The public domain is, in a way, the great cinematic universe in the sky — the final resting place for all intellectual property where characters from all walks of life are legally allowed to encounter one another. Untouchables Entertainment sees a filmmaking opportunity in that. The banner has released the first trailer for “The Dark Domain: MVW Mickey-Vs-Winnie,” a horror imagining that sees the Mickey of Disney’s “Steamboat Willie” and Winnie-the-Pooh coming face-to-face and haunting a killable group of childhood friends.
The film, which bills itself as the “first public domain crossover film” and ventures to launch a “Dark Domain Universe,” takes place in the Hell Forest and introduces other monsters with names like The Stitcher, Hellshadowers and The Wickeds. They’re all along for the ride with Dark Mickey (Daniel Wilkinson) and Dark Winnie (Chris Boudreaux), going head-to-head in the horror tradition of Freddy and Jason, or the Alien and the Predator. Notably, the project’s unveiling does not refer to Mickey alongside his commonly-known Christian name, “Mouse,” as it’s only the “Mickey” character seen in Walt Disney’s 1928 “Steamboat Willie” short that has entered the public domain.
