John Oliver Continues to Taunt Disney With Steamboat Willie to Promote Last Week Tonight

John Oliver is still trolling Disney with Steamboat Willie. The Last Week Tonight host join Stephen Colbert on The Late Show for a silly interview to promote the new season of his HBO program. As soon as Oliver walked out, the prank was on as a large Steamboat Willie mascot joined the comedian in a chair right next to him. The visual alone is enough to garner a laugh, but Colbert couldn't help but spotlight the absurdity of the situation. He pointed out that Oliver was basically running around with a massive grayscale version of the iconic Disney mascot and the HBO show actor had to explain himself. Like a lot of these people doing Steamboat Willie parodies now, he had the stock answers about the character ready to go.

"It's not Mickey Mouse," Oliver joked before noting the color differences and the hat perched on his head. "I can't stress that enough. Luckily there's no resemblance so there shouldn't be confusion." Then of course, The Last Week Tonight star had to dig into one of his bits even further. "I feel like I've been ignored, so they've left me with no choice but to take this up a f—king notch," Oliver smirked. We have been sued once and we won it once, therefore I take from that that I'm legally indestructible… It'll probably be fine, they've got a good sense of humor over there."

Mickey Mouse Hits The Public Domain

Steamboat Willie entered the public domain on January 1, 2024. The variation of Mickey Mouse was the earliest appearances of Disney's mascot character. Being so old, it's the only version of Mickey Mouse that is eligible to enter the public domain. However,Steamboat Willie is only the black and white version of the character from that short. In a statement prepared by Disney, a spokesperson reiterated the companies intent to enforce its copyright on the later versions of Mickey Mouse.

"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 previously said in a statement. "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."

John Oliver's Show Gets Renewed

This is yet another year of Last Week Tonight on HBO. At the tail end of last year, the network decide to renew John Oliver's show for three more seasons. That means that Last Week Tonight will run through Season 13 on HBO. Clearly, the cable staple will be leaning heavily on Oliver's political commentary in an election year. But, that doesn't mean the comedian doesn't have a moment to spare to secure a rival studio. 

"We're very happy to get to keep making this show with our fantastic staff," John Oliver previously said in a release. "We will continue trying to stretch the term 'entertainment' to the breaking point."

"Over the past decade, John and his exceptional team have combined deep research and intelligence with cutting humor to tackle a broad range of subjects, both widely discussed and unconventional." Casey Bloys, Chairman and CEO, HBO & Max Content wrote in the same statement. "With an important election year on the horizon, we look forward to seeing what John has in store for audiences over the next three years."

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