At this point, there’s a horror movie for everything. We have horror movies for The Grinch, Mary Had a Little Lamb, and Winnie the Pooh. Most of the time it’s because characters enter the public domain, meaning people can get together and tell their own twisted version of a beloved story. But I truly think that it comes down to shock value and what can get the biggest headlines in 2024. Before it used to be about an evil turkey or a llama with deathray eyes. Now horror movies, especially ones that are lower than B-movies, have to stand out from the pack. And you do that by subverting the expectations of a tiny and iconic mouse. That’s where Mickey Mouse comes in.
January 1st marked the date that a version of Mickey Mouse would enter into public domain. Lovingly known as Steamboat Willie, this version of Mickey Mouse is usually seen at the beginning of Disney animated films. He’s in black and white and guiding a steamboat with a little hat on his head. Created in 1928 for an animated short, it has finally hit the 95-year mark of copyright in the US and entered the public domain. That means that as long as creatives stick with this version of Mickey, they can use his likeness on anything. And two movies have already popped up.
The first one is called Mickey’s Mouse Trap. Directed by Jamie Bailey, it tells the story of a group of friends who are chased around and terrorized by someone wearing a chilling mask of a smiling mouse. As if that wasn’t enough, there’s also a trailer. In it, they play some of the steamboat Willie footage before the masked individual starts killing the group of friends. They even include some truly cheesy lines about horror movie tropes. And with a release date of March 1st, they’ve had this movie filmed, edited, and ready for a trailer months in advance. They were just waiting for this version of Mickey to enter the public domain.
The other Mickey Mouse-based movie is an untitled horror-comedy by Steven LaMorte, who also worked on The Mean One. According to Variety, “a sadistic mouse will torment a group of unsuspecting ferry passengers.” And in the poster for it, we see the back of the mouse, a knife in hand, and a big city in front of him. Production is set for Spring. “It all comes from our love of these characters,” he said in an interview according to Variety. “Filmmakers — we’re all kids in the sandbox. We love taking them and playing with them in different ways. It’s not a desire to ruin these characters or make a quick buck, but to love them and honor them and show them in a new light.”
Unlike previous horror films based on beloved tales that I have zero interest in watching, I’m curious about these movies based on Mickey Mouse. It’s an iconic symbol recognized around the world as being part of the Mouse Mouse and Disney. Kids know it. Adults know it. Even people who have never watched a Disney movie know it. And there have to be conversations happening inside of Disney as to how they’re going to handle this situation. I bet even that there are solicitors and lawyers ready to throw down if there is absolutely anything that these movies do that doesn’t fall under fair use and violates their copyright. That’s when things will get really interesting.
