Something somewhat relevant I just stumbled upon:
"Mousetrapped" is a webcomic that uses the public domain cartoon, "Steamboat Willie," as basis and...
mousetrappedcomic.blog
It's by Randy Mulholland, who now writes Popeye as well as his own Something Positive webcomic. Sounds like he's intending to "play it straight" as an actual sequel of silly adventures in the vein of the rubber-hose characters as they already are, rather than adapting them into some other genre. He also provides a little commentary.
It's only two pages in so far, but we'll see if/how it pans out, both artistically and legally.