Since entering the Public Domain, Mickey Mouse has gone through a massive identity crisis as Steamboat Willie (1928) transcends genres and mediums. While a new teaser trailer shifts things back to animation, it’s far from the cute cartoon character we all know and love.
Don’t let the graphics deceive you; the Return of Steamboat Willie might look like yet another Mickey Mouse horror project, but it’s actually an animated film using the Unreal engine. The trailer depicts a first-person exploration of a traveling riverboat in a pastoral scene worthy of an early Disney short, but things take a sharp turn once the perspective climbs aboard the vessel.
There isn’t much information about the project, but comingsoon.net shared the following in their coverage,
“The Return of Steamboat Willie is directed by Kai Henry, TxREK, and Joe Smith, with the script having been written by Smith. Yonatan Hagos, Kelvin Craver, and Darron Ross serve as producers, while the VFX comes from TxREK and Henry Gonzalez. The music comes from Omar Habbak, while Zac Brunson serves as the sound designer.”
While the animated movie element is indeed something new to the growing slasher-Steamboat-Willie phenomenon, many might be surprised to know that this isn’t the first murderous Mickey we’ve seen.
Mickey Mouse Gets Gruesome

As pointed out by @charliemacsart in the trailer’s comments, “at this point, it’d be more original to make a non-horror adaptation of Steamboat Willie.” While that might be true to a point, it’s peculiar to see that that was one of the first options many creators went for once Mickey hit the public domain.
That said, Mickey’s cartoon escapades have sauntered into the horror genre several times before entering the public domain. Even early entries like The Haunted House (1929) and The Mad Doctor (1933) gave audiences a severe case of the creeps.
Additionally, the modern Walt Disney Animation Studio has played with Mickey’s aptitude for horror on more than one occasion. Entries like Mickey’s House of Villains (2002) and Ghoul Fiend toe the line between Disney and demented.

Even the short film, Runaway Brain (1995), made Mickey so scary that Disney has gone to great lengths to keep it out of the public eye. Then again, a mangy and lustful version of the beloved character doesn’t exactly represent the studio’s brand.
Related: Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse Isn’t Public Domain, Ub Iwerks’ Is
With all of that in mind, is it really that big of a stretch that this new film might only be revisiting the character’s creepier past work? It’s not like Mickey hasn’t walked a dark path before.
What do you think of this upcoming Steamboat-Willie-inspired project? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!