7 Underrated Public Domain Characters

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It’s been a long time since I’ve written a listicle! In the mid-aughts, listicles were how I earned a meager living as a writer. I would get hired by a website to be their internet culture guy, where I’d compile quickie, witty lists of memes and videos with titles like “10 Biggest Slip ‘n Slide Wipeouts” or “31 Pieces of Toast That Kind of Resemble Macklemore” for $10-$25 an article. All of this work is now collecting digital dust in the least viewed corners of the Internet Archive. Listicles helped me build my joke writing speed, because the faster I could turn around articles laced with little sarcastic quips, the more likely I was to have eating money that month.

I’m no longer writing articles for the web, but I sure read a lot of them. Google News knows I enjoy reading about public domain characters, the kind written to inspire writers and creators. “Did you know anyone can use Dracula and Peter Pan in their work?” Yeah, I know, articles, but everyone uses Dracula and Peter Pan. Every couple of years, a film producer says, “What if Peter Pan was dark… but also… edgy?!”

They’re constantly remaking Sherlock Holmes and Wizard of Oz, but there are plenty of other public domain stories with characters who I think would be interesting to see reimagined and don’t get as much love. So, as I hurriedly put the finishing touches on my Marx Brothers game for the public domain jam, here are a few lesser-thought-of free-to-use characters who intrigue me, and might inspire you…

Mr. Toad

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame was published in 1908 and is a classic of British literature, but in America, it’s best known today as the book that spawned the only Disney ride that takes you to Hell!

Thanks to Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, the property has a bit of “juice” in my opinion, but there aren’t many notable modern adaptations. Mr. Toad of Toad Hall is a rich, gregarious, motor-car obsessed danger to his community. I think this archetype is incredibly relatable today. Just change “motor-car” to “social media” and Mr. Toad becomes a prominent, current danger to our community. I fear the billionaires of the world are going to wreak more havoc in the years to come. Mr. Toad would be a good vehicle to satirically expose them as the slimeballs they are.

Dr. Jekyll / Mr. Hyde

Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Wolfman are the top-tier Universal Monsters. They’re all in the public domain, but there’s no shortage of adaptations of those three. They’re the belles of the Monster Mash. Technically, though, Dr. Jekyll is the FIRST Universal Monster (1913’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde). So where was his mash invite? Sadly, Bobby “Boris” Pickett snubbed him, but despite that party foul, Dr. Jekyll’s story is very well known.

There are a lot of adaptations Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (1886). The character was in both Van Helsing and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. But because he’s upstaged by other A-List monsters, I think there’s room for more takes on the story. The case of a chemist who involuntarily transforms into a freakish killer? It’s basically true crime meets The Substance.

Little Orphan Annie

Little Orphan Annie is a comic strip about a girl who becomes suddenly rich. That’s the American dream! One day, you’re a poor girl wandering the streets, the next day you’re the beloved celebrity who said “hawk tuah!” (Or in Annie’s case, “leapin’ lizards!” I like both catchphrases about the same, honestly.)

I’m surprised that Harold Gray’s Little Orphan Annie (which debuted in 1924) hasn’t been adapted more in modern day. Yes, there’s the famous 1977 musical, and the subsequent revivals of that musical, but Annie doesn’t have to be a musical. She has a memorable look with her trademark curly red hair and red dress. She’s plucky, self-reliant, and enjoys running circles around the overbearing adults in her life. I think she’d be a fun choice for a mascot platformer, where she has to leap through NYC to escape the cruel Miss Asthma and make her way to Daddy Warbucks’ mansion.

Daddy Warbucks! Another opportunity to make fun of billionaires…

Little Nemo

I love stories about people exploring the world of dreams. There was a Saturday morning cartoon called Midnight Patrol in the 80s where a group of friends meet up in dreamland to have adventures. It really captured my imagination as a kid. I recently re-watched a Christmas episode and it’s very Hanna-Barbera-y, but still enjoyable.

While Midnight Patrol’s art might’ve been run-of-the-mill Saturday morning, Little Nemo in Slumberland by Windsor McKay (which debuted in 1905) has absolutely incredible art and a similar premise. The comics pages are surreal works of art with a playful sense of physics, color, and composition. Slumberland is a rich world full of possibilities for new adventures. Nemo has only been sporadically adapted throughout the last hundred years or so. (Apparently there was a 2022 movie based on the comic that I “slept” on.) I think a new Nemo project would be absolutely dreamy.

Raggedy Ann

I was reading the new Creepshow graphic novel – featuring a wrestling horror story by comics writer and Equip Story commenter Henry Barajas – and there’s a story about a young girl with toys in her yard. Sure enough, there was a Raggedy Ann amongst the balls and shovels. The 1915 rag doll created by Johnny Gruelle is one of those iconic, timeless toys, like Rubik’s Cube and Barnyard Commandos. (Okay, I hear you, maybe not Rubik’s Cube.) The dolls and books have sold millions of copies. Raggedy Ann and her brother Andy were separately inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame.

The super trippy Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure, directed by Richard Williams (Who Framed Roger Rabbit?), is forever seared into my brain, particularly the bonkers “Sweetheart” sequence. There were regular adaptations of Raggedy Ann into the 90s. In a world where Toy Story 5 is scheduled for release in 2026 (whyyyy, oh right money), I don’t see why Raggedy Ann couldn’t ride her camel with the wrinkled knees again.

