Mickey Mouse is set to transform into a ruthless serial killer in an upcoming slasher film, after the character entered the public domain for the first time this week.
As of New Year’s Day, the earliest ever published version of Mickey Mouse – the 1928 animated short film Steamboat Willie – passed into the public domain, meaning that artists and creators are now able to use the intellectual property in their own work.
Mickey’s Mouse Trap is proudly claiming to be the “first ever live action Mickey Mouse comedy horror feature film” and was filmed and directed by Jamie Bailey. As the below trailer reveals, it will feature a deadly killer dressed in a Mickey mask rampaging through an amusement arcade. The filmmakers say they do not have a solid release date yet, but that it is likely to be available in March.
A second, unnamed new Mickey-based horror film will be directed by Steven LaMorte, and its official synopsis states: “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, but a masked killer dressed as Mickey Mouse decides to play a game of his own with them which she must survive.”
In a press release, LaMorte added: “Steamboat Willie has brought joy to generations, but beneath that cheerful exterior lies a potential for pure, unhinged terror. 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.”
Steamboat Willie has been at the centre of a series of copyright battles over the years, with it first having been set to enter the public domain in 1955. After campaigns and lobbying from The Walt Disney Company, the copyright was extended multiple times, but it expired on Monday. The company does, however, retain the rights to the later, more familiar incarnations of Mickey and Minnie.
A similar situation arose in 2023 with the release of Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey, an independent horror film written and directed by Rhys Frake-Waterfield. The original 1926 book by A.A. Milne entered the public domain at the start of 2022, and the horror spinoff grossed over $5million worldwide against a $100,000 budget.
In a one-star review of Blood and Honey, NME wrote: “Dressed in dungarees and a lumberjack shirt, Pooh looks nothing like how you’ll remember him from the Disney cartoons (as the Mouse House still hold the copyright to those). True, it’s a clever loophole the director has exploited, but that’s as far as it goes. Blood And Honey is a sticky mess of a movie.”
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