THE DOWNFALL OF A MONOPOLY
Why you keep seeing childhood characters turn murderers
Grimms’ Fairy Tales gave the world some of the most depraved fantasy stories we’ve ever seen. Although we’ve been fed the G-rated magic of Disney, these original stories played into the idea of fear. Horror and gore bleed onto the pages, like with Cinderella’s step-sisters cutting off their toes to fit into a slipper.
But, as I mentioned, Disney has fed us new versions of these tales. Of course, the Brothers Grimm took inspiration from mythology themselves. Just look at Little Briar Rose, which is derived from Sun, Moon, and Talia; the original version of Sleeping Beauty depicts disgusting acts of sexual assault, while the Brothers Grimm simply awakens the princess with a kiss of true love.
Disney, however, is known for taking dark fairy tales and making them into family friendly films for all to enjoy. The Disney Princesses are possibly one of Disney’s most successful franchises they have, with characters like Elsa and Moana in the forefront in recent years.
It would be silly to deny Disney’s influence in the fairy tale space. After all, they have entire theme parks dedicated to experiencing said magic, with castles and thingamabobs a plenty. So it’s really no surprise that people tend to see Disney and fairy tales synonymously, with many seeing the genre as nothing but happily ever afters.
Of course, Shrek did stomp on that sentiment just a little bit, exposing the absurdities of Disney’s version of events.
Though it seemed as if the public began to turn on Disney, or at least what the company stood for anyway. A monopoly of entertainment, overpriced theme park tickets, and a oversaturation of films that would probably have Walt himself turning in his grave. It’s no surprise, then, that the general public began to parody the very films they grew up with.
What came from that, though, was an infamous film based on the cartoon favorite Winnie the Pooh. Yep. Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey. This is quite a loaded title, considering the film only managed a whopping 3% on Rotten Tomatoes. Which, yes, is from the critics… though I’m not sure how the audience score got a 50% either, considering the film is pretty bad.
Like, it’s not a “don’t trust critics” thing. It’s just bad. Maybe those who gave it 50% were like me when watching Halloween Ends… maybe it was just so bad, it made them laugh at its absurdity.
Regardless, the movie was an attempt at flipping a family friendly IP into a horror focused project. It’s worth noting that this stemmed from Winnie the Pooh’s copyright expiring, releasing the characters into the general domain. Which, just because you can… doesn’t mean you should.
Also, they came out with a sequel. That one has better reviews. I don’t know, I haven’t watched that one, so I’m not going to unfairly say it’s bad… I just know the first one was awful.
All of this was the catalyst of what we now know as the “pooniverse” aka The Twisted Childhood Universe. As you can guess, this is an attempt to turn classic fairy tales and children’s stories into horror movies. Now, don’t get me wrong: I think there are plenty of children’s stories that could be turned into horror films quite easily, but execution is important here.
Winnie the Pooh wouldn’t be my first choice regardless, but if the film had been executed better there could have certainly been a better storyline in place. Instead, it was men in shitty masks, covered up by the idea of “mutation.”
Now we have announcements of horror films for the likes of Peter Pan, Bambi, and even Pinocchio. While I can see Peter Pan and Pinocchio being good candidates for a “horrorification,” Bambi definitely sticks out. But, uh… there’s already a trailer.
Mutated killing deer. Nice.
It isn’t just deer being given the creep treatment though, considering that Steamboat Willie is now available in the public domain. And, in turn, the public rejoiced. People were creating games, stories, and entire new stories for the beloved Mickey Mouse, cheering that he was finally free from his imprisonment.
This led to the announcement of two horror films based on Mickey: Mickey’s Mouse Trap and Screamboat. Screamboat is being directed by Steven LaMorte, who also directed the horror parody The Mean One, by the way.
I add these in because I believe there’s a meaning to all this madness. Or at least an explanation. While, yes, some of these films are certainly just meant as cash grabs based on shock factor, I believe there’s another layer to all of these. These are all films rooted in Disney origin, with the cartoons of golden eras the most fresh version of these tales.
People don’t really like Disney anymore. At least not the company anyway. Plenty still love the parks, the employees’ creativity, and what it originally stood for, but recent years have proven to be difficult in terms of Disney keeping up their reputation. Their image has steadily declined, with consumers complaining of monopoly, greed, and unoriginality.
When Steamboat Willie finally came to the public domain (after years of lobbying, mind you), it was obvious why people celebrated. Mickey was returned back to the audience, giving consumers the feeling taking back control. Once upon a time, Disney may have listened to what their consumers cared about, but that isn’t as common now, and Steamboat Willie was everybody’s ticket to screaming their opinion from the rooftops.
So… what better way than to take characters like Mickey Mouse (THE MASCOT OF DISNEY!) and make horror movies. It’s a complete 180, kicking rocks at the family friendly ratings Disney stands for. These horror movies, while let’s face it, will probably be bad, can stand for more than just another bad horror movie. These films can stand as rebellion and protest against one of the giant corporations that run entertainment.
Sure, they’re probably just dents in the car door. But if someone ends up making a blockbuster from these ideas someday, things might start to look… a little more interesting.
A little short this week, but I just wanted to share my thoughts in trying to see a more positive view of all these horror movies based on children’s media. While I don’t think the “TCU” is necessary, I can see the appeal. We’ll only see where we’ll go from here…
As you said 'madness'.
As with anything horror-related, these films are as much a reflection of the psychology of the people making them as it is with their subject matter. That, and people capitalizing on expired copyrights, of which companies hoard like dragons with gold.
I'm a historian of animation, and you absolutely cannot write anything about it without writing about Disney- it's too significant and relevant a company to avoid. And despite some missteps, they still continue to make some of the best animation for film and television of any American company. But the Eisner and Iger administrations turned the parent company into a lumbering corporate elephant more concerned with profit than the concerns and desires of their audiences, and these films are symptomatic of a backlash against that brinksmanship more than anything else.
But BAMBI as a serial killer? That's too much...