A year or so ago, I wrote about a movie called Mouseboat Massacre. It led me into the topic of the public domain and how movies were being made based on intellectual properties that had run their course in the world of copyright. A few months before that, I wrote about a movie called Stream, which was from the production company behind the Terrifier sequels. Well, I’ve gotten to the point in my bad movie watching where I’ve checked out the movie that was the perfect intersection of those two.
Yeah, that’s right. The people behind the Terrifier movies and Stream made a movie based on an intellectual property that recently made its way into the public domain. Fuzz on the Lens Productions is the company. I might as well name the company behind the movies. They took Steamboat Willie and turned him into a horror villain, just like Mouseboat Massacre. However, they did it in a different way.
Screamboat was about a bunch of people on the Staten Island Ferry who were hunted down by an evil mouse (David Howard Thornton). That’s about it to the story. Selena (Allison Pittel) was a bartender trying to get to the ferry while avoiding a birthday party she served earlier that night. Pete (Jesse Posey) was a deckhand who helped her. Cindi (Kailey Hyman), Ariana (Savannah Whitten), Bella (Stephanie Bates), Jazzy (Poonam Basu), and Rory (Allie Seibold) were the birthday partiers. They were trapped on the boat together and had to try to team up to escape.
The only similarities between Screamboat and Mouseboat Massacre were that they were horror movies and they used the recently public domain Steamboat Willie animated short as the inspiration for the terrifying things that happened. Other than that, they were two completely different horror movies. One of them was a serious look at drug addiction, withdrawal, and support systems. The other was an ultra-violent horror romp filled with love for the Disney brand.
That love of Disney is what I want to get into with Screamboat. It did everything it could, within the confines of a horror movie based on Steamboat Willie, to pay tribute to Disney as a company. That was a little tough to do, when they were only working with elements of Mickey Mouse. See, the only bit of Mickey that was in the public domain at the time they released the movie was Steamboat Willie. The classic Mickey design hasn’t made it to the public yet. No gloves, no red pants, and a different facial shape. Same with the version of Minne that we know now. Many of the animated Disney feature-length movies so many of us grew up on haven’t made it to the public domain yet. It’s the same reason Winnie-the-Pooh can be used by anyone, but the classic Disney red t-shirt look can’t. Only certain elements have come out of copyright.
Screamboat was put in an interesting place. They could do a straight horror version of Steamboat Willie. That’s what they had the rights to. They would be free to do whatever they wanted with that version of the character as long as they didn’t impose upon any other elements that were still protected under copyright law. Or they could go all in on Disney, as long as they were very careful with their workarounds. That was the route they chose to go.
Take the birthday partying women, for example. They were each based on a Disney princess. Their names and the colour of their birthday dresses were references without being direct copies, to skirt the copyright issues. Cyndi instead of Cinderella. Bella instead of Belle. Jazzy instead of Jasmine. Rory instead of Aurora. Ariana instead of Ariel. The name changes were enough that they were different, but entirely recognizable. Enough to avoid copyright infringement, not enough that audiences wouldn’t catch on. They even wore colours associated with those characters. Pete, the deckhand, was named after a Steamboat Willie character, which was fine because Steamboat Willie was in the public domain.
In a less copyright-bound situation, Screamboat also had their own version of Minnie Mouse. She wasn’t named, but there was a romantic backstory for Steamboat Willie that involved a missing love interest. Selena dressed up as the mate at one point to try and use Willie’s emotions against him. The character of Minnie Mouse had appeared in Steamboat Willie, which meant that her likeness could be used because it was now in the public domain. Her name, however, was still under trademark by Disney. Much like with Mickey, this meant that their names could not be used. Hence why neither of them was named in Screamboat.
It was crafty little workarounds like changing names that helped Screamboat succeed in using the now public domain Steamboat Willie characters. As long as they weren’t naming the Disney-created characters, they could use the characters all they wanted. At least, they could use these older versions. Any versions of Mickey and Minnie that originated after the release of Steamboat Willie, such as Minnie having a bow instead of a clapper girl hat, were still off limits.
There were pieces of dialogue throughout Screamboat that also showed that the filmmakers cared more about Disney than using it as a cheap cashgrab. Not that they weren’t trying to make some money off Steamboat Willie hitting the public domain. At one point, someone said “Let it go” which was a clear reference to Frozen. There were other moments like that, too, which I just can’t remember at the moment I’m writing this.
The final element that I believe showed that the people who made Screamboat liked Disney was the fact that they kept the mouse small. He might not have been as small as your average mouse. He was maybe a foot tall. But he wasn’t a human-sized mouse terrorizing people. He was like a yappy little dog that would usually be all bark and no bite, only he was all bite and no bark. It was nice to see him truer to real size than, say, the Hundred-Acre Wood characters in Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey. Not every horror murderer needs to be the size of an average person. This one wasn’t.
Screamboat wasn’t a movie that was going to blow anyone’s minds with filmmaking quality and expertise. It was a schlocky horror movie based on one of the earliest popular outings of Disney’s most famous character. However, there was enough care put into it to elevate it above many of the other movies within this realm of public domain children’s characters turned into horrific nightmares.
The three elements I listed above showed that the people behind Screamboat cared about what they were making. They cared about the source material almost as much as they cared about the quick buck they were hoping to make off the lapsed copyright. They included references to characters from throughout the history of Disney’s animated catalogue. They pulled pieces of dialogue from those movies and used them in their own ways. And, most importantly, they stayed true to Mickey in terms of his size and his love of Minnie. Sure, there was a lot of violence along the way. But, in the end, it was a violent love letter to the cartoons we all grew up watching and loving.
Movies like Screamboat are only one of the reasons I write these Sunday “Bad” Movies posts. Even in a world where the writing might not be great, the acting might be even worse, and the intentions might be some easy money, there can still be heart to the projects. Putting effort into something can go a long way into making it more enjoyable and more notable than it otherwise would be. That’s art, man. It doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to be able to move you in some way.
These notes won’t be moving you in any way, I think:
- I mentioned Stream and Mouseboat Massacre in this post.
- Screamboat featured two actors who were in both Sharknado 2: The Second One and Stream. They were Michael Leavy and Steven Della Salla.
- Allyson Sereboff returned to Sunday “Bad” Movies in Screamboat, after first appearing in Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead.
- Brian Quinn made a cameo in Screamboat. He was previously seen in Vulgar.
- Yoga Hosers and Screamboat each featured Tyler Posey.
- Finally, four actors from Stream made their second Sunday “Bad” Movies appearance in Screamboat. They were Gilbrando Acevedo, Allison Pittel, Charles Edwin Powell, and David Howard Thornton.
- Have you seen Screamboat? What did you think of it? Have you seen any of the horror movies based on children’s characters? Let me know your thoughts on this stuff in the comments. Or you could hit me up on Bluesky.
- The comments and Bluesky are also good places to suggest movies for me to watch for future Sunday “Bad” Movies posts. Let me know what I should be checking out.
- Now it’s time to take a quick look at what’s coming up soon. The next post will be about a movie called Love on a Leash. Then I’ll take a look at the three Fred movies. I’m not sure what will be after those. I have a few movies in mind. I still need to get those two posts written. And some other stuff I’m working on. That’s what you have to look forward to, though. Love on a Leash and the Fred trilogy. See you soon for those posts.
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