A teaser trailer has been released for The Dark Domain: MVW Mickey-vs-Winnie, which launches a horror cinematic universe
Since Winnie the Pooh and the earliest versions of Mickey Mouse have lapsed into the public domain, we’ve seen these beloved children’s story characters get twisted around and become the center of multiple horror films – and now we’re going to get what’s being marketed as the first public domain crossover horror film. Beating the upcoming mash-up film Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble out into the world will be The Dark Domain: MVW Mickey-vs-Winnie, which has just unveiled the teaser trailer that you can watch in the embed above.
This film is meant to launch a cinematic universe called The Dark Domain, which is being overseen by Pitchfork director Glenn Douglas Packard. A press release notes that the teaser trailer gives us a glimpse of “the grotesque birth of Dark Mickey and Dark Winnie. The launch of The Dark Domain universe establishes the cursed Hell Forest, introducing terrifying new characters like The Stitcher, Hellshadowers, and The Wickeds. The film was lensed by Andy Patch (Little Bites, Allegoria) and special effects makeup was developed by Emmy winner Daniel Phillips (Oz The Great & Powerful, Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy). The twisted fairytale, set in the Hell Forest, has finished post-production and is expected to premiere later this year.“
With The Dark Domain: MVW Mickey-vs-Winnie, the nostalgic public domain figures of Steamboat Willie’s Mickey and A.A. Milne’s original Winnie-the-Pooh are reimagined into bloodthirsty killing machines, Dark Mickey (Daniel Wilkinson, Pitchfork) and Dark Winnie (Chris Boudreaux, Born a Champion, NCIS). These twisted icons wreak havoc in an unrelenting horror showdown, challenging everything fans thought they knew about these childhood figures. If you want even more information, here’s a lengthy description: A century ago, two convicts disappeared into Hell Forest, a place feared for its dark legends and whispers of a malevolent curse. Their mysterious vanishing marked the beginning of tales about a sinister force lurking within the forest, feeding on those who dared to enter. In the present day, a group of childhood friends, each haunted by their own unresolved traumas and fears, feels an inexplicable pull to return to the reform school they once attended. Nestled in the center of the forest’s dark heart, the abandoned hell-camp stands as a decaying monument to their lost innocence. Its walls echoing with secrets and forgotten horrors. Each of them is drawn by a force they cannot understand, as if the forest itself is calling them to confront the darkness of their anxieties, regrets, and unhealed wounds. The forest takes shape in the grotesque forms of twisted versions of two beloved childhood figures: Dark Mickey and Dark Winnie. These monstrous entities, born from the darkest corners of the group’s psyche, embody their worst fears and regrets—Dark Mickey, a sinister manipulator and bloodthirsty force of chaos, and Dark Winnie, a feral predator who thrives on destruction. As the two clash in a violent, unrelenting battle, their fight becomes more than just a physical confrontation. These twisted incarnations, born from the group’s own inner demons, force them to face not only the nightmarish creatures but also the darkness within themselves.
Packard provided the following statement: “I love that we can take these iconic childhood characters from A.A. Milne’s original Winnie-the-Pooh (1926) and the 1928 Steamboat Willie version of Mickey and create a whole new wicked universe. Our film is like the Upside Down World, with these public domain icons getting into a horror smackdown akin to Freddy vs. Jason.“
Our friends at Bloody Disgusting got their hands on a pair of character posters, which can be seen at the bottom of this article.
What did you think of the The Dark Domain: MVW Mickey-vs-Winnie teaser trailer? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
