After Copyright Ends: Horror Movies Starring Mickey Mouse Announced

Less than 24 hours after the end of copyright protection for the first Mickey Mouse movie ever made, the first directors have announced two horror films starring the famous mouse. The door is open for film adaptations of the 1928 animated film ‘Steamboat Willie’.

The horror comedy “Mickey’s Mouse Trap” features a killer dressed as Mickey Mouse stalking a group of friends at an amusement park, while an untitled horror comedy features a sadistic mouse torturing unsuspecting passengers on a ferry.

Copyright protection on the 1928 short black-and-white cartoon “Steamboat Willie” expired on January 1. This allows for remakes, spin-offs and adaptations by other artists. Theoretically, anyone can now copy, reuse and adapt ‘Steamboat Willie’ and ‘Plane Crazy’ – another Disney cartoon from 1928 – as well as the original characters like Mickey and Minnie Mouse.

But this should not 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 still subject to copyright,” the powerful company explained.

“We just wanted to have fun with all of this,” Jamie Bailey, director of Mickey’s Mouse Trap, said in a trailer on YouTube. “That’s Mickey Mouse from Steamboat Willie killing people. That is ridiculous. We just went for it and had fun and I think it shows,” he said. The low-budget horror comedy is expected to be released 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 generations, but beneath the cheerful surface lies the potential for pure, crazy horror,” said LaMorte. Production on this film is expected to begin in the spring. (sda/afp)