A new horror movie featuring the “Steamboat Willie” version of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/mickey-mouse">Mickey Mouse</a> is currently in the works, per a Variety <a href="https://variety.com/2024/film/news/steamboat-willie-horror-film-mickey-mouse-public-domain-copyright-1235849861/">report</a>.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/disney">Disney&#8217;s</a> copyright to “Steamboat Willie” expired Monday, along with its right to the original versions of Mickey and Minnie Mouse, though the company still holds <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/copyright">copyrights</a> for more modern versions of these iconic characters. &#8220;Steamboat Willie&#8221; is an animated short from 1928 that is widely considered the debut of Mickey and Minnie Mouse characters, however, Mickey doesn&#8217;t look the same as the modern versions of the cartoon. <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/01/01/1221606624/mickey-mouse-public-domain-disney">According</a> to NPR, &#8220;he&#8217;s more rascally and rough.&#8221;
Independent filmmaker Steven LaMorte released a statement announcing his intentions to capitalize on this new development by making Mickey the main character in a horror flick.
“Steamboat Willie has brought joy to generations, but beneath that cheerful exterior lies a potential for pure, unhinged terror,” LaMorte said in a press release, per the outlet. “It’s a project I’ve been dreaming of, and I can’t wait to unleash this twisted take on this beloved character to the world.”
LaMorte also directed “The Mean One” (2022) a horror film starring the Dr. Seuss character The Grinch. The movie grossed $1 million in theaters.
“It all comes from our love of these characters,” he said in an interview. “Filmmakers — we’re all kids in the sandbox. We love taking them and playing with them in different ways. It’s not a desire to ruin these characters or make a quick buck, but to love them and honor them and show them in a new light.”
“We are doing our due diligence to make sure there’s no question or confusion of what we’re up to,” LaMorte added. “This is our version of a public domain character. It’s a scary thrill ride with heart and humor, based on this character that everybody knows.” He also said that the film&#8217;s producers are working with a legal team to ensure the film version of Mickey is compliant.
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Disney said in a statement last month the company would be diligent about protecting the copyright-protected version of Mickey Mouse. 
“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,” the company said. 
This development is similar to what happened when the children’s storybook characters Winnie the Pooh and Piglet became public domain property last year. The horror film “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey&#8221; featuring Pooh and Piglet as deranged serial killers was released last January to mixed reviews.
The “Winnie the Pooh” character Tigger also entered the public domain on January 1, 2024.

Mickey Mouse

Mickey Mouse Horror Film Announced As ‘Steamboat Willie’ Enters Public Domain

Mickey Mouse Horror Film Announced As 'Steamboat Willie' Enters Public Domain

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Disney

Entertainment

Horror Movies

Movies

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The earliest versions of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/mickey-mouse">Mickey</a> and Minnie Mouse, featured in the 1928 <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/entertainment">short</a> “Steamboat Willie,” will become available for public use beginning January 1, 2024.
This is the first time that any version of the iconic <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/disney">Disney</a> character will no longer be subject to copyright protections, according to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/mickey-mouse-public-domain-disney-minnie-tigger-1dbfa3982a172334503bc8cf87302b6f">The Associated Press</a>. “This is it. This is Mickey Mouse. This is exciting because it’s kind of symbolic,” Jennifer Jenkins, a professor of law and director of Duke’s Center for the Study of Public Domain, said of the development. &#8220;I kind of feel like the pipe on the steamboat, like expelling smoke. It’s so exciting.”
United States law currently allows a copyright to be held for 95 years. This number has been extended several times as multiple groups, including Disney, lobbied for extensions.
“It’s sometimes derisively referred to as the Mickey Mouse Protection Act,” Jenkins said of the laws, per AP. “That’s oversimplified because it wasn’t just Disney that was pushing for term extension. It was a whole group of copyright holders whose works were set to go into the public domain soon, who benefited greatly from the 20 years of extra protection.”
The “Steamboat Willie” version of the world’s most recognizable mouse is different than the more modern version that Disney fans know and love, which is a point the media company made in a statement to AP.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Walt Disney Animation Studios&#039; Steamboat Willie" width="500" height="375" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BBgghnQF6E4?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
“Ever since Mickey Mouse’s first appearance in the 1928 short film &#8216;Steamboat Willie,&#8217; people have associated the character with Disney’s stories, experiences, and authentic products,” a Disney spokesperson told the outlet. “That will not change when the copyright in the &#8216;Steamboat Willie&#8217; film expires.”
“More modern versions of Mickey will remain unaffected by the expiration of the &#8216;Steamboat Willie&#8217; copyright, and Mickey will continue to play a leading role as a global ambassador for the Walt Disney Company in our storytelling, theme park attractions, and merchandise,” the statement continued. “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.”
Earlier this year, A.A. Milne’s original “Winnie the Pooh” characters entered the public domain, which led to some unique entertainment projects. Some fans were shocked at the January release of the horror film “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey,” which featured Pooh and Piglet as deranged <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/florida-parents-furious-their-fourth-graders-were-shown-winnie-the-pooh-horror-film-in-school">serial killers</a>.
Besides the original Mickey and Minnie characters, the “Winnie the Pooh” character Tigger will also enter the public domain on January 1.

