Following last year's Winnie the Pooh slasher, Mickey is getting knife happy now that the early version of Disney's beloved mouse has entered the public domain.
ADVERTISEMENTIt didn’t take long... but we could have seen it coming a mile away.
As of 1 January 2024, Disney‘s 1928 short Steamboat Willie, featuring non-speaking versions of Mickey and Minnie Mouse, entered the public domain in the US.
This means that that particular version of Mickey Mouse is now fair game, and that filmmakers can now use the earliest versions of Disney’s beloved character and trademark as they please - without permission or cost.
And wouldn’t you know it, a trailer has dropped for a new horror film.
It’s the first ever Mickey Mouse slasher... and we’re not holding our breaths.
The synopsis for the film, called Mickey’s Mouse Trap, reads: “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.”
Check out the trailer here:
“The mouse is out” tagline is inspired.
The cheap production values, the wooden acting that make you root for the antagonist to get knife happy, and the “self-aware” Scream nod about being right back, are all cringe-worthy to the point of welcoming an aneurysm.
The movie was directed by Jamie Bailey, who said in a statement: “We just wanted to have fun with it all. 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.”
Mickey’s Mouse Trap follows last year’s slasher Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, which was only made possible after A.A. Milne’s original Winnie the Pooh entered the public domain two years ago.
It could have been cheap subversive fun. Instead, it was painfully generic wasted opportunity that you could file under: ‘Oh (don’t) bother.’
Pooh’s compadre Tigger also enters the public domain this year – so you know what to expect. Especially since the film, despite some of the worst reviews of 2023, was a financial success – grossing $5.2 million worldwide on a $100,000 budget.
Mickey’s Mouse Trap does not yet have a release date. Rumours are saying March. Mouse-tastic.
