“Mickey’s Mouse Trap” features a murderer dressed as Mickey Mouse stalking a group of friends at an amusement park, while an untitled horror comedy sees a sadistic mouse tormenting unsuspecting ferry passengers.
The copyright protection on the short black-and-white cartoon “Steamboat Willie” from 1928 expired on January 1st. This leaves the door open for remakes, spin-offs and adaptations by other artists. In theory, anyone can now copy, reuse and adapt “Steamboat Willie” and “Plane Crazy” – another Disney cartoon from 1928 – as well as the original characters that appear in them, such as Mickey and Minnie Mouse.
“We just wanted to have fun with all of this.”
But this shouldn’t be easy thanks to the Disney Group: It will continue to protect its “rights to the more modern versions of Mickey Mouse and other works that are still subject to copyright,” explained the powerful company.
“We just wanted to have fun with all of this,” said “Mickey’s Mouse Trap” director Jamie Bailey in a trailer posted on YouTube. “It’s Steamboat Willie’s Mickey Mouse murdering people. That’s ridiculous. We just went for it and had fun and I think it shows,” he said. The low-budget horror comedy is expected to release in March.
Filmmaker Steven LaMorte – known for the 2022 horror film “The Mean One” – is working on his own “twisted” version of Mickey. “‘Steamboat Willie’ has brought joy to many generations, but beneath the cheerful surface lies the potential for pure, crazy horror,” LaMorte explained. Production on this film is scheduled to begin in the spring.
