January 1st, 2024 marks the historic occasion that Walt Disney's cartoon mouse known as "Steamboat Willy" had finally entered into the public domain. The predecessor of Mickey Mouse had been under legal lock and key since 1928 and after nearly 100 years later, the act of drawing a mouse won't get you into a lot of trouble. To commemorate such an momentous occasion as this, Chibson USA has released their 18-minute documentary film Dan O'Neill and the Air Pirates which tells the untold story of the counterculture cartoonist and Dan O'Neill and how he was able to assemble a group of talented underground artists known as the "Air Pirates" in an attempt to take on folks at Disney. The result would be a nearly 10-year long battle in the courts between with O'Neill waging war against the Walt Disney Corporation over multiple counts of copyright infringement and freedom of speech. The film includes recent interviews with ring leader Dan O'Neill and Air Pirates Ted Richards (1946-2023) and Shary Flenniken with many rare and unseen comics, photos and archival video footage documenting Dan
O'Neill's unbelievable journey. Watch the full movie here: