Another Mickey Mouse Horror Movie Announced Because Why Not?

Disney’s Steamboat Willie already has a second horror movie parody in two days of 2024. Another horror movie featuring the public domain version of Mickey Mouse was announced today. Variety reports that Stephen LaMorte is directing a yet untitled horror comedy based on Steamboat Willie. The premise of the movie is the iconic mouse hunting unsuspecting fairy passengers production will roll in early 2024. 

LaMorte is not a stranger to public domain horror parodies. He directed The Mean One back in 2022, a take on The Grinch. Last year saw another of Disney’s public domain characters, Winnie the Pooh, star in a horror movie and this will probably not be the last time you see the iconic mouse in grayscale this year. In fact, if we keep up at this rate, there will be 366 different Steamboat Willie parodies by the time we call it quits on 2024.

“Steamboat Willie has brought joy to generations, but beneath that cheerful exterior lies a potential for pure, unhinged terror,” LaMorte wrote in the release. “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.”

Disney Reacts To Steamboat Willie’s Copyright Expiration

Now this has been a major source of easy laughs on the Internet, but Disney has remained firm that there won’t be any abuse of their other copyrights in these parodies. The company released a statement be a spokesperson that argued that while Steamboat Willy and Plane Crazy are fair game, the later iterations of Mickey Mouse and all his friends are absolutely not.

“Ever since Mickey Mouse’s first appearance in the 1928 short film Steamboat Willie, people have associated the character with Disney’s stories, experiences, and authentic products,” the spokesperson began. “That will not change when the copyright in the Steamboat Willie film expires.”

“More modern versions of Mickey will remain unaffected by the expiration of the Steamboat Willie copyright, and Mickey will continue to play a leading role as a global ambassador for the Walt Disney Company in our storytelling, theme park attractions, and merchandise,” They added. “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, and we will work to safeguard against consumer confusion caused by unauthorized uses of Mickey and our other iconic characters.”

So Many Mickey Mouse Parodies

Even with that said, people are turning up and rolls to make Steamboat Willie parodies. On Monday, Mickey’s Mouse Trap deputed trailer for a horror comedy film starring the iconic mouse. The trailer features someone dressed up like Steamboat Willie attacking a victim and lurking menacingly inside of it amusement park. The whole project is dancing on that line of parody, but as long as the mouse is grey scale and they don’t mention Disney by name, there will be no repercussions yet. THR talk to the film’s director Jamie Bailey about the upcoming horror project.

“We just wanted to have fun with it all. I mean it’s Steamboat Willie’s Mickey Mouse murdering people,” Bailey told the outlet. “It’s ridiculous. We ran with it and had fun doing it and I think it shows.”

The film already has  a 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.”

How many of these movies will get made? Let us know down in the comments!