Winnie the Pooh goes on a killing spree in bizarre horror film trailer
Oh, bother.
The first trailer has been released for a shocking new horror film called Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, which turns the beloved children's character into a slasher villain thanks to the magic of the public domain.
The film sees Christopher Robin return to the Hundred Acre Wood as an adult. But after Christopher abandoned Winnie the Pooh and Piglet as a child, they have both turned into killers, who begin picking people off one by one.
Wait, you might be wondering ... how is this legal? Well, A. A. Milne's original Winnie-the-Pooh book from 1926 recently became public domain, so director Rhys Frake-Waterfield wasted no time taking advantage of that.
But Disney still holds the rights to its interpretation of the character, Variety notes. So Waterfield told Variety that "we've tried to be extremely careful" making sure the film is only "based on the 1926 version of" Pooh, as to avoid a Disney lawsuit.
The trailer certainly raises a lot of questions beyond the legal ones, though, including why Winnie the Pooh looks more like a man wearing a Winnie the Pooh mask than the actual cartoon bear come to life. Will that be an actual plot point, or is it just because the film appears to have a budget of no more than $5?
Either way, after this trailer, it's safe to say Disney is going to want to hold on to that Mickey Mouse copyright for dear life.