[archontes]

I am also not a lawyer; I have some background and training in IP law as it pertains to engineering.

As far as I can tell, the image you describe and your example sentence are closer than you might think to each other. Mickey Mouse is a copyrighted character, and Disney could certainly claim infringement for both. Whether you have a fair use claim is down to the tenets of fair use, and whether they sue you is down to their estimation of how likely it is it'd be profitable for them to do so.

So what is fair use? https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/107

Put simply, you have to argue about it in court and decide on a case by case basis, but the factors are:

The nature of use, such as for profit vs. non-profit.

The nature of the copyrighted work. Your art might be considere literary criticism. How central to that message is Mickey Mouse?

The amount and substantiality of the copyrighted work appearing in your work. Mickey Mouse is the sole feature, so large.

How likely is it that your Mickey Mouse creation will serve as a substitute for people consuming normal Mickey Mouse content?

[gpm]

Aren't some versions of Mickey Mouse out of copyright now...

[nineteen999]

Steamboat Willie.