Shortly after the copyright to the first Mickey Mouse character expired, a stand-alone horror film for the famous mouse was announced.
The copyright to the cartoon Steamboat Willie, a 1928 black-and-white short film that made the Walt Disney World character famous, expires on January 1, after 95 years under US law.
The expiration of this deadline now allows any filmmaker or fan to copy, share, reuse or modify the image of the characters that appear in the work, including Mickey the mouse and his companion Minnie.
Although Disney took measures to protect its iconic character, some horror movie fans did not hesitate to take advantage of the legal opportunity that became available to them to use the famous cartoon character.
Mickey’s Mouse Trap promises to follow a masked killer disguised as Mickey as he chases a group of young friends through an arcade. There is also a second feature film in the horror genre, in which a sadistic mouse attacks innocent passengers on a ferry.
“We just wanted to have fun with the whole thing,” Mickey’s Mouse Trap director Jimmy Bailey said in a trailer posted on YouTube. “It’s Mickey from Steamboat Willie killing people. It’s ridiculous.”
This low-budget horror film is scheduled to be released next March.
