Pooh, Piglet, Tigger and friends often spark memories of joy and children loving the characters created by A.A. Milne. The Hundred Acre wood characters are being turned into a horror film thanks to the franchise entering the public domain. Here are the details.
What Happened: Jagged Edge Productions is bringing a new telling of Pooh and Piglet, as reported by IGN, with a “horror retelling of the famous legend of Winnie-The-Pooh,” according to the movie’s tagline.
“Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey” follows Pooh and Piglet as serial killers who go on a rampage after Christopher Robin abandons them. Yes, you read that correctly.
The indie horror film comes from director Rhys Frake-Waterfield.
The production company previously did horror adaptations of children’s stories, including “The Curse of Humpty Dumpty” and “The Legend of Jack and Jill.”
Related Link: Overzealous DMCA: Elon Musk Shares Thoughts On Disney's Copyright Debate
Why It’s Important: Winnie the Pooh is owned by Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS), but the stories the franchise is based on have entered the public domain, meaning others can adapt the stories and characters from Milne.
Public domain of franchises has become a hot topic, with politicians fighting against Disney and its long-running trademarks.
Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk also criticized Disney and its DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) as being “overzealous.”
While Winnie the Pooh being part of a horror film could be quite disturbing to kids and parents, another franchise entering the public domain could be even worse.
"Steamboat Willie," who the Mickey Mouse character is based on, enters the public domain in 2024. The trademark of the character was extended by Disney several times with the help of Congress after it was originally set to expire in 1984.
Without another extension, the drawing that is the basis of Mickey Mouse could become free to use by other media companies, including those making horror films.
Published works enter the public domain after a certain amount of years of the publication date, or after the death of the author. Popular works by Jane Austen and William Shakespeare are in the public domain. Other franchises like Robin Hood and Alice in Wonderland are also public domain, which is why multiple movie studios have adapted them in recent years.
Along with Steamboat Willie, another item to watch for public domain will be when several comic book characters including Superman and Batman become public domain in the coming decades.
Photo: Created with an image from Tom Simpson on Flickr
