“It does really feel like a tactical authorized transfer,” Oliver mentioned. “Principally, they could argue that this early Mickey’s picture is so carefully related to their firm that folks mechanically assume that any picture of him was produced or licensed by them and nonetheless take authorized motion.”
After explaining that anybody attempting to make use of the character runs the chance of summoning Disney’s legal professionals, Oliver cheekily launched a brand new recurring character on Final Week Tonight with John Oliver, Mickey Mouse.
Mickey’s first line on the present gave indication of simply how Oliver’s writers plan to make use of the character when he requested, “The place’s Shelly Miscavige?” – Miscavige being Scientology chief David Miscavige’s spouse who hasn’t been seen in public for greater than a decade. The cartoon mouse additionally later claimed, “I hope Henry Kissinger dies quickly.”
The Final Week Tonight bit ended with an individual in a Mickey mascot costume, customary after the Steamboat Willie unique, strolling out on stage, dancing round, and claiming, “Jeffery Epstein didn’t kill himself.”
In response to Oliver, “As of January 1 subsequent yr, this mascot costume shall be out there to you for Birthday events, theme park openings, funerals, intercourse dungeons, mainly no matter you need to use it for.”
All of that’s dependent, in fact, on how Disney responds to the provocation and whether or not or not its legal professionals can discover a method to preserve management over the character even after Steamboat Willie hits the general public area.
In response to the host, “We’re solely more likely to discover out what the [arguments are] if and after they sue.”
