More Than Mickey: Hidden Gems In The Public Domain

Mere hours after Mickey Mouse entered the public domain, the world was hit with dozens of Mickey Mouse horror movies and video games. Where do we go from here? Good news: there's more to the public domain than Mickey, and way more ideas than horror. Here's just a sample.

[Mats-]

The Red Bee pulling out a glock whenever his very niche superpower doesn't cut it is the best bit of writing in any superhero media.

[RiseOfTheKumquat]

Austin specifically had to mention the Australian Cat-Man so that his subscribers could flesh out all his variants in preparation for 2034's Cat-Man Into The Catverse

[BartitsuSociety]

Fun fact: whereas Spring Heeled Jack started as an urban myth and developed into a penny dreadful villain, late-Victorian writers transformed the character into a proto-superhero, complete with altruistic mission, hidden lair (a crypt in a neglected London graveyard), tech-based powers (his spring boots were designed by an Indian mechanical genius) and even a dashing catch-phrase ("The day is yours - leave the night to me!"). This was decades before Zorro and it can be argued that SHJ set many of the masked avenger tropes later followed by Batman et al. The 2020 novel "The Life and Fantastical 'Crimes' of Spring Heeled Jack" ran with that theme, being presented as SHJ's own memoir of his days as a rooftop-leaping vigilante.

[balrogdahomie]

I saw a Japanese artist I follow make fanart of Mickey and Oswald the rabbit, saying they wanted to see a show of them going on adventures together. When someone told them “hey, they’re public domain now, get enough people together and we could do that and publish it on our own”, the artist replied, “But I don’t want to make a horror parody, I want it to be whimsical”

There’s so much schlock that now some people don’t realize that you can make public domain stuff that isn’t just generic “what if (beloved character) was MESSED UP AND EVIL”. It took a few replies for them to understand that, Public Domain means you can publish and profit off anything that doesn’t infringe on the copyright; it doesn’t just have to be the wild, nonsensical stuff.

[fives]

I love how Red Bee has one specific bee he's named Michael. Does he name the rest of the hive or is Michael just his favorite? Does that favoritism impact the hive's morale late on in the series? Would Michael be his best bee at his wedding? There are so many directions this character could go.

[shinyagumon]

I really love your attitude towards the public domain Austin, seeing it as a creative springboard for your own ideas instead of just a way to leech off an already popular ip.

[RiseOfTheKumquat]

Oh THAT'S what Ant-Man's been missing all this time

*a gun*

[reaganmonkey]

It is surprising that since the Wizard of Oz movie is extremely popular and the book in is Public Domain, now there are surprisingly few adaptions.

[Zombie_Trooper]

It's specifically Steamboat Willy that's public now. That's a very important factor that can prevent serious litigation.

[A.Z.]

7:36 A hero with bee themed powers?

Sounds like a job for.... *DOCTOR BEES!!!*

[originaluddite]

It just occurs to me, if Scarecrow wanted a brain and Tinman wanted a heart, why was it not phrased as the Lion wanting a 'spine' or 'backbone' and thus maintaining the analogy of body parts for certain qualities or characteristics?

[-NV-]

Genuinely. As crazy as The Red Bee is, he's the only property that immediately set the gears turning in my head. (I think it has something to do with the fact that I have a blouse very similar to his superhero costume)

I'm imagining a superhero but like with a small army of those Transformers movies nanobots, that the hero calls "Bees" and are actually an AI.


He still has the gun though.

[astralshore]

Spring-heeled Jack has been cited by some as being a spiritual ancestor of Batman. And since we have to wait another 15 years or so for ol’ bats, he could make a great Victorian substitute

[marktheshark]

I always find that the public domain is like a treasure chest full of opportunities for anyone to use whatever character and make it your own.

[comicfan]

I love the acknowledgment given to the Red Bee

Honestly, I think that, if given to the right writer, there’s a lot that could be done with the character

[iSmartMan]

Austin: "He's a superhero. Who uses bees."
Me: Doctor

[zafiro]

Thanks to you, I've become a fan of public domain.

I really want to use a lot of characters in my own worlds.

[Topplenaut]

I'm mildly curious now... Could the company that created the mickey mouse horror game have legally advertised or announced it before the copyright expired, as long as it was not yet available for sale?

[Katy]

I remember someone on Tumblr suggesting a Super Smash Brothers style brawler game using only public domain characters as the fighters. I still live in hope that such a game is made, but multiplayer games are notoriously difficult (or impossible) to make for an indie team. Perhaps as a local co-op game instead?

[ShinoSarna]

I just realized - Solomon Kane, pulp character created by Robert E Howard (creator of Conan) entered public domain this year. His first appearance was in 1928.