Classic Characters Betty Boop and “Blondie” Enter Public Domain

Betty Boop and “Blondie” are joining Mickey Mouse and Winnie the Pooh in the public domain as their 95-year U.S. copyright protection expires on January 1. These iconic cartoon and comic characters are now available for creators to use and repurpose without permission or payment.

This latest batch of artistic creations becoming public property marks another milestone in the steady release of cultural works that began in 2019, following a 20-year drought caused by congressional copyright extensions.

“It’s a big year,” said Jennifer Jenkins, law professor and director of Duke’s Center for the Study of the Public Domain, who celebrates January 1 as Public Domain Day. “It’s just the sheer familiarity of all this culture.”

Jenkins notes that this year’s works collectively reflect “the fragility that was between the two wars and the depths of the Great Depression.”

From Dog to Icon: Betty Boop’s Journey

Betty Boop began her animated life in an unexpected form – as a dog. When she first appears in the 1930 short “Dizzy Dishes,” one of four Betty Boop cartoons entering the public domain, she’s recognizable as the Jazz Age flapper who would become a cultural icon, but with surprising canine features. She sports her signature baby face, short hair with styled curls, flashy eyelashes and miniature mouth – alongside poodle ears and a tiny black nose that would later evolve into dangling earrings and a human appearance.

In “Dizzy Dishes,” Betty performs a slinky song-and-dance routine in a tiny black dress. Though unnamed in this debut appearance, she already uses her signature “boop boop, a doop” vocalization. She initially played the sidekick to a popular cartoon dog named Bimbo before eventually becoming the star of her own cartoons.

Betty Boop was designed and owned by Fleischer Studios, with shorts released by Paramount Pictures. She was inspired at least partially by singer Helen Kane, known as the “Boop-Oop-a-Doop Girl” following her 1929 hit song. Kane later sued over Betty’s character and use of the catchphrase but lost the case. During legal proceedings, the defense claimed Black singer Esther Lee Jones had used similar phrases earlier.

While creators can now freely use Betty’s earliest appearances in films and creative works, merchandising rights remain protected. The Fleischer Productions trademark for Betty Boop remains intact – an important distinction often emphasized by Disney regarding Mickey Mouse.

Blondie: From Flapper to Domestic Comedy

Coincidentally, 1930 also saw the debut of another character with “boop” in her name. Blondie Boopadoop was a young flapper and the central character of Chic Young’s newspaper comic strip that first appeared in 1930. The popular comic inspired a film series and radio show, and continues running in newspapers today.

The strip initially followed Blondie’s carefree lifestyle with her boyfriend, Dagwood Bumstead. The couple would marry in 1933 (with Blondie dropping her “Boopadoop” surname), transforming the comic into the sandwich-heavy domestic comedy familiar to later readers. Though the strip was intended to focus on Blondie’s life, Dagwood often stole the spotlight with his oversized sandwiches and workplace antics.

This year also sees nine new Mickey Mouse cartoons entering the public domain, two years after “Steamboat Willie” first made Mickey available for public use. Mickey’s dog Pluto also joins the public domain, though in 1930 he was known as Rover, only receiving his permanent name the following year.

Literary Detectives and Nobel Winners

The books entering the public domain this year introduce three iconic detectives from the 20th century:

Teen sleuth Nancy Drew debuts in her first four books from 1930, beginning with “The Secret of the Old Clock,” written by Mildred Benson under the pen name Carolyn Keene.

Hard-boiled detective Sam Spade appears in the full-book version of Dashiell Hammett’s “The Maltese Falcon,” following its magazine serialization the previous year.

Agatha Christie’s elderly detective Miss Marple solves her first mystery in “Murder at the Vicarage.”

William Faulkner’s “As I Lay Dying” also becomes public domain, a year after his “The Sound and the Fury.” These works contributed to Faulkner receiving the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Elementary reading mainstays Dick and Jane also enter the public domain through the “Elson Basic Readers” textbooks, characters who taught generations to read and became staples of American parody.

Classic Films and Hollywood’s Golden Age

A year after their film debut “The Cocoanuts” entered the public domain, the Marx Brothers’ beloved “Animal Crackers” joins it. The comedy features Groucho, Harpo, Chico, and Zeppo bringing their anarchic humor to a Long Island society party celebrating an explorer’s return from Africa.

Other notable films now in the public domain include “The Blue Angel,” the German film that established Marlene Dietrich’s iconic image; “King of Jazz,” featuring Bing Crosby’s first screen appearance; and a pair of early Oscar winners – “All Quiet on the Western Front” (1930) and “Cimarron” (1931).

This marks the beginning of a significant period for public domain releases of Golden Age Hollywood films. The coming decade will see many classic films becoming available, with 2027 bringing a particularly rich harvest including Universal Pictures’ original 1931 versions of “Dracula” and “Frankenstein.”

Timeless Melodies Enter Public Domain

A collection of enduring musical standards also becomes public property this year, including four George Gershwin classics with lyrics by his brother Ira: “Embraceable You,” “I’ve Got a Crush on You,” “But Not for Me,” and “I Got Rhythm.”

Other notable compositions include Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell’s “Georgia on My Mind” and “Dream a Little Dream of Me” by Gus Kahn, Fabian Andre, and Wilbur Schwandt.

While the compositions are now available, recordings follow different copyright rules. Newly public domain recordings from 1925 include Rodgers and Hart’s “Manhattan” by the Knickerbockers, Marian Anderson’s “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen,” and Bessie Smith’s “The St. Louis Blues,” featuring Louis Armstrong.