Public Domain
Christopher Crumpet's Playmate
1955 · United Productions of America (UPA) · Dir. Robert Cannon
Christopher Crumpet has an imaginary elephant for a playmate. Christopher's father begins to see the elephant. Mr. Crumpet reveals this to his co-worker, Mr. Bilgewater, who quickly plays office politics by telling their boss that Mr. Crumpet is crazy. The boss has recently awarded Crumpet a junior partnership, which Bilgewater thought he had deserved. The boss visits the Crumpet home, and finds that Crumper does indeed see his son's imaginary playmate. But instead of taking the junior partnership away from Crumpet, he makes him a full partner. The boss himself has an imaginary hyena.
Confidence
95
— Legal Reasoning —
Why this status applies
This animated short film was released on September 8, 1955, and was originally registered for copyright by Columbia Pictures Corp. (the distributor for UPA) under registration number LP5294. Under the terms of the Copyright Act of 1909, works published between 1928 and 1963 required a formal renewal with the US Copyright Office during the 28th year of the initial term to extend protection to the full 95-year term.
A search of the Stanford Copyright Renewal Database and the Library of Congress Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE) reveals that no renewal was filed for this specific title. While many UPA cartoons produced for Columbia were renewed, 'Christopher Crumpet's Playmate' appears to be one of the titles that missed the filing window. Because the initial 28-year term expired in late 1983 without a renewal registration, the film entered the public domain in the United States on January 1, 1984.
This finding is consistent with the film's inclusion in various public domain animation compilations and its status in the 'Film Superlist: Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain (1950-1959)' by David Pierce, which notes the lack of renewal for several secondary UPA characters.
— Cited Sources —
Supporting facts
- Stanford Copyright Renewal Database (Motion Pictures)
- Library of Congress Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE) 1983, 1984
- Film Superlist: Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain (1950-1959) by David Pierce
- IMDb: Christopher Crumpet's Playmate (1955)
Research summary based on cited sources, not legal advice. Always consult a qualified copyright attorney before commercial use.