By MICHAEL GINGOLD
Walt Disney is no doubt spinning in his…wait, let’s not give moviemakers any more ideas…
With STEAMBOAT WILLIE, the 1928 Disney cartoon that introduced Mickey Mouse, entering the public domain yesterday, a pair of fright flicks in the WINNIE-THE-POOH: BLOOD AND HONEY vein have already been announced. Variety reports that director Steven LaMorte, who previously brought us a horrific Grinch variation in THE MEAN ONE, has a gruesome STEAMBOAT WILLIE feature on the way. He’ll reteam with fellow MEAN ONE producers Amy Schumacher and Martine Melloul, along with TERRIFIER 2 producers Steven Della Salla and Michael Leavy, on the movie, in which the title character terrorizes a group of ferryboat passengers.
“Steamboat Willie has brought joy to generations, but beneath that cheerful exterior lies a potential for pure, unhinged terror,” LaMorte says in the PR. “It’s a project I’ve been dreaming of, and I can’t wait to unleash this twisted take on this beloved character to the world.
“It all comes from our love of these characters,” he added in an interview with the trade. “Filmmakers–we’re all kids in the sandbox. We love taking them and playing with them in different ways. It’s not a desire to ruin these characters or make a quick buck, but to love them and honor them and show them in a new light.”
On that note, the villain of his film will only be referred to as “Steamboat Willie,” not “Mickey Mouse,” as Disney still holds, and has vowed to protect, the copyright on the later versions of Mickey. “We are doing our due diligence to make sure there’s no question or confusion of what we’re up to,” LaMorte says. “This is our version of a public domain character. It’s a scary thrill ride with heart and humor, based on this character that everybody knows.”
With apparently no such compunctions, another group of moviemakers yesterday released the news and the trailer for their “first ever Mickey Mouse horror film.” Titled MICKEY’S MOUSE TRAP with a release expected in March, it was directed by Jamie Bailey and stars Sophie McIntosh, Callum Sywyk, Allegra Nocita, Ben Harris, Damir Kovic, Mackenzie Mills, Nick Biskupek and Simon Phillips. The synopsis: “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.”
“We just wanted to have fun with it all,” Bailey says. “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.”
