It’s time again for my annual look at animated cartoons and comics that should’ve entered public domain in 2025 under their original copyright terms, but didn’t—thanks to retroactive extensions to copyright lengths.
If you’re looking for previous years’ posts:
The usual criteria
My usual statement about United States copyright lengths:
Under the copyright laws that existed from 1909 through 1978, works could be copyrighted for a single 28-year term, with one 28-year renewal allowed, or a total of 56 years. This was deemed sufficient for most of the 20th century. It also allowed for the creation of a large amount of the entertainment we still enjoy today.
If the former laws were still in effect, material created in 1968 would be entering the public domain in 2025. Instead, copyright lengths were retroactively extended in 1976 and again in 1998, thanks to heavy lobbying by Disney and other wealthy interests. As such, it’s now a ludicrously long 95 years for most corporate works, including “work for hire” creations; most movies and TV shows fall under this. For creator-owned works, such as this blog, it’s the life of the author plus 70 years. Thus, corporate works created in 1968 won’t enter the public domain until January 1, 2064.
For more about the current state of copyright law and all material (not just cartoons) entering public domain in 2025, visit Duke University’s Center for the Study of the Public Domain (CSPD) page.
Below is a list of cartoons created in 1968 that should’ve entered the public domain in 2025 under their original copyright terms.
Comics
For more, see Wikipedia’s 1968 in comics page.
Archie
- Zelda Spellman (though “Spellman” as her last name wasn’t introduced until the 1990s “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” sitcom)
DC Comics
- Angel and the Ape (Angel O’Day and Sam Simeon)
- Anthro
- Bat Lash
- Brother Power the Geek
- Cain
- Copperhead
- The Creeper
- Dolphin
- Guy Gardner
- The Hawk and the Dove
- The League of Assassins (not named as such until 1970)
- The Legion of Super-Heroes:
- Chemical King
- Mordru
- Shadow Lass
- Red Tornado
- The Tornado Twins
- Wonder Woman:
- Dr. Cyber
- I Ching
Marvel
- Annihilus
- Carol Danvers
- Mephisto
- Franklin Richards
- Ultron
- The Vision
- The Wrecker
Other comics
- The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers (by Gilbert Shelton; underground comics)
Comic strips
- Peanuts
- Franklin
- Marcie
Animation
For more, see Wikipedia’s 1968 in animation page.
Movies
- Yellow Submarine
- Looney Tunes:
- Bunny and Claude
- Chimp and Zee
TV shows
- The Archie Show
- Wacky Races (the debuts of Penelope Pitstop, the Ant Hill Mob, Dick Dastardly, and Muttley)
- Fantastic Voyage (based on the 1966 film)
- The Adventures of Gulliver
- The Batman/Superman Hour
- The Banana Splits Adventure Hour (mix of live-action and animation)
TV specials
- He’s Your Dog, Charlie Brown (“Peanuts”)
What’s actually entering the public domain in 2025?
Again, the above is more “what should have been,” but fortunately, the public domain is actually active. Among the comic characters entering public domain on January 1, 2025 include Popeye the Sailor, Buck Rogers, and (at least within the US) Tintin.
Popeye is clearly a major entry, though it’s debatable whether or not his famous spinach eating will be included. Duke’s CSPD states spinach didn’t first appear in the comics until 1931, but due to copyright-registration issues, that element’s likely already public domain. Still, you’ll be free to use Popeye and Olive Oyl, the latter who’s already in the public domain, though you’ve got a wait to use other classic Popeye elements (Bluto, Wimpy, Eugene the Jeep, Poopdeck Pappy, etc.).
On the animation side, one new entry is Horace Horsecollar, an early Mickey Mouse supporting character. An anthropomorphic horse (though his earliest version skewed more towards acting like a regular horse), Horace appeared in various bit roles in the 1930s animated shorts. However, he had a much bigger role in the Mickey Mouse newspaper strip (until Goofy displaced his role) and in European comics, where he was often made Clarabelle Cow’s love interest. Recent years has seen Clarabelle make a big comeback in Mickey-related media, with Horace also making a few appearances.
There’s also about a dozen Mickey Mouse shorts entering public domain, including “The Karnival Kid” (Mickey’s first speaking role, and presumably the origin of his catchphrase “hot dog!”) and “The Opry House” (the first time Mickey wears gloves on-screen). Yes, public domain-based versions of Mickey are now free to wear gloves.
Conclusion
If not for retroactive copyright extensions, characters like Dick Dastardly, the Red Tornado, Carol Danvers, and Marcie from “Peanuts” would be free to use stock characters, just like Dracula, the Frankenstein Monster, and King Arthur. Unfortunately, despite dating from the flower power era, these characters won’t be entering public domain until well into the 2060s.
Many of these characters are still being used in modern media. The 2017 “Wacky Races” reboot features Dick Dastardly, Muttley, and Penelope Pitstop; Guy Gardner (“Three Stooges” haircut and all) is part of the cast of the 2025 James Gunn “Superman” movie; Ultron is the main villain in the 2015 film “Avengers: Age of Ultron”; and Franklin is the star of a 2024 “Peanuts” special on Apple TV+.
Fortunately, public domain additions continue to be active in 2025. While I imagine there’ll be the usual “cheap slasher film” slop featuring Popeye, hopefully others will use the public domain incarnation of the spinach-eating sailor in more thoughtful ways. Next year (2026) will see even more public domain entries, including the earliest version of Disney’s Pluto and the Fleischer Studios’ Betty Boop.
Top row: Carol Danvers; art by Lucas Werneck (Marvel) / “Justice League of America” #64 (August 1968); art by Dick Dillin (DC Comics) / “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” #6 (July 1972); art by Stan Goldberg (Archie)
Bottom row: “Yellow Submarine” (Apple Films) / Dick Dastardly and Muttley, “Wacky Races” (Warner Bros.) / Peppermint Patty and Franklin, “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” (Peanuts Worldwide)
