Mike Neville inquired Midjourney on January 1 about “Steamboat Willie drawn in a classic Disney style, black and white,” with pale gel dripping all over him.
The AI image generator’s output, likening Mickey Mouse covered in gel to an orgasm, defies appropriate description.
Each year, a fragment of historical works enters the public domain in the United States, sparking excitement as beloved character rights expire. A highly anticipated event occurred when an earlier rendition of Mickey Mouse, known as Steamboat Willie, entered the public domain in 2024 after nearly a decade of stringent copyright protection. This led to a surge of homemade Steamboat Willie creations flooding the internet, including videos, horror movie adaptations, and various AI-generated versions, ranging from G-rated to more controversial iterations like “Creamboat Willie” involving drug use.
While some creators had innocuous intentions, others ventured into risqué territory with their interpretations. Neville, using the pseudonym “Olivia Mutant-John,” shared his creation on social media, citing a curiosity about rights levels and current artistic boundaries as his primary motivation. Observing the ease with which copyrighted characters could be found on popular image-generating platforms, Neville sought to push the limits of the image engine now that Steamboat Willie was in the public domain—a trend also highlighted by AI professor Gary Marcus’s AI-generated SpongeBob SquarePants examples.
Neville is not alone in his AI experimentation with Willie in the context of copyright considerations. Pierre-Carl Langlais, head of research at OpSci, developed a refined version of Firm Diffusion called “Mickey-1928” using 96 public domain images of Mickey Mouse from the 1928 films Steamboat Willie, Plane Crazy, and Gallopin’s Gaucho. Langlais emphasizes the importance of training AI models on public domain works to raise awareness about data sources. Despite the rough and imperfect results generated by Mickey-1928, Langlais has garnered positive feedback online, with users appreciating its slightly flawed charm.
Eryk Salvaggio, an emerging technology researcher, describes the AI-generated Steamboat Willie creations as satirical, highlighting the significance of Mickey Mouse’s entry into the public domain and Disney’s role in shaping modern copyright laws. The social commentary embedded in these AI experiments intersects with ongoing debates about intellectual property rights and fair use, particularly in the digital age.
Some AI-generated Steamboat Willie images, such as Willie smoking a joint on the Bluesky social network, have stirred controversy and captured attention. Virtual Balboa, the creator behind this rendition, expresses a desire to challenge Disney’s boundaries and prompt them to scrutinize these unconventional depictions. Virtual Balboa also voices skepticism about the benefits of enhanced copyright protections, suggesting that such regulations may hinder creative freedom and innovation.
The convergence of Steamboat Willie with AI technologies underscores the evolving landscape of digital creations and the challenges faced by regulators in navigating these complexities.
