Within a week of Mickey Mouse entering public domain, we've seen three horror movies announced, multiple video games and a surprisingly respectful comic.

The best-known Mickey Mouse film from those days is “ Steamboat Willie,” the seven-minute short that hit theaters in November of that year and kickstarted his international fame.

The characters of Steamboat Willie and Winnie-the-Pooh have been swiftly scooped up by horror filmmakers, looking to find a darker edge to the kid-friendly nostalgic icons.

Steamboat Willie lacks the current Mickey's gloves and oversized shoes, and his eyes are small black ovals without pupils.

Great news for any creatives itching to appropriate a wholly specific, old-timey version of Mickey Mouse without legal woes. “Steamboat Willie,” a short film featuring an early incarnation of ...

Mickey Mouse just hit the public domain. Creative works that fall out of copyright are AI’s dream, not a hallucination.

So, while the 1928 "Steamboat Willie" version of Mickey Mouse is fair game for anybody to use, not all versions of Mickey Mouse are available for use without express written permission from Disney.