Overview
- Effective January 1, 2026, The Chain Gang (1930) and The Picnic (1930) entered the public domain, making the dog’s earliest on-screen versions free to use.
- In The Chain Gang the character appears as an unnamed black-and-white bloodhound, and in The Picnic he appears as Minnie Mouse’s dog called Rover.
- The character is first named Pluto in The Moose Hunt (1931), which is scheduled to enter the public domain on January 1, 2027.
- This is the third consecutive New Year that early Disney material has lapsed, following the Steamboat Willie-era Mickey in 2024, reflecting 95-year terms set by a 1998 extension.
- Disney has emphasized protection of modern iterations through copyright and trademark, and it has not issued a new statement specific to the 2025–2026 expirations, even as earlier public-domain entries spurred adult and horror reinterpretations.