Mr. Peanut

Mr. Peanut is the monocled, urbane mascot for Planters. He was created by Antonio Gentile and debuted in 1916. (And was voiced by both Robert Downey Jr. and Bill Hader? Thanks, Wikipedia!) The character is widely recognizable, definitely in the public domain, and as far as I can tell, has never been adapted in any meaningful way beyond TV commercials. Speaking of mascot platformers, a lot of food mascots got them in the 80s and 90s, but Mr. Peanut did not. I think it would’ve been fun to whack enemies with that cane, or use it like a pogo stick a la Scrooge McDuck in the Duck Tales game. As long as you made it super clear your new work is not associated with Planters in any way, I think you’d be in the clear. That said, I am not a lawyer, so don’t take my legal advice or construe anything I say to be legal advice. Compared to lawyers, I make peanuts!

[Sidebar: In 2020, Planters spent millions of dollars to kill Mr. Peanut and bring him back as a baby? Did that happen? Am I remembering that right? Or was it all a COVID-induced hallucination?]

The Tramp

On the opposite end of the socioeconomic ladder from Mr. Peanut – there’s a sentence I never thought I’d write – we have The Tramp. Charlie Chaplin created one of the greatest and most recognizable film characters of all-time. Greatest hits for The Tramp include City Lights, Modern Times, and Guy on Hollywood Blvd Sneering at Bootleg Elmo. The Tramp has a carefree attitude, hates cops, and wears comfortably baggy clothes. A millennial hero! Yeah, sure, he’s got a Hitler mustache, but with the bowler hat and cane, nobody’s thinking dictator. (Maybe they’ll think of The Great Dictator, which was a legendary satire of nazism! Yay!)

Most of The Tramp’s films are in the public domain, but not all. There are well over 50 films featuring the funny walking rapscallion, so there’s lots of potential inspiration to draw from… I dunno, a mascot platformer? He does have a funny walk cycle. Okay, yes, if you take nothing else away from this article, we should make less public domain horror and more public domain Mario.

🎲 Your Turn: Would you want to make a creative work starring one of these characters? What would it be like? Is there another less-thought-of public domain character you think deserves a place on the list? Reply to this email with your thoughts, or tell the whole world by hitting the orange button below.

Geoffrey Golden is a narrative designer, game creator, and interactive fiction author from Los Angeles. He’s written for Ubisoft, Disney, Gearbox, and indie studios around the world.

12 responses to “7 Underrated Public Domain Characters”

  1. Henry Barajas

    Oh wow! those are some good ones!

    1. Gotta love that funny walkin’ Tramp man!

  2. Charlie Chaplin, isn’t he the guy who popularized the toothbrush mustache before Hitler ruined it?

    Also, the Rubik’s cube is certainly a timeless classic… and there’s no copyright to worry about with it and the patents on the original cube and most of the other classic Twisty Puzzles are long expired… though, last I heard, the owner of the Rubik’s brand was doing Disney and Nintendo proud in their efforts to fight the genericization of “Rubik’s cube”.

    Though, with the mention of Mr. Peanut, I wonder when Mr. Pringle is scheduled to enter public domain… *Googles Mr. Pringle.* Ouch, Pringles were introduced in 1968 according to the Google Search summary of the Wikipedia article, so even if Mr. Pringle has been around since the snack food was introduced, I’m not likely to live to see him in the Public Domain barring medical science figuring out biological immortality without it being horded by the rich or Congress gets their collective arses in gear and cut copyright down to size.

    Though, as far as simply drawn, classy gentlemen mascots go, The Monopoly Guy only has a few more years before his overdue entrance to the Public Domain, though his Uncle Pennybags moniker has a bit further to go.

    Though, I can’t get the idea of a Donkey Kong Country inspired side-scroller where you play as a prerendered Mr Peanut and peanuts become the littered everywhere collectible you get an extra life for collecting 100 of. and since DKC is a tag-team platformer, I’m thinking introducing a short, squat Cashew sidekick to contrast with the tall, lanky Mr. Peanut… and give it a couple more years and you could use a more sinister version of Babar the Elephant as the villain.

    1. Maybe it’s worth waiting a few years to get Mr. Toad, Mr. Peanut, and Mr. Monopoly all together for a Dangerous Game type story where they’re hunting regular people for sport?

      I’m very into your DKC angle on a Mr. Peanut side-scroller. The world needs more pre-rendered 3D. For the sidekick, I’m thinking… Lil’ Cashew. True, you’ll have to wait for Babar, but Hathi from Jungle Book and the Heffalumps from Winnie-the-Pooh are currently available!

      1. Oh and forgot to mention, but have Mr. Toad trade in his motorcar for a rocket car and have him Satirize Musk in addition to the social media angle.

        Also, now I find myself wondering which nuts to make counterparts to which Kongs… And whether to include any beans in the family since peanuts are technically beans and not nuts.

        On a related note, Sailor Jack and his dog bingo of Cracker Jack date to 1916, so that’s another for the public domain food mascots.

        1. Sailor Jack and Bingo! That’s an interesting one. What is the prize inside… Jack’s heart? 🤔

  3. Little Nemo (the animated movie from 1989) is a fave of mine. I’m not sure how I feel about the Live action version recently done.

    You’ve given me an idea for a Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde twist series I may need to pursue. Thanks!

    1. I only have vague memories of the 1989 Little Nemo, but I’d like to revisit it.

      Oooh, when you’re ready to share, I’d love to know more about your take on Jekyl and Hyde!

  4. Josh Grams

    Good call on Little Nemo! There are (at least) two indies I know of with upcoming games: Little Nemo and the Guardians of Slumberland seems more inspired by the 1990 NES game, while Little Nemo and the Nightmare fiends has hand drawn art inspired by the comics.

    1. Whoa, cool! Thanks for letting me know. I just wishlisted two Little Nemo games in one day!

  5. Myles P Werntz

    The Tramp as a multi-dimensional spy, roaming the multiverse via his celestial bowler.

    1. Shuffling through space and time. I love it!

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