You heard that right…if you were a Disney fan in your childhood or still are as an adult, prepare for 2024 where your childhood heroes become the stuff of nightmares with a whopping four new films based on iconic properties getting the horror route treatment.

Let’s take a look at the four childhood terrors coming this year:

WINNIE-THE-POOH: BLOOD AND HONEY 2 (March 26)
Last year’s Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey was released after the first book by A.A. Milne went into public domain. The duo of Rhys Frake-Waterfield and Scott Jeffrey quickly rushed to make a horror film based on the property and ultimately, it would gain negative critical acclaim, but also gain a massive following and profit.

Hence, Frake-Waterfield and Jeffrey will be returning with a sequel that will give Pooh a major upgrade from sporting a Halloween mask in the original to a SFX team making the character more believable. In addition, we will see Tigger, Owl, and Piglet in the sequel with some menacing looks with Ryan Oliva playing the titular Pooh alongside Lewis Santer as Tigger, Eddy McKenzie as Piglet, and Marcus Massey as Owl.

Jeffrey, credited as Scott Chambers, will play Christopher Robin and will be joined by Tallulah Evans and renowned actor Simon Callow.

MICKEY’S MOUSE TRAP (March)
On January 1, Mickey Mouse’s original form of Steamboat Willie had hit public domain. While the iconic Mickey Mouse look (red pants, white gloves, voice) are still under Disney copyright, his silent rat-look form is no longer under that copyright. Lo and behold, leave it up to director Jamie Bailey and writer/actor Simon Phillips to take advantage and make a horror film based on the property.

The film, Mickey’s Mouse Trap, will involve a group of people in a Chuck-E-Cheese like restaurant stalked by a mysterious killer sporting a mask resembling good ol’ Willie. Phillips will play the titular Mickey in the film and there is also a video game called “Infestation 88” which will have the final boss looking like a horror version of the character as well.

BAMBI: THE RECKONING (Date TBD)

Last year, the duo of Rhys Frake-Waterfield and Scott Jeffrey announced that they will be making a horror film based on the beloved Bambi, whose original story his public domain in 2023. As the two will serve as writers and producers, Dan Allen will be directing the film, which is set to begin production this month in the UK.

Nicola Wright, Samira Mighty, Tom Mulheron, and Russell Geoffrey Banks will star in the film, which will involve Bambi seeking bloody revenge against the hunters who killed his parents. Jeffrey describes the film as “Bambi with rabies”.

PETER PAN’S NEVERLAND NIGHTMARE (Date TBD)

Once again, Rhys Frake-Waterfield and Scott Jeffrey will be unleashing another childhood terror tale in the form of Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare. The original Peter Pan novel, by J.M. Barrie, also went into public domain as of January 1. So we will get to see Pan go full evil in this new film.

Frake-Waterfield wrote the screenplay and Jeffrey will be directing the film, which is being described as Insidious meets A Nightmare on Elm Street. Pan will be seen as a Freddy Krueger-like figure who steals his victims’ souls and sends them to a realm known as Neverland. The only one who might be able to stop him is Tinker Bell, who is being described as a “drug-induced woman” rather than the fairy we all know and love with Kit Green playing that role.

According to Jeffrey, shooting is scheduled for April, after production on Bambi: The Reckoning is complete.