Minnie Mouse Will Be Drawn With Breasts for the Next Year

The people now own Minnie Mouse…but only a very specific version.

The Steamboat Willie (1928) version of Mickey Mouse entered the public domain on January 1, ending decades of successful United States copyright law lobbying by The Walt Disney Company. Days into the change, the iconic Mouse has gone R-rated, joining the cast of upcoming horror films and video games. This comes just a year after A.A. Milne’s beloved bear turned slasher in Winnie The Pooh: Blood and Honey (2023).

Joining Mickey Mouse are Peter Pan, early versions of Pete the Cat, and a… lesser-known… version of Minnie Mouse.

When Steamboat Willie premiered, Minnie Mouse was right there alongside Mickey. But largely erased from history are the numerous scenes of Mickey’s beloved with two large circles on her chest, apparently meant to depict female breasts.

San Fransisco State University animation professor Karl. F Cohen discussed the anatomical history of the Disney character in his book, “Forbidden Animation: Censored Cartoons and Blacklisted Animators in America.”

“In some of Minnie’s early films (ca. 1929) Ub Iwerks placed two circles where breasts might be on a mouse woman,” Cohen wrote. “They look like two large white circles on a black shirt. For the next decade her upper torso was solid black, just like Mickey’s body.”

Minnie Mouse appeared with breast-like circles in multiple short films throughout 1928 and 1929, including Steamboat Willie, When the Cat’s Away (1929), and The Plowboy (1929). She finally appeared with the full-black torso in The Karnival Kid (1929) and stayed that way until the 1940s.

Disney told AP News that any non-official depictions of Mickey Mouse must reflect his 1928 appearance and that they would legally pursue anyone using modern versions of the brand icon–meaning no X-Rated Disney Junior fan art or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse slasher films.

Following this logic, artists and fans hoping to use Minnie Mouse must only depict her appearance as shown in 1928 films like Steamboat Willie and Plane Crazy.

X (formerly known as Twitter) user @MarvelousMissC put it bluntly:

I hope everybody realizes that because Steamboat Willie/Plane Crazy specifically are going into the public domain the only design of Minnie that people can use without getting a slap on the hand is the one where she has tits

I hope everybody realizes that because Steamboat Willie/Plane Crazy specifically are going into the public domain the only design of Minnie that people can use without getting a slap on the hand is the one where she has tits pic.twitter.com/pcGTE0hFVX

— 🌈 🦌📚 Courtney! ❤️🧡🤍🩷 (@MarvelousMissC) January 1, 2024

Still, artists might be able to get away with drawing Minnie Mouse without her early human anatomy. In Steamboat Willie, animators didn’t include the two white circles in side view or far away frames.

As Mickey Mouse goes from a family-friendly icon to the butt of every possible off-color joke, the early version of Minnie Mouse is nothing but a missed opportunity for a viral post or hit merchandise.

Should Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse have entered the public domain? Share your thoughts with Inside the Magic in the comments.