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.
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I was commissioned by AARP to create this animated illustration for The Ethel, for an article about an engineer learning to be more empathetic.
In the article, Dr Nicole Price, an engineer by profession, shares how she discovered the power of empathy and transformed her relationships and her life. She highlights that empathy can be learned and is not about feeling sorry for someone but understanding and sharing their feelings. Dr Price believes that empathy is a powerful tool that can lead to stronger connections and a more compassionate society, encouraging readers to embark on this transformative journey.
Big thanks to AD Jenny Rosenberg!
© Zara Picken 2023 www.zarapicken.com
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Disinherit a son/daughter: Many elders don't want to leave anything to their children who forgot about them during the pandemic.
Illustration for El Correo newspaper. An article by Iñigo Fernández de Lucio.
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