Disney’s loveable and adorable mouse is being made into something that is absolutely not him: A murderer.
On January 1st, Steamboat Willie, the first-ever rendition of Mickey Mouse, entered the public domain. That means Disney no longer owns the copyright to the character and people can do whatever they want with him.
For some reason, someone's already made him a bloodthirsty killer. A trailer for the horror movie ‘Mickey’s Mouse Trap’ was released a couple of days ago and if I had to watch it, you do too.
According to the movie’s description, “a masked killer dressed as Mickey Mouse decides to play a game” with a bunch of kids at a 21st birthday party. It takes place in an arcade and at one point the Disney character is slashing a machete.
Simon Phillips, the writer and producer of the film, said he wanted to seize an opportunity to do something different with a famous character.
“We wanted the polar opposite of what exists,” he told the BBC. “If you put Mickey into a family movie, you don’t cover new ground.”
“People need to not take it too seriously,” he added. “We made a ridiculously fun movie.”
Commenters on the trailer are pretty shocked that there’s already such a movie in the works, but most people do seem pretty keen to watch it.
“That was faster than I expected,” one person wrote. “I figured it would take at least one month.”
“If you were kept prisoner as Disney’s property for 96 years, you’d be a little murder happy too,” another joked.
“This made me laugh uncontrollably,” a third added. “I think we have a new horror classic on our hands!”
BBC reported that there’s no official release date yet but it’s expected to drop in March.
As well as Mickey, Winnie The Pooh and the Grinch have also been turned into murderous horror movie villains in recent years. What a time to be alive.
