The Copyright Gods didn’t fairly know what was coming when their legal guidelines returned beloved childhood characters into the general public area. How might they’ve guessed, for instance, that when the primary Winnie the Pooh e book entered the general public area in 2022, enterprising filmmakers would warp the property into Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey?
Seems the denizens of 100-Acre Wooden weren’t so thrilled to be deserted by Christopher Robin, with ravenous variations of Pooh and Piglet taking it out on the younger man’s faculty friends. As one may think, the opinions weren’t nice (3 p.c on Rotten Tomatoes), however the cash was, inspiring a Blood and Honey 2 that made much more money.
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These successes impressed the identical filmmakers to create horror movies based mostly on obtainable Disney favorites like Bambi and Peter Pan. And why cease there — enterprising Canadians went after the Mouse himself, making a horror-comedy model of Steamboat Willie this yr after the primary Mickey brief entered the general public area. The Mouse Entice no less than needed to change its identify from Mickey’s Mouse Entice — Uncle Walt nonetheless controls no less than that a lot of his character.
Now comes the newest horror-comedy based mostly on a childhood favourite whose copyright safety has lapsed. Shiver Me Timbers is one other Canadian manufacturing, this time that includes a slasher model of that spinach-chugging sailor, Popeye.
Right here’s the movie’s synopsis, per JoBlo: “Olive Oyl, her brother Castor and buddies, go on a tenting journey to see the meteor bathe with Halley’s Comet. However the evening turns into horror as a meteor transforms Popeye into an unstoppable killing machine. With thrilling ‘80s slasher references and comedic twists, the movie combines parts of horror and comedy in a contemporary tackle each genres. Shiver Me Timbers pays tribute to traditional slasher movies whereas delivering hilarious moments, stunning scares and nostalgic nods that can delight each horror and Popeye followers alike.”
Undecided the place that Venn diagram overlaps between horror followers and Popeye stans, but it surely’s a superb wager that there’s a marketplace for low-budget guts and yuks. And don’t count on the blood to cease flowing anytime quickly. A number of different kiddie favorites are set to hit the general public area within the subsequent few years, together with Mickey’s canine Pluto (2026), Goofy (2028), Donald Duck (2030), Porky Pig (2031) and Daffy Duck (2033).
Even characters starring in upcoming movies are up for grabs — you, James Gunn — Superman turns into anybody’s hero in 2034. It doesn’t take a Dick Tracy (2027) to forecast what comes subsequent: An all-star forged of cherished childhood reminiscences taken aside by energy saws.
Sleep tight, youngsters.
