Murderous Mickey Mouse Movies Emerge as ‘Steamboat Willie’ Version Hits Public Domain
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As much grief as we give Disney Adults, one of the most shamed groups of people on the internet, we must now all come together to defeat a much greater evil: the directors creating horror films using beloved childhood Disney characters as they begin to enter public domain. The copyright on the version of Mickey Mouse from the debut short, Steamboat Willie (1928), expired as we entered the new year. Already, details — and even a trailer — have been shared about two upcoming movies starring the darling rodent in a murderous capacity.
“Steamboat Willie has brought joy to generations, but beneath that cheerful exterior lies a potential for pure, unhinged terror,” Steven LaMorte, whose horror-comedy based on Mickey Mouse’s debut is still untitled, shared in a press release via Variety. “It’s a project I’ve been dreaming of, and I can’t wait to unleash this twisted take on this beloved character to the world.”
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With the possible exception of the tourist-scamming Mickey Mouse mascots that roam around New York’s Times Square, it’s difficult to understand what mental wires have to be crossed to look at a cartoon mouse and see potential for deranged, bloodthirsty horror. But LaMorte isn’t the only director whose creative eye saw that vision as clear as day.
When Mickey’s Steamboat Willie character entered public domain on Jan. 1, director Jamie Bailey shared the first teaser trailer for his upcoming horror-comedy flick Mickey’s Mouse Trap. In the clip, a knife-wielding Mickey Mouse hunts down a group of young people whose trip to the arcade proved to be more similar to entering the Hunger Games arena.
“It’s Alex’s 21st birthday, but she’s stuck at the amusement arcade on a late shift so her friends decide to surprise her,” a synopsis for the film reads. “But a masked killer dressed as Mickey Mouse decides to play a game of his own with them which she must survive.”
Mickey’s Mouse Trap does not have a release date. “We just wanted to have fun with it all,” Bailey shared, via The Hollywood Reporter. “I mean it’s Steamboat Willie‘s Mickey Mouse murdering people. It’s ridiculous. We ran with it and had fun doing it, and I think it shows.”
Ahead of Public Domain Day, a Disney spokesperson clarified the conditions of the long-awaited copyright expiration. “Ever since Mickey Mouse’s first appearance in the 1928 short film Steamboat Willie, people have associated the character with Disney’s stories, experiences, and authentic products. That will not change when the copyright in the Steamboat Willie film expires,” the spokeperson said. “More modern versions of Mickey will remain unaffected by the expiration of the Steamboat Willie copyright, and Mickey will continue to play a leading role as a global ambassador for the Walt Disney Company in our storytelling, theme park attractions, and merchandise.”
These violent adaptations follow the creation of a bloody version of Winnie the Pooh (Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey) and the announcement of Bambi: The Reckoning, in which the young Disney deer will turn to a life of murder. And a different set of woodland creatures will have to scrub blood out of Cinderella’s gowns when the upcoming horror film Cinderella’s Curse arrives. At this rate, soon enough Jiminy Cricket will be using his signature umbrella to impale people. How did we get here?
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