Steamboat Willie

Earliest Version Of Mickey Mouse, Plus Minnie And Tigger, Will Become Public Domain In 2024

President Biden mocked Governor Ron DeSantis for targeting Disney over its opposition to the Parental Rights in Education bill on Wednesday.
Biden and his team apparently fear DeSantis, the rising star whom many believe has the greatest chance of taking back the White House for the GOP in 2024, as they have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/desantis-torches-biden-admin-after-psaki-makes-false-statement-about-his-handling-of-pandemic-in-florida">targeted him</a> for months.
On Wednesday, Biden jeered as he spoke before LGBTQ supporters, “I don&#8217;t have to tell you about the ultra-MAGA agenda, attacking families and our freedoms. Three hundred discriminatory bills introduced in states across this country&#8230; In Texas, knocking on front doors to harass and investigate parents who are raising transgender children. In Florida going after Mickey Mouse for God&#8217;s sake.”
“That’s striking close to home,” Biden  taunted.
In late March, DeSantis <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/watch-desantis-torches-disney-over-opposition-to-law-banning-sexual-ideology-being-forced-on-young-children/">slammed Disney</a> during a Fox News interview with Tucker Carlson.
“Well, this bill is about providing protections so that they know they can send their young kids to school without them being sexualized, without a school telling a young girl, for example, that she may really be a boy. And if schools are trying to do things that impact the health and well-being of the kids and they’re — they’re undertaking certain services, that parents have a right to know that and provide consent for it,” DeSantis stated.
“So, this is a real bill that empowers parents, it protects our kids. And for a company like Disney to say that this bill should have never passed &#8212; first of all, Tucker, they weren&#8217;t saying anything when it was going through the House. They only started doing this because the mob, the woke mob came after them,” he added.
“But put that aside,” DeSantis continued, “for them to say that them as a California-based company are going to work to take those California values and overturn a law that was duly enacted and, as you said, supported by a strong majority of Floridians, they don&#8217;t run this state. They will never run this state as long as I’m governor.”
Last August, Biden snidely responded, “Governor Who?” when asked about DeSantis. DeSantis <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/biden-calls-desantis-governor-who-desantis-fires-back-what-else-has-he-forgotten/">quipped</a>, “I guess I’m not surprised that Biden doesn’t remember me; I guess the question is, what else has he forgotten?”
In February 2021, DeSantis <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/watch-desantis-warns-biden-administration-after-report-says-they-might-target-florida-we-will-respond-very-swiftly/">reacted harshly</a> to speculation that the Biden administration might institute travel restrictions on the state. McClatchy had <a href="https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/white-house/article249154715.html">reported</a>, “The Biden administration is considering whether to impose domestic travel restrictions, including on Florida, fearful that coronavirus mutations are threatening to reverse hard-fought progress on the pandemic.”
DeSantis fired: “I think it would be unconstitutional, it would be unwise, and it would be unjust,” adding that “restricting the right of Americans to travel freely throughout our country while allowing illegal aliens to pour across the southern border unmolested would be a ridiculous, but very damaging farce.”
During a Fox News town hall in July 2021, DeSantis <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/desantis-puts-the-screws-to-biden-over-cuba-step-up-and-be-on-the-side-of-freedom">slammed Biden</a> over his posture on Cuba, saying, “Step up and be on the side of freedom. The Internet access is something we have the capability of doing. We have companies in the U.S. that want to do it, but they need the OK of the federal government. He has it within his authority to do that. He could make it happen.”
In August 2021, after Biden ripped DeSantis’ by telling him to “get out of the way” vis-à-vis the coronavirus pandemic, DeSantis fired back, “So I think the question is, we can either have a free society, or we can have a biomedical security state. And I can tell you, Florida, we&#8217;re a free state, people are going to be free to choose, to make their own decisions about themselves, about their families, about their kid&#8217;s education, and about putting food on the table. And Joe Biden suggests that if you don&#8217;t do lockdown policies, then you should quote, ‘get out of the way.’ But let me tell you this, if you&#8217;re coming after the rights of parents in Florida, I&#8217;m standing in your way, I&#8217;m not going to let you get away with it.”
“If you&#8217;re trying to deny kids a proper in person education, I&#8217;m gonna stand in your way and I&#8217;m gonna stand up for the kids in Florida,” DeSantis continued. “If you&#8217;re trying to restrict people, impose mandates, if you&#8217;re trying to ruin their jobs and their livelihoods and their small business, if you are trying to lock people down, I am standing in your way and I&#8217;m standing for the people of Florida.”
“So why don&#8217;t you do your job? Why don&#8217;t you get this border secure?” DeSantis added. “And until you do that, I don&#8217;t want to hear a blip about COVID from you. Thank you.”
Last November, DeSantis <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/desantis-trolls-biden-by-signing-bills-against-vaccine-mandates-in-brandon-florida/">trolled Biden</a> by signing bills against vaccine mandates at a site in Brandon, Florida.
Disclosure: The Daily Wire has announced plans for kids entertainment content.

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Biden, Fearing DeSantis, Attacks Him Again: ‘Going After Mickey Mouse, For God’s Sake’

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Mickey Mouse Horror Film Announced As ‘Steamboat Willie’ Enters Public Domain

Earliest Version Of Mickey Mouse, Plus Minnie And Tigger, Will Become Public Domain In 2024

Biden, Fearing DeSantis, Attacks Him Again: ‘Going After Mickey Mouse, For God’s Sake’