#melody mouse

[kitkat-the-muffin]

[eepyism]

melody is important for an au that im doing

ANYWAYS LOOK AT THEM

[gal-with-pastels]

Need someone to brighten your day? well melody mouse is on her way! This smiling critter always comes up with silly songs to sing, in order to make her fellow critters frowns upside down. The world in her eyes Is an instrument, as she uses various objects to create a melody. Her upbeat and bubbly personality can bring a smile to anyones face.

The bigger body variant of Melody mouse’s former name is unknown. But Prefers being called Mel. A male Young adult was the Perfect candidate for the bigger body variant. Mel Mouse has shown to be Quick witted and very resourceful when put into a tight situation. Yet also tends to be the jokester in order to lighten up the mood. Despite everything that has happened at playtime co. He’s determined to help others before helping himself.

[thetaterdragon]

Redesigned the neices too. Millie and Melody needs more love

[stamplover]

a few my melody stamps from my collection

[webdiggerxxx]

꧁★꧂

[teeveeland]

Mouse-Warming (1952)

[knuckles-junior]

🩷

Im late to the party, but I drew (not all) my comfort characters on patrol.

Og screenshot

[lovelyhellokitty]

[skullislandproductions]

In these character layout drawings, Speedy Gonzales bids adios to the Goon Squad, from Space Jam 2, 2021.

[tymime]

Public Domain cartoon characters from the Golden Age of Animation (and beyond)

Revised and expanded version of this post: https://tymime.tumblr.com/post/648495121557585920/instead-of-whining-about-mickey-mouse-not-falling

While Mickey entering the public domain is exciting and all, I do think a lot of people are overlooking the many other animated characters that are available to use in their creative works. This list isn't entirely exhaustive, but it does highlight some of the most interesting and/or appealing characters, as well as ones that have the potential to be so.

Koko the Clown

One of the oldest cartoon stars from the Fleischer studio, almost all of Koko's silent-era cartoons are PD, and have been for quite some time. A handful of his appearances alongside Betty Boop are also PD.

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit

Oswald's PD status has been greatly overshadowed by his fellow Disney star Mickey, but I believe that he deserves more recognition. All of the shorts produced by the Disney studio are PD as of this year, and let's face it, those are the only ones most people care about. Pegleg Pete's bear design is also PD.

Keep in mind that the blue shorts that Oswald wears in Epic Mickey and elsewhere are likely copyrighted, so I recommend steering clear of that.

I'm also not entirely sure you can use the name "Ortensia" for his cat girlfriend, since that name first appeared in Epic Mickey also. She was called "Kitty" back in the day, among other things.

All of Van Beuren Studio's cartoons

The Van Beuren Studio was active during the rubberhose era, and their cartoons, especially the earlier ones, are like a cruder, possibly even more bizarre cousin to Fleischer and Disney. They went bust in the late 1930s, and no one renewed the copyright later on, so the entirety of their output is PD.

Their most notable characters include Tom and Jerry, a pair of average Joes who always get into strange adventures. They shouldn't be confused with MGM's Tom and Jerry, and in fact they were called Dick and Larry when their shorts were rereleased for the home-movie market in the 1940s.

Also notable is Waffles and Don, who are basically just animal versions of Tom and Jerry. You might consider these two as a better alternative, just to avoid confusion.

There's also Cubby Bear, a pretty blatant Mickey Mouse clone, but unique enough that I don't think anybody’s going to confuse the two nowadays.

In the previous post, I mentioned a rumor that Disney threatened legal action over the character, but I can't find the source for that now. I may have been thinking of Milton Mouse, who was so extremely similar to Mickey that they actually did sue the studo for copyright infringement. So maybe don't try selling any Milton merchandise...

Finally, there's Molly Moo-Cow, who appeared in several Rainbow Parade cartoons in the mid-to-late 1930s. Molly is arguably not the most interesting character, but I have a fondness for her since we grew up with one of her shorts on a VHS tape.

Toby the Pup

Another very obscure character, about half of his cartoons are lost media. The little that does survive is hard to find online, but I think his design has appeal.

Dr. XXX

Disney's The Mad Doctor was never renewed for reasons unknown, though some speculate that the studio thought that the cartoon was too scary and decided to let it go. Fortunately for us, that means that this iconic character is now in the people's hands.

Goopy Geer

Goopy appeared in the three Merrie Melodies cartoons alongside his unnamed girlfriend. Despite his name and appearance being similar to Disney's Goofy, he actually made his debut about a month before (Goofy was named Dippy Dawg at the time anyway, so it was undoubtedly a coincidence).

