Social Media Reacts to Mickey Mouse Entering the Public Domain

The time has come for Mickey Mouse to enter the public domain. After making his debut over 95 years ago in the animated short Steamboat Willie, Mickey Mouse has become the signature face of The Walt Disney Company. You can find his face on a ton of merchandise and in animated TV shows, as Mickey and the gang entertain kids of all ages. This is probably why there’s such interest in Mickey Mouse becoming part of the public domain for the first time. While Mickey Mouse’s public domain debut comes with some limitations, that hasn’t stopped fans from showing off their creations on social media.

As far as those limitations go, they involve creators only being allowed to use Mickey Mouse or any of the other characters from Steamboat Willie and Plane Crazy in original creations. One of the big differences is Steamboat Willie‘s Mickey Mouse has solid black eyes, no gloves, and long, skinny limbs. Releasing and reselling the original shorts is also allowed under the public domain.

“Ever since Mickey Mouse’s first appearance in the 1928 short film Steamboat Willie, people have associated the character with Disney’s stories, experiences, and authentic products,” Disney said in a statement last year. “That will not change when the copyright in the Steamboat Willie film expires. We will, of course, continue to protect our rights in the more modern versions of Mickey Mouse and other works that remain subject to copyright, and we will work to safeguard against consumer confusion caused by unauthorized uses of Mickey and our other iconic characters.”

If you want a look at what social media is cooking up for Mickey Mouse in the public domain, take a scroll down below.

Just call him Mickey for short

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Of course there’s a horror take on Mickey Mouse

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Get a glance at a GIF of the original short

Bootleg t-shirts coming

Mickey finds himself in a dilemma

Horror movie incoming

Pour one out for Disney’s legal and PR teams

Mickey as a super hero?