ears, he did not take into consideration the flying. the mechanical parts could not maneuver the same way. The gears in his ears were a later edition that were implemented to try and make an alternative way to fly, but ultimately never were finished. The gears currently serve no functional purpose.

• animatronic parts cannot be detached like toon parts.

• the animatronic parts also make him slower, but they do give him a stronger durability and can help conduct his electricity

• rumors spread around Wasteland about oswalds animatronic parts, and citizens began to theorize that he had done this to himself, and that he had built an animatronic heart in order to try and escape wasteland

• while he hated the rumors, he did like the idea of trying to make his own heart with what he knew from building animatronics, and began work on creating an animatronic heart

• because he was the first attempt, his animatronic parts are in terrible condition and he has to do constant maintenance on himself

• in this aus version of epic mickey 2, doc gets turned toon again in the end by the guardians, but Oswald remains with his animatronic parts, making him even more spiteful and angry towards the mad doctor.

• mad doc was able to manipulate Oswald in EM2 because of the relationship they once had, and doc painted it as if it was a mutual benefit partnership and that he would help him with his animatronic parts because he had been working on his own. all of this a ploy for trust and more experimentation

I feel like I have more to say but I can't think rn but yay okay that's it

#Animatronic Heart #Animatronic Heart AU #oswald the lucky rabbit #epic mickey #epic mickey 2 #oswald #mad doc #mad doctor #ortensia #ortensia whiskers #ortensia the cat #epic mickey au #oswald the lucky rabbit au #mickey mouse #oswald doodle corner

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ericaportfolio · 3 months

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WHO’S EXCITED FOR EPIC MICKEY COMING BACK?!?!

#epic mickey #mickey mouse #epic mickey oswald #epic mickey gremlins #oswald the lucky rabbit #gremlin gus #ortensia the cat #mad doctor #I SCREAMED IN MY CAR WHEN I FOUND OUT!

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teka-chat · 5 months

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This is for me, but I thought it might be useful to others so here it is : basically an over-20-page-long catalogue of some major Disney toons that are in the Public Domain, their associated copyright-free media, and lists of associated Disney trademarks, when applicable. List of characters under the cut !

Toons included :

Mickey Mouse

Minnie Mouse

Pete

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit

Fanny Cottontail

Ortensia the Cat

Clarabelle Cow

Horace Horsecollar

Julius the Cat

and as a bonus :

Mad Doctor

Alice ( from the Alice Comedies )

If you noticed i went missing on January 1st, this is why ! I've been hard at work day and night on this beast of a 27-page document ( with an additional 7 sub-documents for the trademark information, if you care about that ).

This is mostly just to have everything in one place. You decide what you do with it ! ( I know what I'm doing with it hehe. )

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skullsemi · 1 year

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It's too bad Dr. Frankenollie from Runaway Brain only appeared (and was killed off) in that one short, I think he'd be a really fun reoccurring antagonist for Mickey

I KNOW RIGHT HE WAS GREAT

He's like, a fusion of them:

I would actually love to see more of him, he looks sanely insane, a true underrated character

Plus he's too fun to sketch.

#inbox #runaway brain #dr frankenollie #peg leg pete #the mad doctor #professors ecks doublex and triplex #mickey mouse #mickey mouse short #disney #my art

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dj123vbasement · 5 months

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Some Epic Mickey warm up sketches

#epic mickey #my art #gremlin prescott #gremlin gus #oswald the lucky rabbit #mickey mouse #mad doctor

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tymime · 2 months

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Public Domain cartoon characters from the Golden Age of Animation (and beyond)

Revised and expanded version of this post: https://tymime.tumblr.com/post/648495121557585920/instead-of-whining-about-mickey-mouse-not-falling

While Mickey entering the public domain is exciting and all, I do think a lot of people are overlooking the many other animated characters that are available to use in their creative works. This list isn't entirely exhaustive, but it does highlight some of the most interesting and/or appealing characters, as well as ones that have the potential to be so.

Koko the Clown

One of the oldest cartoon stars from the Fleischer studio, almost all of Koko's silent-era cartoons are PD, and have been for quite some time. A handful of his appearances alongside Betty Boop are also PD.

