[kej]

Winnie the Pooh is an interesting example, because while the first book will be in the public domain, the second book and the Disney films will still be under copyright. So you'd be free to make a story or merchandise based on the original book Pooh, but you can't use the way he looks in the movie, nor can you use Tigger (who doesn't show up until the second book).

A similar thing happened with Sherlock Holmes, where there was a window where you could use Sherlock and his early cases, but you couldn't use details like Watson getting married because the later books were still protected (we might still be in that window, I don't know the publication dates off the top of my head).