At 12:01 am this morning, the earliest iteration of one of many world’s most beloved kids’s characters entered the general public area. Shortly thereafter, the trailer for a slasher movie known as Mickey’s Mouse Entice was posted on-line.
In it, clips from Walt Disney‘s 1928 animated basic Steamboat Willie are proven interspersed with newly-shot footage that tells the story of a mouse mask-wearing killer who stalks college-age youngsters at an arcade.
Right here’s the logline: It’s Alex’s twenty first Birthday, however she’s caught on the amusement arcade on a late shift so her pals resolve to shock her, however a masked killer dressed as Mickey Mouse decides to play a sport of his personal with them which she should survive.
The movie was shot, edited and directed by Jamie Bailey and written by Simon Phillips. A trailer for the Steamboat Willie impressed horror sport Infestation 88 having additionally dropped a trailer earlier at this time.
So is there a lawsuit within the filmmakers’ future?
“Extra trendy variations of Mickey will stay unaffected by the expiration of the Steamboat Willie copyright, and Mickey will proceed to play a number one position as a worldwide ambassador for the Walt Disney Firm in our storytelling, theme park points of interest, and merchandise,” a Disney spokesperson stated of the dos and don’ts of the sound-synched movie coming into the general public area at this time. “We are going to, in fact, proceed to guard our rights within the extra trendy variations of Mickey Mouse and different works that stay topic to copyright, and we are going to work to safeguard towards shopper confusion brought on by unauthorized makes use of of Mickey and our different iconic characters,” the corporate added.
The sharpest leghold lure Disney can nonetheless put all the way down to snare anybody making an attempt to encroach on its Mickey territory is notion. Although the unique incarnation of AA Milne’s beloved character had slipped into the general public dominion in 2022, nobody of their proper thoughts actually thought Disney was behind final yr’s Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey and entering into slasher flicks. Nonetheless, if there was to be a model of Steamboat Willie and/or Aircraft Loopy’s Mickey or Minnie that in any means lead customers to imagine it got here from Disney and even implied as a lot, the Mouse Home’s lawyer would shut that venture down quicker than a nighttime Magic Kingdom parade in a thunderstorm.
In truth, appended to the trailer is the next: “DISCLAIMER: THIS IS NOT NOT A DISNEY FILM OR PRODUCTION. IT IS NOT TO AFFILIATED OR ENDORSED BY DISNEY IN ANY WAY. This movie makes use of Public area Steam Boat Willie Mickey Mouse solely. Steamboat Willie’s Mickey Mouse entered public area on January 1st 2024.”
Dominic Patten contributed to this report.
