If you’re the creative type and you’re struggling to come up with your next idea, fear not: some great works, including the original version of Mickey Mouse, will enter the public domain on Jan. 1 in the United States.
And if, on the other hand, you prefer your Disney characters cute, cuddly and unchanging, well … you might want to stop reading.
In 2024, thousands of copyrighted works published in 1928 will enter the public domain, after their 95-year term expires.
This means that those characters and stories can be reproduced — on page, stage or screen — without permission. (Finally, I can make that Peter Pan musical where a middle-aged Peter laments inexplicable back pain at the end of Act I.)
“It’s important for preserving our cultural record, for meaningful access to older works to inspire future creativity,” Jennifer Jenkins, the director for the Center for the Study of the Public Domain at Duke Law School, said.
The crème de la crème of this year’s public domain class was Mickey Mouse and, of course, Minnie, or at least the black-and-white versions of our favorite squeaky rodents that appeared in “Steamboat Willie.” Disney is famously litigious, and this copyright only covers the original versions of the character.
The New York Times caught up with a few writers, producers, and directors to get a taste of what this strange new world might bring.
Wilhelm II and Tigger Too?
Tigger will also be released on January 1 and will soon join Winnie the Pooh in the reborn character’s next slasher film. Yes, what you read is correct. In a preview of what may await other 95-year-old icons, the silly old bear transforms into a sledgehammer-wielding monster in “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey.” The sequel is due in February.
“The original ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ was OK, but the horrors of modern warfare are better illustrated in a crossover remake where Mickey and Tigger trick the Kaiser into putting his head in a mop bucket, ” said Zhubin Parang, a co-executive producer for “The Daily Show.” (“All Quiet on the Western Front” — at least the original German version of the novel — also enters the public domain, although later translations have not ….)
Hey, 1928 call. It wants to return all of these:
Then there is JM Barrie’s stage version of “Peter Pan; or the Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up,” the DH Lawrence novel “Lady Chatterley’s Lover,” Virginia Woolf’s “Orlando: A Biography,” Wanda Gág’s picture book, “Millions of Cats,” and many more . (For a full list, see here.)
“I’m kind of bummed to see that we’re probably going to get more Peter Pan material now,” said Josh Lieb, a comedy writer and producer. “No one likes Peter Pan. In fact, I think I speak for all of humanity when I say we hate Peter Pan and we hate the people who make movies about him.”
Not everyone hates Peter Pan — sorry, Josh. Bob Greenblatt, a producer of the Broadway-bound musical “Smash,” has called for a new stage adaptation with Daniel Radcliffe as Peter, Lindsay Mendez as Wendy, and Jonathan Groff as Captain Hook.
Nik Dodani, the actor, also had the idea for the Peter Pan movie.
“When Wendy meets Peter, a charismatic and seemingly ageless young man, she is taken on a nightmarish journey of obsession, uncovering the sinister truth behind her eternal youth,” said Dodani. (We can’t print the bad facts. You’ll have to wait for the movie.)
Can I kick it with music, too?
Yes you can! Musical compositions, such as the original version of “Mack the Knife,” written in German for an opera by Bertolt Brecht called “The Threepenny Opera,” and musical recordings, such as “Dippermouth Blues,” featuring Louis Armstrong, will also be released on January 1.
“I often fantasize about the golden age of sampling where you could supposedly lift the greatest riffs of all time with impunity. I’m looking at you, ‘Can I kick it?‘” said Ryan Miller, a founding member of the band Guster, referring to the song A Tribe Called Quest. “Jan. 1, aka Emancipation Day, is now an annual ritual to dig into the mines with a little guilt. I mean, who doesn’t need a new spin on ‘Yes! We don’t have Bananas’? Don’t answer that.” (The recording of “Yes! We don’t have Bananas” said Billy Jones will be available.)
I still have no idea. Help!
Do not worry. This is public domain! Freedom! Steal! Gordon Greenberg, who is directing the Huey Lewis-inspired Broadway musical this spring, says it’s a chance to “reimagine some classics from new points of view.”
Playwright Lindsey Ferrentino suggested a mash-up of titles.
“Maybe a ‘Threepenny Opera’ production with Mackie Messer’s character brought back as Mickey Mouse. Very Brechtian,” Ferrentino said. “Don’t ask me to write it.”
The steamy “Lady Chatterley’s Lover” generated a lot of interest. Neil Meron, a producer of the Broadway musical “Some Like It Hot,” proposed “a gender fluid immersive” musical adaptation with a score from Sam Smith.
Karen Chee, a writer for “Late Night With Seth Meyers,” created “Lady Chatterley’s Millions of Cats.” Ah, but we will build it! Chee added: “A single wife putting sexy hours on hold to adopt millions of cats.” (Of course.)
From Bob Gale, co-writer of the film and musical version of “Back To The Future”: “Is Mickey Lady Chatterley’s new suitor, or is he just a voyeur?”
EM Tran, a novelist, is intrigued by a musical “Millions of Cats”.
“Dozens — or millions — of cat puppets on stage with a singing and dancing old couple,” Tran said. (Kristoffer Diaz, the playwright, agreed, saying the musical “kind of writes itself.”)
Comedian Gabby Bryan asked for an update on the recording of “The Charleston,” but with Mark Ronson sampling the James P. Johnson version.
“He’s done disco, he’s done dancing, he’s done blues, he’s done, he’s done, he’s done. Ken,” Bryan said, referring to Ronson. “So I challenge you Mark, if that is your real name.”
And if that’s still not enough to get you started, just wait. In the next decade, freedom awaits all these characters: Popeye; Pluto; Donald Duck; King Kong (the original film version); Superman; Daffy Duck; Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf and others from the Hobbit; James Bond; Batman; Captain Marvel.
Get to work, people. And remember, “Freedom is just a word for nothing to lose.”*
*This song The lyrics are still under copyright until 2064.
