Steamboat Willie horror movie is Mickey Mouse meets Five Nights at Freddy’s – on a boat

Willie is free and he wants his Steamboat back…

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What once was a joyous black and white cartoon directed by WaltDisney, has turned into a bloody and jumpy horror flick about a slashing mouse on a boat. That’s right, Steamboat Willie has been remade into a horror movie, and the first teaser is finally here.

The teaser opens with a happy little steamboat chugging away on a sunny spring day, but as the camera pans down into the water and up again, we see another vessel, which this time is dark, bloody, and ransacked. As the camera reveals the inside of the ship, we see body parts strewn around and a creepy old television playing a variation of the original Steamboat Willie cartoon, then in a classicFive Nights at Freddy’spop-up style, a shadowy figure of a mouse emerges from the dark. Creepy. Watch the full teaser below.

After 95 years of being locked away, Willie is free and he wants his Steamboat back. Official Teaser by Fewture Studios. Made in #UE5 pic.twitter.com/uI4oiyiLXuJanuary 22, 2024

FromFewture Studios, upcoming horror flick The Return of Steamboat Willie has no clear plotline at this point, apart from an ominous tagline in the video’s description reading: “After 95 years of being locked away, Willie is free and he wants his Steamboat back.”

From the teaser alone it seems as though the flick is a direct horror take on the original Steamboat Willie, an animated short film released in 1928 that first introduced audiences to Disney’s very own Mickey Mouse. The cartoon follows little Mickey piloting a steamboat down an unknown river until he runs into Pete, the grumpy captain, and comical chaos ensues. Down the line, he meets Minnie Mouse and starts to make music with inanimate objects around him.

The Return of Steamboat Willie is the latest project taking advantage ofthis version of Mickey Mouse now being in the public domainafter another Mickey-themed slasher flick titled Mickey’s Mouse Trap was announced earlier this year. That’s not all, as more beloved animated characters enter the public domain, they are being turned into horror movie villains, includingCinderella, Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, andPinocchio.

The Return of Steamboat Willie does not yet have a release date. For more check out our guide toupcoming horror moviesheading your way in 2024 and beyond.

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I am an Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering TV and film for SFX and Total Film online. I have a Bachelors Degree in Media Production and Journalism and a Masters in Fashion Journalism from UAL. In the past I have written for local UK and US newspaper outlets such as the Portland Tribune and York Mix and worked in communications, before focusing on film and entertainment writing. I am a HUGE horror fan and in 2022 I created my very own single issue feminist horror magazine.

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