A beloved character has officially become public domain! Pluto, Mickey Mouse’s dog, first appeared in 1930, and his copyright has now expired, making him freely available for anyone to use.
I was so excited to hear Pluto is finally in the public domain! But it’s a little complicated. It’s only the very first version of Pluto that’s free to use – the one from those early 1930 shorts, “The Chain Gang” and “The Picnic.” Actually, the dogs in “The Chain Gang” weren’t even originally Pluto! They were just nameless bloodhounds chasing Mickey. But Disney later reused some of that animation and turned those same dogs into Pluto for a few other cartoons, including “The Picnic.”
Even though Pluto appeared in earlier cartoons, like “The Picnic,” he wasn’t actually called Pluto then – that dog was known as Rover. The name Pluto wasn’t officially given to the character until the 1931 cartoon short, “The Moose Hunt.” Pluto, created by Walt Disney and Norm Ferguson, is a medium-sized, yellow-orange dog with short black ears and short hair.
Pluto is one of the core group of Disney characters known as the “Sensational Six,” which also includes Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, and Goofy. But while the others act and appear more human – talking, walking on two legs, and wearing clothes – Pluto remains a typical dog in his behavior and appearance.
After appearing in the short film “The Moose Hunt,” Pluto continued to be featured in Mickey Mouse cartoons until 1937. That year, he also started starring in his own series of shorts. In 1941, Pluto played a key role in “Lend a Paw,” which won an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 1942. This makes it the only Mickey Mouse short to ever receive the award.
Is Pluto Destined to Be Reimagined as a Horror Icon?
Similar to Mickey Mouse, Pete, and Minnie Mouse, whose older versions recently became public domain, only the earliest depictions from classic Disney shorts are now freely usable. Newer, more familiar versions of these characters remain protected by Disney’s copyright.
Recently, classic Disney characters, especially those whose copyrights have expired like Winnie-the-Pooh in 2022, have been turned into horror villains. The most well-known example is Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey, which portrays Pooh and Piglet as savage killers. This low-budget slasher film, released in 2023, was surprisingly successful, earning $7.7 million globally on a mere $50,000 budget.
The success of Blood and Honey led to the creation of a larger interconnected series of horror films. The team behind Blood and Honey has developed what they call the Twisted Childhood Universe, and have already released horror versions of Peter Pan and Bambi, with a reimagining of Pinocchio planned for release next.
As a huge movie fan, I can’t believe how many horror takes there are on Mickey Mouse now! It all started with that classic short, “Steamboat Willie,” which became public domain this year. The latest one, called Screamboat, is seriously creepy, starring Art the Clown as Steamboat Willie himself. And get this – they’ve already announced a sequel coming next year that’s going to give us their version of Minnie Mouse! It’s wild to see these iconic characters reimagined like this.
You can watch “The Chain Gang” and “The Picnic” for free on their respective Wikipedia pages.
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2026-01-01 20:06