Ancestry Disses Disney in New Commercial?

I didn’t expect to be drawn in so much for a commercial about family lineage. Don’t get me wrong, I love my ancestors but I was never interested in American or world history so by all measures, this commercial should bore me. And yet, I loved it. Ancestry asks viewers a simple question to claim their relevancy in our lives. Check it out…

I can answer their question. We know more about those historical figures and events because it was information delivered to us. All we had to do, for the most part, was just receive the information. On the other hand, since most of aren’t famous with historians or stalkers following our every move, it takes effort and work to find out about our personal histories. That’s where Ancestry comes in to come alongside us in our search. Pretty cool. Specifically about the commercial, though, I’m not sure why they included a clip of Disney and my first thought was wondering how expensive it must’ve been to license a Mickey Mouse video. Then it occurred to me that they used an OLD clip. It’s from “Steamboat Willie” (1928) and as of 2024, that film is public domain. As long as Ancestry’s depiction doesn’t infringe on more modern versions of Mickey Mouse or link Ancestry to Disney in some way, they’re good to go. So to answer my question in the title of this post, Ancestry isn’t bashing Disney.

Because Steamboat Willie isn’t Disney’s anymore.

-Out of the Wilderness