House of Mouse Losing Iconic 95-Year-Old Walter Elias Disney Legacy Effective Immediately

This year marks the release of Disney’s Snow White (2025), the adaptation of Walter Elias Disney’s groundbreaking first-ever feature film. 87 years after Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) changed pop culture forever, the House of Mouse will debut its highly controversial and debated live-action remake.

But that’s not all 2025 will mark when it comes to the legacy of the world’s most celebrated animator, as multiple Disney-created works will become available for use by anyone.

Last year, The Walt Disney Company’s Steamboat Willie iteration of Mickey Mouse entered the public domain and became free for anyone to use—yes, even in a horror movie. Now, on January 1, 2025, multiple other Disney properties will join Steamboat Willie, marking a significant change in the House of Mouse’s era.

As 2025 begins, things created in 1929 will enter the public domain and become free to adapt, build upon, use, and recreate. For Disney, this marks the end of a 95-year period of sole use of these properties. Among the treasures entering the public domain on January 1, 2025, are some of Mickey Mouse’s most iconic early films. These include The Opry House, The Karnival Kid, and Mickey’s Follies

The movies are prominent in the history of Disney due to them including the debut of Mickey’s signature white gloves (The Opry House) and his first talking role (Karnival Kid).

Of course, these are all major parts of Disney’s Mickey Mouse history, and when discourse began surrounding the expiration of Steamboat Willie, the century-old company spoke out on the copyright changes.

“Ever since Mickey Mouse’s first appearance in the 1928 short film Steamboat Willie, people have associated the character with Disney’s stories, experiences, and authentic products,” Disney said at the time. “That will not change when the copyright in the Steamboat Willie film expires.”

“More modern versions of Mickey will remain unaffected by the expiration of the Steamboat Willie copyright,” the spokesperson continued, “and Mickey will continue to play a leading role as a global ambassador for the Walt Disney Company in our storytelling, theme park attractions, and merchandise.”

This monumental shift represents a golden opportunity for creators and fans to reimagine these legendary works, celebrating their cultural legacy while breathing fresh life into Disney’s earliest creations. As these beloved classics from 1929 enter the public domain, they unlock endless possibilities for adaptation, sharing, and reinterpretation, ushering in a new era of creativity.

For the first time in nearly a century, these timeless stories and characters are free for creators to explore, marking a historic moment for Disney and the broader world of storytelling.

Joining the aforementioned The Opry House, The Karnival Kid, and Mickey’s Follies will be The Barn Dance (1929), When the Cat’s Away (1929), The Barnyard Battle (1929), The Plowboy (1929), Mickey’s Choo-Choo (1929), The Jazz Fool (1929), Jungle Rhythm (1929), The Haunted House (1929), and Wild Waves (1929).

However, the animation that will expire on January 1, 2025, won’t just be Mickey Mouse-centered. The iconic cartoon The Skeleton Dance (1929) will also enter the public domain.

Walt Disney’s The Skeleton Dance is an animated short that first enchanted audiences on August 22, 1929. As the inaugural entry in the now-legendary Silly Symphony series, this five-and-a-half-minute film redefined what animation could achieve by blending humor, music, and supernatural charm.

It was produced and directed by Walt Disney himself, who also wrote the story, and animated by his collaborator, Ub Iwerks. The Skeleton Dance short brings to life a whimsical graveyard where skeletons rise from their graves at the stroke of midnight. The film’s score was composed by Carl Stalling.

While The Skeleton Dance delighted many, it wasn’t without controversy. Some audiences found its macabre humor unsettling, and it was even banned in Denmark for being too grotesque for children. Despite this, it remains an enduring fan favorite, with music from the short able to be heard in the background at Mickey’s Toontown in Disneyland Park and the Disneyland Resort.

As ComicBook points out, 2025 is significant not just in terms of Disney’s expirations but also for what the date symbolizes on a wider scale.

“…while [there are] quite a few Mickey Mouse offerings hitting public domain on New Year’s Day, the upcoming Public Domain Day is significant for another reason,” the outlet reports. “The day marks the milestone that all of the books, films, songs, and art that [were] published in the 1920s [are] now public domain.

How do you feel about this large amount of Disney creations entering the public domain? Is there another Screamboat (2024) on the way? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!