Nicky Borrill
Strata Poster
I did some research and you're not mistaken.
Another big one is Winnie the Pooh.
But the trouble with Winnie and Mickey, is that Disney still have protection over everything people nowadays would recognise as those characters. Because their images, as we'd recognise them today, are derivative works. coming from later books / cartoons / movies, so their current likenesses are still protected. Most people wouldn't recognise Steamboat Willie as Mickey Mouse, and Winnie's red top was introduced much later, so that is still protected, isn't WInnie just another bear without his red top?
Peter Pan is a rabbit hole worth going down. It should technically be in the public domain by now, and is in many places. But in the UK, presumably because the rights are held by, and directly support Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, the government made special provisions a long time ago allowing them to still receive royalties to this day. https://www.gosh.org/about-us/peter-pan/copyright/
I don't understand it all fully, aside from a bit of a rabbit hole today. But ultimately, I think it will only work for things like Wizard of Oz. Where any illustrator / artist can draw up brand new character images, and them be instantly recognisable, such as the ones above. Draw any young girl, witch, lion, scarecrow and tin man in the same image, and it's instantly recognisable as Wizard of Oz. In short, very very smart move Gulliver's.
