How Do Your Favorite Childhood Characters End Up In Horror Films?
This week will see the release of Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare; it’s the latest in a string of horror films based on characters that are generally aimed at children (2023’s Winnie The Pooh: Blood and Honey is another example of this type of film. They’re all part of the Twisted Childhood Universe. If you haven’t heard of it, you’re not alone. Unless, of course, you get your awards season fix by following the Golden Raspberry Awards, an award show for the worst films of the year. That’s where the first film of the TCU, Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey, received five Razzies and negative reviews. Some movies are good at being bad, but after watching the trailer below, this movie isn’t just that—it’s simply bad.
Creator Received Death Threats
Creator Rhys Frake-Waterfield told CBR, he received death threats because of Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey. “I’ve had petitions to stop it. I’ve had death threats. I’ve had people saying they called the police.” However, disgruntled fans can’t do anything about the “Poohniverse” since the copyright to the characters expired on January 1, 2022. According to this post from the Cullen and Dykman’s Intellectual Property website, “The copyright to A.A. Milne’s 1926 book Winnie-the-Pooh expired, sending Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, and Christopher Robin into the public domain.” The firm however, cautioned creators to “be mindful of the manner in which they use these works in order to avoid infringing on valid copyrights.”
So, is it worth dipping our toes in the “Poohniverse”? Well, the premise of our beloved childhood characters turning into rampaging murderous villains sounds intriguing and Frake-Waterfield promised to raise the standard of future films.
Welcome to the Dark Side of the Twisted Childhood Universe
Here are the planned movies in the TCU slated for release this year.
Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare: As reported by Bloody Disgusting, Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare follows the story of Wendy Darling, who attempts to save her brother Michael, who has been abducted by the evil Peter Pan. Pan is kidnapping “Lost Boys” and bringing them to Neverland. Based on the trailer, the movie looks like a significant improvement over Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey.
Bambi: The Reckoning: Bambi: The Reckoning is a revenge film with Bambi avenging his mother’s death, per The Hollywood Reporter. The movie doesn’t have a full trailer yet, only a teaser but as one commenter wrote, “Honestly for a low-budget movie the CGI isn’t that bad.”
Pinocchio: Unstrung: We can’t find any reliable source as to the plot details of Pinocchio: Unstrung but based on Variety’s interview with the people involved in the film, it will still be about “a little puppet’s pursuit to becoming a boy… but the way he becomes one, is extremely gnarly… and frankly, very fun,” and that it will be an “extremely unique and R-rated depiction” of Pinocchio with a “high kill count, a subversion of the original story and lots of practical gore.”
Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble: In the age of the MCU, connected universes are the thing; people love a crossover. As reported by Movieweb, the film’s main villain is Peter Pan. Scott Chambers, Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare co-writer and director said, “So every film will feel different, and this one is incredibly dark for a reason. I need you to feel a certain way about Peter Pan. By the time we get to ‘Poohniverse,’ I need you to just not like him, I need you to be against him from the get-go. Because when he goes into the arena with, for example, Pooh, I need you to look at Pooh like, ‘he’s not all too bad.’”
Aside from Peter Pan, Winnie-the-Pooh, Bambi and Pinocchio (who all have their own films), Mary Poppins and the Mad Hatter will also make appearances as Pan’s allies.
