January 1 saw Disney losing the copyright to the original “Steamboat Willie” Mickey Mouse—and now the character is onto new, decidedly “un-Disney” adventures.
The fact that Disney lost the original Steamboat Willie copyright after 95 years of Mickey Mouse this year is all fans can talk about at the moment. The event is extraordinary. The Mickey Mouse cartoon is the foundation of, and the driving force behind, one of the biggest entertainment companies on the planet.
And now, the Walt Disney Company has lost its exclusive rights to one version of the iconic character: the original Steamboat Willie version, no less.
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Plans to See Mickey in Horror Films Emerge
Similar to the treatment Winnie the Pooh received after the copyright ran out for the beloved honey bear, the Mickey Mouse cartoon is also already being seen in a trailer where he takes on a far more horrific avatar. CBS reported a new movie, Mickey’s Mouse Trap, has released a new trailer.
And, “in the trailer for “Mickey’s Mouse Trap,” directed by Jamie Bailey, what appears to be a human in a comically small Mickey mask terrorizes a group of young people at an arcade.”
“A place for fun. A place for friends. A place for hunting,” the trailer reads. “The mouse is out.”
“We just wanted to have fun with it all. I mean, it’s ‘Steamboat Willie’ ‘s Mickey Mouse murdering people,” director Jamie Bailey also added in a statement. “It’s ridiculous. We ran with it and had fun doing it, and I think it shows.”
But Bailey isn’t the only one who had an idea for a horror film. Steven LaMorte, who directed a horror parody of The Grinch, has thrown his hat in the ring as well.
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The logline of LaMorte’s film reads, “A late-night boat ride turns into a desperate fight for survival in New York City when a mischievous mouse becomes a monstrous reality.” Of course, LaMorte’s film is currently untitled, but it’s apparently in the works per an Instagram post.
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“‘Steamboat Willie’ has brought joy to generations, but beneath that cheerful exterior lies a potential for pure, unhinged terror,” LaMorte said in a release.
Disney, for its part, has made it clear it will continue to protect the modern versions of the beloved mouse, only leaving the Steamboat Willie version up for public usage. “We will, of course, continue to protect our rights in the more modern versions of Mickey Mouse and other works that remain subject to copyright,” a Disney spokesperson said in a statement.
Still, seeing how creativity runs wild with this new development will be interesting.