Disney Dining Serving up the latest Disney Eats, Treats, News, and More!
Disney lost its exclusive rights to Mickey Mouse on January 1, but that doesn’t mean that the company is done with its iconic mascot. Instead, after the chaos that ensued upon his entry to the public domain, it is not re-introducing him in an upcoming new form.
Credit: Inside the Magic
Mickey Mouse was created by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks in 1928, which means that he should have been in the public domain years ago. Extensive lobbying by The Walt Disney Company’s army of lawyers helped pass the Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998, which allowed the world’s most famous entertainment company to hang onto its most celebrated character for more than twenty more years. The clock finally ran out at the beginning of 2024, which opened the gates to a veritable flood of parodies, homages, and straight-up ripoffs.
Related:
Notably, the version of Mickey Mouse that became free for the public to use in January is the original 1928 Steamboat Willie version, meaning that anyone who uses any elements of the character introduced after that is still going to get their pants sued off. Despite that, a number of creative types who are willing to risk a potential legal battle with Disney have announced video games, horror movies, and music videos, all using the original black-and-white version of Mickey Mouse.
Since Steamboat Willie entered the public domain, it has often seemed like Disney was minimizing Mickey Mouse’s presence in the public eye. That might have been the company essentially running defense and letting upcoming gore projects like Mickey’s Mouse Trap and Screamboat dominate the headlines before reminding everyone about good old-fashioned, family-friendly Mickey.
Credit: Disney
That appears to be what they are doing with the announcement of a new mobile game titled Disney Pixel RPG, which will feature 8-bit versions of Mickey Mouse, Winnie the Pooh, Genie from Aladdin (1992), and Baymax from Big Hero 6 (2014). The game will be available on iOS and Android on September 9 in Japan; pre-registration is already available to download the game, though there’s not yet an announcement for other territories.
Related: Mickey Mouse Horror Projects Shot Down By ‘Winnie The Pooh’ Slasher Director
Credit: Disney
Disney Pixel RPG was developed in cooperation with GungHo Online Entertainment and appears to be selling itself on the popularity of characters like Mickey Mouse and an old-school gaming aesthetic. The official website of the game describes the plot as:
Our story takes place in a chaotic domain where many Disney game worlds are interconnected…
A myriad of beloved Disney characters have assembled from various game worlds!
The game worlds that these Disney characters call home have suddenly been invaded by strange programs and starting to break down!
These previously isolated game worlds have merged, throwing all the characters into confusion!
Take on the role of a player of these games and join Disney characters as you embark on an epic quest across multiple game worlds to restore order!
The conceit of Disney Pixel RPG, in which multiple different video game versions of Disney characters cross over with each other, sounds strikingly similar to the beloved Kingdom Hearts franchise, which features Disney IP meeting up with Square Enix for various adventures. However, this new game will likely be more stripped down and, due to being mobile, accessible to casual gamers.
Disney will never stop giving Mickey Mouse adventures, it seems, even when other people can now too.
What’s your favorite Mickey Mouse game?
