Mickey Mouse Is Public Domain Now, Here Come The Cheap Horror Movies

At 12:01 AM Monday, the earliest version of Mickey Mouse went into the public domain. It took little time for projects featuring Mickey and his gloveless hands to be made into anything. From erotic prints to logos on shirts for labor rights. There were also more elaborate projects like "edgy" video games and even two slasher films: Mickey's Mouse Trap, and another untitled movie where a deranged mouse goes after ferry guests.

In Mickey's Mouse Trap, young Alex is stuck at work on her birthday at an arcade. When her friends decide to surprise her, a masked killer dressed as Mickey Mouse appears and hunts them down for sport. The film was shot, edited, and directed by Jamie Bailey and written by Simon Phillips. Check out the trailer below.

You might be wondering what they can and can't show concerning the world's most beloved mouse. It's pretty simple: It has to be proto-version of Mickey from the Steamboat Willie animated shorts. The most important thing is to make sure that people know that Disney has no endorsement of anything like this.

Appended to the trailer is the following: "DISCLAIMER: THIS IS NOT NOT A DISNEY FILM OR PRODUCTION. IT IS NOT TO AFFILIATED OR ENDORSED BY DISNEY IN ANY WAY. This film makes use of Public domain Steam Boat Willie Mickey Mouse only. Steamboat Willie’s Mickey Mouse entered public domain on January 1st, 2024."

Much like the grimdark Winne the Pooh: Blood and Honey feature we got last year, this could be just the beginning for more of this sort of thing.