Credit: DisneyLess than 24 hours in the public domain, Mickey Mouse has already gone from cute cartoon to mutant and murderer, but Steamboat Willie might be the wrong persona to adapt. Plane Crazy came months earlier and demonstrated a much more maniacal side of the mouse we know and love.
As of January 1, 2024, Mickey Mouse’s black-and-white versions seen in Steamboat Willie (1929) and Plane Crazy (1928) officially entered the public domain. That means that like several other characters like Peter Pan, Frankenstein, Humpty Dumpty, etc., this version of Mickey is open for artistic interpretation.
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While there have already been some scary Steamboat Willies recently announced, filmmakers might be more inclined to rewatch Plane Crazy. The forgotten first for Mickey Mouse depicts a spindly, bug-eyed, rodent who practically tries to assault Minnie while flying his homemade aircraft. Not exactly the version fans love and adore today, right?
Mickey Goes Manic in Plane Crazy
The entirety of the short can be viewed above, and Steamboat Willie definitely feels like an upgrade in comparison. While the version of Mickey that came a short time after Plane Crazy feels more on par with the Mickey Mouse so many of us know and recognize, this version feels like he crawled out of a piece of lost media.
Needly appearance aside, the Mickey seen in the video above immediately takes a hard left turn into unrecognizable territory the moment he starts putting the moves on Minnie and tries to throw her out of the plane when he rejects her. If that happened in a modern Mickey cartoon, an outraged audience would cancel him into next week.
Steamboat Willie’s Mickey was still more mischievous than his modern counterpart, but it’s hard to say he was overly malicious (although the farm animals onboard might disagree). Joking aside, exploring the more lustful, darker side for any twisted adaptation feels much more reasonable than the one that simply tried to joyride a steamboat.
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Furthermore, it should also be noted that this unseemly version had the full approval of Walt Disney and Mickey’s original animator, Ub Iwerks. While it’s safe to say that both evolved as the Disney company progressed, that doesn’t mean fans can’t take advantage of Mickey’s missteps.
What do you think of this rat-like rough draft of Mickey Mouse? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!