Claude Hopper

Claude appeared in a single Looney Tunes cartoon in 1943 called Hop and Go, alongside a pair of Scottish rabbits who antagonize him. The cartoon ends with a very unfortunate depiction of Tokyo being blown up (World War II was still going on at the time), so it's no surprise that Warner Bros. decided not to renew this one. Despite that, he has a very appealing design (imo), so I think he has potential. (Also, he's voiced by Pinto Colvig, the original voice of Goofy!)

Private Snafu and Mr. Hook

Snafu and Hook were created for the US government, so according to the law are automatically public domain. The shorts were made to be shown to members of the US army and navy respectively, in order to teach them valuable lessons for fighting in WWII, but are nevertheless hilarious cartoons- animated by the Looney Tunes team with scripts by Ted Geisel- aka Dr. Seuss!

The Dover Boys

Also of note are the ComiColor cartoons from the Iwerks studio, Rainbow Parade from Van Beuren, and most of the Color Classics by Fleischer. These don't have any especially memorable characters in them, but I thought I ought to mention them.

Yes, Tom, Dick and Larry, Dora Standpipe and the villainous Dan Backslide are all public domain. A bunch of YouTube Poops were created after this fact was discovered by the internet a few years ago.

How Warner Bros. could ever let this one get away I'll never know. Their loss is our gain, I suppose.

Caveats and other concerns

Krazy Kat

Felix the Cat

All of the strips up to 1928 are definitely fair game. According to the Public Domain Superheroes wiki however, the entirety of the strip's run is PD. I'm not sure if it that's true, but the Fantagraphics collections don't credit any newspaper syndicate, so it seems likely. (Apparently the copyright status of newspaper comics are a whole can of worms on its own...)

At any rate, the strip's cast was pretty well set in stone by 1928, so it shouldn't be much of a problem. A large number of animated shorts starring Krazy are also PD, but those were pretty much in name only.

Flip the Frog

Felix was pretty much the first cartoon superstar, and almost all of his Golden Age appearances are PD now. Keep in mind that this does not include elements from the 1950s cartoon like his magic bag, or from The Twisted Tales of Felix, as amazing as that series is.

The character's name and appeance are still trademarked by NBC Universal however, so you might be able to use him in a minor role, but not much else.

I'm uncertain about this one. According to most sources Flip is PD, but according to the Thunderbean Blu-ray collection he's copyrighted by the Film Preservation Archives, whatever that means. Additionally, Flip himself is supposedly trademarked by Leslie Iwerks, Ub Iwerks’ granddaughter, though no one seems to be able to confirm that. I don't know how the trademark hasn't lapsed yet, considering that Flip hasn't appeared on any official merchandise or anything in decades.

Bosko and Honey

I believe there's nothing stopping anyone from using Bosko's classic design (later appearances at MGM and in Tiny Toons are still copyrighted), but the character himself is a bit problematic, considering that it's all but stated outright that he's a blackface caricature. Use with caution.

Foxy and Roxy

Noveltoons

Like Goopy Geer, Foxy appeared in three Merrie Melodies cartoons. Roxy's name originates from an episode of Tiny Toon Adventures however, so keep that in mind. Though I'm not sure what else you would call her (or if Warner Bros. would even care). Supposedly her original name was "Fluffy", but I can't find a source for this.

Like Bosko and Honey, later appearances in Tiny Toons are still copyrighted.

Noveltoons was a series produced by Famous Studios, the successor to the Fleischer studio. The characters include Baby Huey, Herman the mouse, Blackie the sheep, Little Audrey, and of course, Casper the Friendly Ghost. Only a small handful of the shorts are PD though, and Casper is trademarked, so one's options are limited.

Ginger Nutt (and rest of the Animaland cast)

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964)

This one I'm not entirely sure about either, but Ginger Nutt's Christmas Circus has long been a staple of grey-market tapes and DVDs, so I'm just going to assume all of the Animaland cartoons are also PD. Considering that the series wasn't very sucessful, and is very obscure nowadays, it seems pretty likely.

If anyone has any insight on this, let me know.

Calvin and the Colonel

Now here's an interesting case. An all-time classic Christmas special, and yet large parts of it are PD because they accidentally put the wrong date on the copyright notice. Instead of the Roman numerals MCMLXIV (1964), it reads MCLXIV (1164), and according to the law at the time, that meant that the film immediately went into public domain.

Of course, Rudolph himself is still copyrighted, and will be until 2035 when the original book falls into the public domain. Even then he's likely to still be trademarked. Not to mention the songs featured in the '64 film will be copyrighted for a long time afterward.

Still, this means that anyone is free to use all the other characters, including Hermey, Yukon Cornelius, King Moonracer, Clarice, and all the Misfit Toys. It's a wonder no one seems to have taken advantage of this. And of course Santa and his reindeer have been PD for ages, especially Santa since he comes from folklore- and you can't copyright folklore.

