A trailer for a Mickey Mouse horror film has been released as the copyright on Walt Disney’s most iconic character expired.

After 95 years of enchanting children, the character has been “re-imagined” by a film-maker. 

This has been possible after the legal protection for the character, who first appeared in the 1928 film Steamboat Willie, lapsed.

Steamboat Willie versions 

As a result, the Steamboat Willie versions of Mickey and Minnie Mouse can be used free of charge and without permission.

Hollywood directors have wasted little time in letting their imagination run riot.

The trailer is for a film called “Mickey’s Mouse Trap”.

Its plot centres on a killer in a Mickey Mouse costume terrifying a woman who is stuck in an amusement arcade.

“We just wanted to have fun with it all. I mean it’s Steamboat Willie’s Mickey Mouse murdering people. It’s ridiculous,” said the director, Jamie Bailey. “We ran with it and had fun doing it and I think it shows.”

On screens in US in March 

Assuming a distributor can be found, the oeuvre should be on screens in the US in March.

Not to be outdone, director Steven LaMorte has reworked “Steamboat Willie” as another horror film.

His Mickey Mouse torments passengers on a ferry.

“Steamboat Willie has brought joy to generations, but beneath that cheerful exterior lies a potential for pure, unhinged terror,” Mr LaMorte said.

“It’s a project I’ve been dreaming of, and I can’t wait to unleash this twisted take on this beloved character to the world.”

Game developers involved 

Game developers have also leapt into the fray, with a product called “Infestation 88”.

The developers have concocted a plot in which players take the role of exterminators, whose task is to tackle a vermin plague.

Their prime target is a somewhat grotesque Mickey Mouse, wearing the same outfit as in Steamboat Willie, but with blood all over his face.

“In the year 1988, what was thought to be an outbreak of vermin morphed into something far more sinister,” the synopsis reads.

“Infestation 88 is an episodic, 1-4 player co-op survival horror game in which you and your friends are exterminators called in to treat these mysterious infestations.”