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit

Oswald's PD status has been greatly overshadowed by his fellow Disney star Mickey, but I believe that he deserves more recognition. All of the shorts produced by the Disney studio are PD as of this year, and let's face it, those are the only ones most people care about. Pegleg Pete's bear design is also PD.

Keep in mind that the blue shorts that Oswald wears in Epic Mickey and elsewhere are likely copyrighted, so I recommend steering clear of that.

I'm also not entirely sure you can use the name "Ortensia" for his cat girlfriend, since that name first appeared in Epic Mickey also. She was called "Kitty" back in the day, among other things.

All of Van Beuren Studio's cartoons

The Van Beuren Studio was active during the rubberhose era, and their cartoons, especially the earlier ones, are like a cruder, possibly even more bizarre cousin to Fleischer and Disney. They went bust in the late 1930s, and no one renewed the copyright later on, so the entirety of their output is PD.

Their most notable characters include Tom and Jerry, a pair of average Joes who always get into strange adventures. They shouldn't be confused with MGM's Tom and Jerry, and in fact they were called Dick and Larry when their shorts were rereleased for the home-movie market in the 1940s.

Also notable is Waffles and Don, who are basically just animal versions of Tom and Jerry. You might consider these two as a better alternative, just to avoid confusion.

There's also Cubby Bear, a pretty blatant Mickey Mouse clone, but unique enough that I don't think anybody’s going to confuse the two nowadays.

In the previous post, I mentioned a rumor that Disney threatened legal action over the character, but I can't find the source for that now. I may have been thinking of Milton Mouse, who was so extremely similar to Mickey that they actually did sue the studo for copyright infringement. So maybe don't try selling any Milton merchandise...

Finally, there's Molly Moo-Cow, who appeared in several Rainbow Parade cartoons in the mid-to-late 1930s. Molly is arguably not the most interesting character, but I have a fondness for her since we grew up with one of her shorts on a VHS tape.

Toby the Pup

Another very obscure character, about half of his cartoons are lost media. The little that does survive is hard to find online, but I think his design has appeal.

Dr. XXX

Disney's The Mad Doctor was never renewed for reasons unknown, though some speculate that the studio thought that the cartoon was too scary and decided to let it go. Fortunately for us, that means that this iconic character is now in the people's hands.

Goopy Geer

Goopy appeared in the three Merrie Melodies cartoons alongside his unnamed girlfriend. Despite his name and appearance being similar to Disney's Goofy, he actually made his debut about a month before (Goofy was named Dippy Dawg at the time anyway, so it was undoubtedly a coincidence).

Claude Hopper

Claude appeared in a single Looney Tunes cartoon in 1943 called Hop and Go, alongside a pair of Scottish rabbits who antagonize him. The cartoon ends with a very unfortunate depiction of Tokyo being blown up (World War II was still going on at the time), so it's no surprise that Warner Bros. decided not to renew this one. Despite that, he has a very appealing design (imo), so I think he has potential. (Also, he's voiced by Pinto Colvig, the original voice of Goofy!)

Private Snafu and Mr. Hook

Snafu and Hook were created for the US government, so according to the law are automatically public domain. The shorts were made to be shown to members of the US army and navy respectively, in order to teach them valuable lessons for fighting in WWII, but are nevertheless hilarious cartoons- animated by the Looney Tunes team with scripts by Ted Geisel- aka Dr. Seuss!

The Dover Boys

Also of note are the ComiColor cartoons from the Iwerks studio, Rainbow Parade from Van Beuren, and most of the Color Classics by Fleischer. These don't have any especially memorable characters in them, but I thought I ought to mention them.

Yes, Tom, Dick and Larry, Dora Standpipe and the villainous Dan Backslide are all public domain. A bunch of YouTube Poops were created after this fact was discovered by the internet a few years ago.

How Warner Bros. could ever let this one get away I'll never know. Their loss is our gain, I suppose.

Caveats and other concerns

Krazy Kat

Felix the Cat

All of the strips up to 1928 are definitely fair game. According to the Public Domain Superheroes wiki however, the entirety of the strip's run is PD. I'm not sure if it that's true, but the Fantagraphics collections don't credit any newspaper syndicate, so it seems likely. (Apparently the copyright status of newspaper comics are a whole can of worms on its own...)

