History WesternAnimation / SteamboatWillie

In 2024, the short entered the PublicDomain.

* PeelingPotatoes: Mickey's [[LaserGuidedKarma punishment for slacking off so much]] is getting thrown in a room of potatoes. Serves as the Trope Image.

* BlackComedyAnimalCruelty: This is the most famous example in the early Mickey Mouse cartoons; it includes a sow played like an accordion, a cat having its tail pulled and then swung around (serves as the current trope image), and a goose squeezed like a bagpipe. [[EveryoneHasStandards However, Pete himself isn't amused by this at all]].

* BlackComedyAnimalCruelty: This is the most famous example in the early Mickey Mouse cartoons; it includes a sow played like an accordion, a cat having its tail pulled and then swung around (serves as the current rope image), and a goose squeezed like a bagpipe. [[EveryoneHasStandards However, Pete himself isn't amused by this at all]].

* LiteralAssKicking: Pete attempts to kick Mickey after the latter blew a raspberry at him, only to kick his own butt by accident. However, Pete's failed kick managed to get Mickey fall down the stairway and land his butt on a bucket of water.

The short was revolutionary for its time, and its copyright status in the US was still up in the air for a long time -- in 1998, Disney successfully lobbied the U.S. Congress to extend its copyright[[note]](which was originally set to expire in 2004 upon the short's 75th anniversary, plus a month and a half as copyrights always expire on January 1 of the following year)[[/note]] to 2024 (this is part of the reason that the Copyright Term Extension Act is occasionally derisively called the "Mickey Mouse Protection Act"), though by the original law it should have fallen into the {{public domain|Animation}} years ago. It may in fact have already been in the public domain during that time due to errors in the original copyright formulation, but no one wanted to challenge Disney's lawyers. As of January 1, 2024, the short, along with Mickey, Minnie and Pete as they appear in the short, are now definitively in the United States public domain.[[note]]Before you get to making your own Mickey content, though, even though the copyright for this cartoon has expired, Disney hasn't lost complete control of their classic characters, as later versions of these characters are still copyrighted and trademarked. You are now able to use ''Steamboat Willie'' and ''Gallopin' Gaucho''[='=]s version of Mickey, Minnie and Pete as much as you want, but not later versions of them still as they are under Disney's copyright. You also cannot use Mickey as a trademark as that would cause customer confusion, unless you want to get sued by Disney. Additionally, you can use the IMAGE of Mickey's unnamed (in the short) boss, but actually calling him "Pete" is... iffy. Pete himself dates back to 1925, but as a bear, not a cat. So Pete the BEAR is fair game. The cat character seen in ''Steamboat Willie'' wasn't retroactively declared to be Pete until 1930, leaving the whole thing a legal tangleweb.[[/note]] It should be noted that in several other countries, including Canada and Russia, the short has been in the public domain for several years. [[Film/WinnieThePoohBloodAndHoney Predictably]], [[https://screenrant.com/steamboat-willie-horror-movie-updates/ an indie horror movie project]] is already on track to be made. A [[https://www.gameinformer.com/2024/01/03/someone-is-already-making-a-steamboat-willie-mickey-mouse-horror-game horror video game]] is in the works, and a FirstPersonShooter game inspired from this short named ''Mouse''.

The short was revolutionary for its time, and its copyright status in the US was still up in the air for a long time -- in 1998, Disney successfully lobbied the U.S. Congress to extend its copyright[[note]](which was originally set to expire in 2004 upon the short's 75th anniversary, plus a month and a half as copyrights always expire on January 1 of the following year)[[/note]] to 2024 (this is part of the reason that the Copyright Term Extension Act is occasionally derisively called the "Mickey Mouse Protection Act"), though by the original law it should have fallen into the {{public domain|Animation}} years ago. It may in fact have already been in the public domain during that time due to errors in the original copyright formulation, but no one wanted to challenge Disney's lawyers. As of January 1, 2024, the short, along with Mickey, Minnie and Pete as they appear in the short, are now definitively in the United States public domain.[[note]]Before you get to making your own Mickey content, though, even though the copyright for this cartoon has expired, Disney hasn't lost complete control of their classic characters, as later versions of these characters are still copyrighted and trademarked. You are now able to use ''Steamboat Willie'' and ''Gallopin' Gaucho''[='=]s version of Mickey, Minnie and Pete as much as you want, but not later versions of them still as they are under Disney's copyright. You also cannot use Mickey as a trademark as that would cause customer confusion, unless you want to get sued by Disney. Additionally, you can use the IMAGE of Mickey's unnamed (in the short) boss, but actually calling him "Pete" is... iffy. Pete himself dates back to 1925, but as a bear, not a cat. So Pete the BEAR is fair game. The cat character seen in ''Steamboat Willie'' wasn't retroactively declared to be Pete until 1930, leaving the whole thing a legal tangleweb.[[/note]] It should be noted that in several other countries, including Canada and Russia, the short has been in the public domain for several years. [[Film/WinnieThePoohBloodAndHoney Predictably]], [[https://screenrant.com/steamboat-willie-horror-movie-updates/ an indie horror movie project]] is already on track to be made. And a [[https://www.gameinformer.com/2024/01/03/someone-is-already-making-a-steamboat-willie-mickey-mouse-horror-game horror video game]] as well.

* BlackComedyAnimalCruelty: This is the most famous example in the early Mickey Mouse cartoons; it includes a sow played like an accordion, a cat having its tail pulled and then swung around, and a goose squeezed like a bagpipe. [[EveryoneHasStandards However, Pete himself isn't amused by this at all]].

* OhCrap: After Mickey finished his playing along with "Turkey in the Straw", he saw Pete was not happy at him, Mickey briefly looks at the audience before [[OhCrapSmile smiling nervously at the captain]]. [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere The mouse tried to get away]], but Pete punishes him by peeling potatoes.