It was inevitable that once Mickey Mouse entered the public domain via early Disney short Steamboat Willie, projects exploiting the icon’s newly accessible status would follow. News of horror flick Mickey’s Mouse Trap broke last week, complete with instantly viral trailer—and now its creators are sharing more about how it came to be.
Speaking to the DisInsider about their film—official logline: “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”—director Jamie Bailey and producer Simon Phillips revealed the idea’s in been in the works since summer 2023. That’s when the pair first realized Mickey Mouse’s public domain date was looming and, to their surprise, nobody else appeared to be taking advantage of that fact.
“We were very surprised that we were the only ones that sort of worked towards that,” Phillips said. They’re aware that similar projects will surely follow, but they’re proud to be first. “We thought we’d be lost in the shuffle, to be completely honest… we won the lottery,” Bailey said.
The duo also tipped their hats to Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, which very similarly sized up a “beloved character enters the public domain” situation and saw R-rated splatter potential—and found success doing it, so much so that a sequel is now on the way. Mickey’s Mouse Trap (that’s Bailey under the Steamboat Willie mask, by the way) never calls its villain by his famous name, but it’s very clear who it’s supposed to be.
“We’re actually big fans of Disney fans in general—not just Disney reimagined into horror movies or something like that… so this is just our opportunity to be playful and creative with the character. And that’s exactly what we did. We had a ridiculous idea and we made it,” Phillips said. Horror, they agreed, was the most fun route they could take with the character they both grew up with and genuinely enjoy. “Who doesn’t want to see Mickey Mouse killing people?” Bailey added.
There’s no release date for Mickey’s Mouse Trap yet, but the filmmakers promise we’ll know “soon.” Watch the full interview with Bailey and Phillips here.
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