At any rate, the strip's cast was pretty well set in stone by 1928, so it shouldn't be much of a problem. A large number of animated shorts starring Krazy are also PD, but those were pretty much in name only.

Flip the Frog

Felix was pretty much the first cartoon superstar, and almost all of his Golden Age appearances are PD now. Keep in mind that this does not include elements from the 1950s cartoon like his magic bag, or from The Twisted Tales of Felix, as amazing as that series is.

The character's name and appeance are still trademarked by NBC Universal however, so you might be able to use him in a minor role, but not much else.

I'm uncertain about this one. According to most sources Flip is PD, but according to the Thunderbean Blu-ray collection he's copyrighted by the Film Preservation Archives, whatever that means. Additionally, Flip himself is supposedly trademarked by Leslie Iwerks, Ub Iwerks’ granddaughter, though no one seems to be able to confirm that. I don't know how the trademark hasn't lapsed yet, considering that Flip hasn't appeared on any official merchandise or anything in decades.

Bosko and Honey

I believe there's nothing stopping anyone from using Bosko's classic design (later appearances at MGM and in Tiny Toons are still copyrighted), but the character himself is a bit problematic, considering that it's all but stated outright that he's a blackface caricature. Use with caution.

Foxy and Roxy

Noveltoons

Like Goopy Geer, Foxy appeared in three Merrie Melodies cartoons. Roxy's name originates from an episode of Tiny Toon Adventures however, so keep that in mind. Though I'm not sure what else you would call her (or if Warner Bros. would even care). Supposedly her original name was "Fluffy", but I can't find a source for this.

Like Bosko and Honey, later appearances in Tiny Toons are still copyrighted.

Noveltoons was a series produced by Famous Studios, the successor to the Fleischer studio. The characters include Baby Huey, Herman the mouse, Blackie the sheep, Little Audrey, and of course, Casper the Friendly Ghost. Only a small handful of the shorts are PD though, and Casper is trademarked, so one's options are limited.

Ginger Nutt (and rest of the Animaland cast)

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964)

This one I'm not entirely sure about either, but Ginger Nutt's Christmas Circus has long been a staple of grey-market tapes and DVDs, so I'm just going to assume all of the Animaland cartoons are also PD. Considering that the series wasn't very sucessful, and is very obscure nowadays, it seems pretty likely.

If anyone has any insight on this, let me know.

Calvin and the Colonel

Now here's an interesting case. An all-time classic Christmas special, and yet large parts of it are PD because they accidentally put the wrong date on the copyright notice. Instead of the Roman numerals MCMLXIV (1964), it reads MCLXIV (1164), and according to the law at the time, that meant that the film immediately went into public domain.

Of course, Rudolph himself is still copyrighted, and will be until 2035 when the original book falls into the public domain. Even then he's likely to still be trademarked. Not to mention the songs featured in the '64 film will be copyrighted for a long time afterward.

Still, this means that anyone is free to use all the other characters, including Hermey, Yukon Cornelius, King Moonracer, Clarice, and all the Misfit Toys. It's a wonder no one seems to have taken advantage of this. And of course Santa and his reindeer have been PD for ages, especially Santa since he comes from folklore- and you can't copyright folklore.

This cartoon is based on and stars a lot of the same voice cast as the old-time radio show Amos and Andy, which, while not overtly racist, featured white actors pretending to be black. The cartoon obviously has animals instead, but still, tread carefully. Someone is bound to point out the characters' history.

Hoppity Hooper

Another one I'm not sure about. The Public Domain Superheroes wiki has characters from this show among its articles, but I wasn't able to confirm if it really was PD. It was created by Jay Ward, the same studio who made Rocky & Bullwinkle and George of the Jungle, but was also a huge flop for some reason, so that may be the reason why they let the copyright expire. Again, I'm not sure, but no one seems to care that the entire series is on YouTube, so who knows?

...Well, there you have it. Lots of obscure and forgotten toons waiting to be rediscovered and reused! If anyone has any more info or corrections, leave me a comment. I'd love some clarification on some of these.

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