Mickey Mouse to Enter Public Domain in 2024

There are a lot of reasons to look toward 2024 as an interesting year full of new ideas, events, and changes. One of those changes will affect a Disney icon in a big way. "Steamboat Willie" will enter the public domain after 95 years! Steamboat Willie is the first time the public saw Disney's famous Mickey Mouse, and features both Mickey and Minnie steering a steamboat down a river. The black-and-white, seven-minute short film came out in 1928, and the Disney craze began.

Going into the public domain means that a work isn't covered by copyright law any longer, so it can be used and distributed by others. That doesn't mean Mickey's likeness will be free for anyone to do anything with, though. The modern versions of Mickey don't look quite the same, and they're still protected under Disney's copyright. People who want to use Steamboat Willie will be able to do so, but they can't use modern Mickey versions in their work without permission.

Steamboat Willie was the third movie made with Mickey, but it was the first one distributed. It was also the first movie at the time to have synchronized sound along with the picture, making it a very unique piece of history. It's a pivotal part of overall animation, not just Disney animation, and it pulled Disney out of a failing business and a potential bankruptcy.

Disney's cartoons weren't setting him apart from his competition, but when a movie came out with sound in 1927 and became a huge hit, he saw the potential. Putting everything he had left into Mickey and the creation of animated movies with sound, he turned a difficult moment into everything Disney has become today. It's clear that the copyright to later versions of Mickey will still be vigorously defended, but Steamboat Willie's move into the public domain is important.

It's likely that there will be many versions of Steamboat Willie that come forward as animators and other creative individuals choose to take what it already has to offer and put their own spin on it. That could make 2024 a very exciting year for animation and creation all around the world.

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