His is the most vigorously defended copyright in history, the reason behind the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act. But Mickey Mouse may already be in the public domain. (Via)
posted by Astro Zombie on Aug 22, 2008 - 56 comments

Vintage anime: Evil Mickey Mouse invasion! (YT) and an even more beautiful example from 1943.
posted by vronsky on Mar 29, 2008 - 13 comments

Plane Crazy [Wikipedia] was the first Mickey Mouse cartoon produced; it debuted on May 15, 1928. It was followed by The Gallopin' Gaucho [Wikipedia], which had a sneak preview on August 28, 1928. [more inside]
posted by kirkaracha on Nov 26, 2007 - 11 comments

He had an awesome name for an animator. He created Mickey Mouse. He won two Academy Awards. He invented rotoscoping. Now he is mostly forgotten, except among cartoon aficionados. Also forgotten: Flip the Frog. He was Ub Iwerks.
posted by Astro Zombie on Dec 17, 2006 - 27 comments

InspEARations - As part of their 75th anniversary celebration of Mickey Mouse in 2003, Disney collaborated with celebrities and designers to create new takes on the classic pose. The statues include work by Dick Vitale, Jerry Bruckheimer, and James Gandolfini, among others. In case you missed it the first time, they're bringing these statues on tour to parks around the country this spring and summer.
posted by shawnj on Jan 26, 2005 - 18 comments

Disney's War Against the Counterculture. Parody Mickey Mouse and see your life turn to madness, even if things are more or set straight in the end. “The main point,” O’Neill says, “was to buck corporate thinking. We just didn’t like bullshit.” [via]
posted by Sticherbeast on Dec 9, 2004 - 8 comments

Mickey Mouse attempts suicide and fights the Nazis. Minnie Mouse goes wild at National Lampoon, while Donald Duck has a drug problem. Read about a 1970s porn film, a series of underground comics, the missing black centaur in Fantasia, and all the other cultural history that Disney doesn't want you to see.
posted by jonp72 on Jan 25, 2003 - 26 comments

Display of Mickey Mouse as act of subversion? Who'd've thunk it? On April 15, 2003, Mickey Mouse would've been public domain, if it weren't for Sonny Bono. And so on that day, the linked site proposes that all websites display the mouse as an act of deliberate civil disobedience. No one ever said the 21st century would make sense.
posted by condour75 on Jan 17, 2003 - 31 comments

Hidden Mickeys: In designing, constructing or adding the final touches to a Disney park attraction, Imagineers subtly "hide" Mickey Mouse silhouettes in plain sight.
posted by ahughey on Nov 9, 2002 - 15 comments

Free The Mouse [Literally this time]
This Story from FL says Walt Disney Co. officials have until July 30 to decide whether to challenge the Genesee District Library's mascot for an alleged similarity to Mickey Mouse. Last summer, the library submitted a trademark registry request with the U.S. Patent and Trademark office for "Book Mouse," a blue, large-eared rodent wearing red-rimmed glasses and a backpack. Book Mouse appears on bumper stickers and in coloring books, and even marches in local parades. Library attorney Patric Parker said "I don't think we cut into their movie profits this last year."
posted by Blake on Jun 22, 2002 - 10 comments

Mickey Mouse draws "get out of jail" card. US Supremes agree to hear challenge to the 1998 "Sonny Bono" retroactive copyright extension.
posted by mlinksva on Feb 19, 2002 - 31 comments

Talk About Your Graven Images! Look out, Golden Calf - you've got competition! Now up for sale on eBay, a two-foot-tall, 100+ pound solid gold statue of Mickey Mouse. "The manufacturer of 'Celebration Mickey', The Great Western Mint, adds 'Never in the history of art has a work of such enormous size been cast in pure gold. We are proud to be able to present this piece with expectations that art lovers and cultural historians yet unborn will look back upon this 1,500 troy ounce casting of pure gold and marvel at the technical prowess that it exhibits.'" Wow. I thought I heard all the theories, but it never dawned on me that Mickey Mouse was the Antichrist.
posted by tpoh.org on Sep 1, 2001 - 9 comments

Did you know that Mickey Mouse was kept out of the public domain by the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act? [via librarian.net]
posted by gluechunk on Dec 12, 2000 - 11 comments