The first two of these big little book covers were totally ripped off by underground cartoonist Denny O'Neil for the two, and only issues of Air Pirate Funnies. O'Neil thought that since Mickey Mouse was in the dictionary, the character was public property. And felt he was free to use the likenesses of these characters in his pornographic cartoon adventures that recalled the early appearances of Mickey and Minnie in newspaper strips. Not realizing that though the name may be in public use, the images were still the property of their creator Walt Disney, and Denny went through an extended court battle. Which in the end, not surprisingly, ruled against him, and he had to pay some heavy fines. Curiously, years later, the Disney people came back to him to acquire rights to an original, non Disney inspired character O'Neil had created as a backup feature in Air Pirate Funnies, which coincidentally had the same name as a character that was to be featured in major film they were in the midst of producing: Roger Rabbit.
The first two of these big little book covers were totally ripped off by underground cartoonist Denny O'Neil for the two, and only issues of Air Pirate Funnies. O'Neil thought that since Mickey Mouse was in the dictionary, the character was public property. And felt he was free to use the likenesses of these characters in his pornographic cartoon adventures that recalled the early appearances of Mickey and Minnie in newspaper strips. Not realizing that though the name may be in public use, the images were still the property of their creator Walt Disney, and Denny went through an extended court battle. Which in the end, not surprisingly, ruled against him, and he had to pay some heavy fines. Curiously, years later, the Disney people came back to him to acquire rights to an original, non Disney inspired character O'Neil had created as a backup feature in Air Pirate Funnies, which coincidentally had the same name as a character that was to be featured in major film they were in the midst of producing: Roger Rabbit.
ReplyDeleteHadn't heard that about Roger. Hope Disney paid through the nose.
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