As many ‘toon lovers might know, the Steamboat Willie version of Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse went into the Public Domain on Jan. 1 of this year.

In the spirit of creativity, everyone from independent filmmakers to advertisers were ready to pounce. This included the world of horror. You have to give horror peeps some props, though. They are always some of the first to take advantage of the Public Domain. Remember when Winnie the Pooh entered Public Domain in 2022? This little “spam in a cabin” slasher announcement soon followed:

And now, it is time for the horrors of Steamboat Willie to begin. Most prominently, a horror PC game being talked about, Infestation: Origins from Nightmare Forge:

And, of course we’re getting your indie horror slasher as well. Out of Canada comes Mickey’s Mouse Trap:

Can’t wait for this cinematic masterpiece? Well, there is already cool 9-minute analog horror short film from Night Signal Entertainment that is really well done. These guys were the first ones to get a project out to the public after the announcement, as well:

You could tell the horror film community was just waiting for this particular Mickey to go up for grabs creatively. And, there looks like more to come:

Now, keep in mind, only Steamboat Willie is in the Public Domain. Disney is hanging on tight to keep their other Mickey versions copyrighted…at least so far.

I know for many of us Steamboat Willie is a beloved part of old school Disney nostalgia. It may just seems wrong to turn it into something of which it wasn’t originally intended. I understand that, but really these horrors can’t be any worse than some of the disrespectful mess-ups Disney itself has been doing to its own legacy.