This cartoon is based on and stars a lot of the same voice cast as the old-time radio show Amos and Andy, which, while not overtly racist, featured white actors pretending to be black. The cartoon obviously has animals instead, but still, tread carefully. Someone is bound to point out the characters' history.

Hoppity Hooper

Another one I'm not sure about. The Public Domain Superheroes wiki has characters from this show among its articles, but I wasn't able to confirm if it really was PD. It was created by Jay Ward, the same studio who made Rocky & Bullwinkle and George of the Jungle, but was also a huge flop for some reason, so that may be the reason why they let the copyright expire. Again, I'm not sure, but no one seems to care that the entire series is on YouTube, so who knows?

...Well, there you have it. Lots of obscure and forgotten toons waiting to be rediscovered and reused! If anyone has any more info or corrections, leave me a comment. I'd love some clarification on some of these.

[boingodigitalart]

Thinking about the summer along with Mickey and friends made me want to draw Mickey, Minnie, Millie, Melody, Morty, Ferdy, Donald, and Daisy together. This one inspired by the Enchanting Hut and Ku’u Lei Melody shorts.

[lovepuppyplush]

Melody & Piano 

[michellemouse]

Hey!!

I had planned to show this...

Before I had already shown something about Mortimer's family but now I thought about creating two more members becuz... BECUZ YES, WHY NOT?🤷‍♀️

Mortimer's nephews would be the rivals of Morty and Ferdie (on the boy's side) Millie and Melody (same but on the girl's side)

The girl would represent her uncle's elegant and narcissistic personality. She would throw any tantrum to get what she wants no matter what

The boy would represent his uncle's fun and rude personality. Although compared to his sister hes the dumbest and most innocent (he also seeks to be the coolest of all)

None of them have a love interest for any of their rivals, wakala!

•Fun facts:

Theyre children of Ivy Mouse

Only the boy appreciates his uncle, the other does not much becuz she considers her uncle a ridiculous/pathetic man🤦‍♀️🥺

They don't have names... that's why I call them "boy" and "girl"/srs (L bozo)

I have no idea what colors they will use, but I'm sure the girl will wear yellow and the boy will wear brown🤷‍♀️

The boy usually wears black glasses to look cool (only in a modern redesign or in parallel to DuckTales)🕶✨️

If they knew "Uncle Sylvester" they wouldn't give him much importance and/or would call him a "bitter old man"🫤😒🙄

If u have any suggestions u can tell me ;)!!

[skullsemi]

Max, Huey dewy Louie, Morty Fredie AND Millie and melody all meet and chaos ensues

ABSOLUTELY

Kids will be kids!

And it could be really worse, but here's a classic chaotic scenario for now! (Lots of fun drawing this!)

[ducktoonsfanart]

Mickey and Minnie Mouse with their kids (their nephews and nieces) - Mickey's Once Upon A Christmas - Mouseverse - Gift for my friend

I know the Christmas holidays are long gone, but I did this last month on Deviantart, for a friend of mine who was celebrating her birthday then, so I'm posting it here too, even though it's over. Sorry!

I drew Mickey and Minnie Mouse based on Mickey's Once Upon A Christmas movie where they really looked like a loving couple. Still, it's nothing without children, so I added Mickey's nephews Morty and Ferdie Fieldmouse (Morty is in a red hoodie jacket, while Ferdie is in a blue hoodie jacket) as well as Minnie's nieces Millie and Melody (Millie is in a purple outfit, while Melody is in some green - blue clothes). Yes, Milie and Melody appeared in Minnie's Bow Toons (although I personally don't like such baby series, it's still good that Minnie got her nieces, otherwise she has them, but only one in the comics), while Morty and Ferdie appeared in the classic shorts and in comics, though not as often. I wish somehow they appeared a little more often with Mickey and Minnie Mouse and more people knew about the Mickey Mouse comics where he has more personality than he does in the cartoons. Especially since Steamboat Willie came out as public domain.

Of course, I drew in my own ways, using inspiration from other drawings. Yes, and I drew both Mickey's nephews and Minnie's nieces as preteens and based on the comics, as if they were wearing a modern version of the clothes.  This year is also the 25th anniversary of Mickey's Once Upon A Christmas and the 90th anniversary of the first animated appearance of Morty and Ferdie in the classic short "Mickey's Steam-Roller", although they first appeared in the 1932 comic "Mickey's Nephews". Once again, I wish you a late Christmas and a happy New Year 2024! And this is a belated gift for my friend, @harmony-bunny , whom I dedicated to her as a gift since she is a big fan of this couple.

I hope you like this gift of mine, and that you like this drawing too.

Happy Holidays and Happy Belated Valentine's Day! Feel free to like and reblog this if you like it!