‘Steamboat Willie’ Mickey Mouse featured in non-Disney products
“Steamboat Willie,” the 1928 Mickey Mouse cartoon, is now in the public domain, and everyone from large corporations to independent artists are using the newly-minted fair use version of the character in their own products and promotions — without Disney.
Violent Mickey Mouse Video Game
The visual design of “Mouse,” an upcoming video game developed by Fumi Games, may look like the vintage cartoons of the “Steamboat Willie” era. The gameplay, though, is anything but Disney-approved.
The game’s description reads:
Join private detective in “Mouse,” a gritty, jazz-fueled shooter. With guns blazing and a retro rubber hose animation style, battle your way through a corrupt city full of crooks and danger. Inspired by classic FPS [first-person shooter] and noir films, “Mouse” is the explosive shooter you’ve been waiting for.
Fumi Games
“Mouse” will release in 2025 on PC, Nintendo, Xbox, and PlayStation consoles.
“Steamboat Willie” Engagement Ring
Jewelry brand Satéur debuted a “Steamboat Willie” engagement ring. The ring is a limited edition of 1,928 in honor of the year 1928. It sells for a retail price of $598, but is currently available online for $198.
Mickey Mouse Tarot Cards
Comic book author Mark Andrew Smith created a Kickstarter campaign to develop tarot cards inspired by “Steamboat Willie” as well as “The Gallopin’ Gaucho,” another 1928 Mickey short.
The separate decks of tarot cards are titled, respectively, “Steamboat Arcana” and “Gaucho Arcana.” Artists Lisa Kubia and Daniela Montesi illustrated the cards, which are available through Kickstarter and expected to deliver in November 2024.
Rogue “Steamboat Willie” Apparel
Pop-culture parody t-shirt company TeeFury released over 400 products featuring various “Steamboat Willie” designs that both celebrating and poke fun at the cartoon. Some of the designs, pictured below, reference “Jaws,” “Titanic,” “Bluey,” and Andy Warhol’s famous Mickey portrait. These visuals are available on everything from t-shirts and pillows to drinkware and clothing for pets.
Meanwhile, apparel company Life Is Good created a classic Mickey collection of its own. Both Mickey and Minnie are featured in their “Steamboat Willie” styles on various Life Is Good t-shirts, many customizable. The collection features about two dozen designs across 100 products.
“Steamboat Willie” in Color
Mickey Mouse didn’t appear in Technicolor until 1932, but did you ever wonder what some of Mickey’s earliest work would look like in color? Joseph at Condor Creations on YouTube is answering that very question by colorizing 1928’s “Steamboat Willie,” transforming the short film from its familiar black-and-white visuals. So far, Joseph has finished two minutes of the 7.5-minute cartoon.
John Oliver and (Not) Mickey Mouse
HBO is leveraging Mickey’s “Steamboat Willie” appearance as a focal point of the promotional campaign for “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” which premieres a new season Feb. 18, 2024 on Max.
The show’s social media accounts posted the teaser poster below, along with the caption, “We’re back February 18th, and we’re pretty sure this was an okay way to let you know about it!! Ya, probably fine.”
“Last Week Tonight” first utilized this version of Mickey in April 2023, technically before “Steamboat Willie” entered the public domain.
Oliver’s life-size, walk-around Mickey returned Feb. 12, 2024 during Oliver’s appearance on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”
“It’s not Mickey Mouse. I can’t stress that enough,” Oliver explained to Colbert, as the mascot took his seat beside him. Oliver continued with a smile, “We have been sued once, and we won it once. Therefore, I take from that that I’m legally indestructible.”
“The Return of Steamboat Willie” Horror Movie
Fewture Studios is developing a self-described creepy movie entitled “The Return of Steamboat Willie.” The film’s logline reads, “After 95 years of being locked away, Willie is free and he wants his steamboat back.”
More “Steamboat Willie”
“Steamboat Willie” debuted Nov. 18, 1928 at the Colony Theater in New York City. The short film made history not only as the first appearance of Mickey and Minnie Mouse, but also as the first cartoon with synchronized sound. As of Jan. 1, 2024, the version of the characters as depicted in “Steamboat Willie” is no longer under copyright of The Walt Disney Company. Learn more about “Steamboat Willie” and the context of its newly-minted fair use in our previous story:
Disney may not have exclusive rights to “Steamboat Willie” anymore, but the company still utilizes this iteration of its star character in multiple official capacities. The black-and-white, steamboat-steering Mickey still appears live in the “Fantasmic!” nighttime spectacular at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, as well as in the logo before every Walt Disney Animation Studios film. This version of Mickey also recently starred in “Steamboat Silly,” the series finale of the long-running “Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse” cartoons.
Images courtesy of Disney
Guests visiting Disney theme parks sometimes have fun trying to spot hidden Mickeys. The parks’ designers hide the three-circle silhouette shape of Mickey’s head throughout various attractions and architecture. A unique, full-body hidden Mickey can be found at Magic Kingdom Park. As guests exit Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid, they can be on the lookout for a rock formation in the shape of Mickey’s “Steamboat Willie” likeness.
“Steamboat Willie” is available to watch in its entirety on Disney+ … and also, now that it’s in the public domain, on the Attractions Magazine YouTube channel:
Hey, just a heads up for reader clarification, “FPS” in the first quote regarding the game called Mouse as actually short for ‘First Person Shooter’. Common misconception outside of the gaming community but an important one in this context. Great read all the same!