Steamboat Willie-era Mickey to square off against Winnie the Pooh in new slasher

Are you ready to see nightmarish versions of Mickey Mouse and Winnie the Pooh face-off and wreak all kinds of bloody havoc? That's what's coming down the pipeline in the upcoming film Mickey vs. Winnie from Glenn Douglas Packard, who will write and direct the film, reported Deadline.

“Horror fans call for the thrill of witnessing icons like the new Aliens and Avengers sharing the screen. While licensing nightmares make such crossovers rare, Mickey Vs Winnie serves as our tribute to that thrilling fantasy,” said Packard.

An Emmy-winning choreographer, Packard (Pitchfork) believes that fans will appreciate seeing these two characters going on a terrifying rampage. And if you're wondering how Disney could allow that, it's because this isn't the mainstream Mickey Mouse we know but the specific imagery from the 1928 classic animated short Steamboat Willie. Winnie is based on the character from A.A. Milne's books.

The Steamboat version of Mickey entered the public domain on January 1, 2024, and filmmakers jumped at the chance to warp him into the stuff of nightmares.

Mickey vs. Winnie will be one of three upcoming horror movies to feature the earliest iteration of Mickey Mouse. Terrifer 2 producer Steven LaMorte, director of The Mean One, is working on a film called Screamboat, while the Canadian horror slasher Mickey's Mouse Trap is expected to be released sometime this year.

As for Winnie the Pooh, most horror fans are already aware of Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey and its sequel as they kicked off what has now been dubbed the "Twisted Child Universe." Movies about Peter Pan and Bambi are also in the works, though it doesn't look like Packard's crossover flick is part of that specific universe.

What is Winnie vs. Mickey about?

Winnie vs. Mickey starts in the 1920s when two escaped convicts flee into a cursed forest. Over a century later, some friends rent an Airbnb in that same part of the woods, unaware that the convicts were taken and transformed into monstrous versions of Winnie and Mickey, who begin terrorizing the group.

Produced under Packard's Untouchables Entertainment in association with the genre website iHorror, Mickey vs. Winnie is perhaps one of the wildest crossovers we've heard of in recent years.

iHorror founder Anthony Pernicka assures fans they will "never look at Mickey the same way again."

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