The public domain horror film Screamboat ended with a massive cliffhanger. A killer mouse, who just so happens to look like Mickey Mouse’s alter ego Steamboat Willie, murdered a whole slew of people on the Staten Island Ferry and was thought to be defeated. Only, he wasn’t. In fact, not only did Willie find refuge, […]
Disney Is Getting Sued Over Just How Much Mickey Mouse Counts as Public Domain
Last year, Mickey Mouse’s appearance in Steamboat Willie became public domain, ushering in tons of horror parodies of Disney’s iconic mascot. The Walt Disney Company gave films such as the David Howard Thornton-starring Screamboat a pass, but apparently, it thinks there’s a limit on just how much other companies can get away with using Mickey’s […]
Screamboat’s Director Breaks Down the Ins and Outs of Public Domain Horror
Winnie the Pooh. Popeye. Steamboat Willie. These days, it seems the instant a recognizable character becomes public domain, someone immediately turns them into a horror movie. Why is that, and what is it like behind the scenes? To get those answers, io9 spoke with Steven LaMorte. He’s the co-writer and director of Screamboat, a Steamboat […]
Screamboat Is a Both a Steamboat Willie Horror Movie and Hardcore Disney Fan Film
Watching the new movie Screamboat, I expected to see Steamboat Willie kill a bunch of people. I didn’t expect those people to be dressed like Disney characters, drop Disney park references, and say movie lines like “Be our guest,” “Let it go,” or “Dead men tell no tales.” But at its heart, the upcoming public […]
The Steamboat Willie Horror Movie Takes Aim at Disney With Its Final Trailer
The blessing and curse of the public domain is that you can make a movie like Screamboat without permission from Disney, but you also want to remind people of Disney. One of the main reasons it works at all is the subversive naughtiness behind seeing a character like Steamboat Willie, whom we’ve always associated with […]