Earlier in the year, there was a lot of commotion over Disney’s expiring copyright to the Steamboat Willie version of Mickey Mouse entering the public domain. Companies like Disney fear that this will enable others to dilute their brand and profit off of the characters they made. But looking at what creators are doing with public domain characters so far, like Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare, brands like Disney probably do not have much to worry about.

Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare

From the producer behind the critically panned Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey, Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare is set to be a similar R-rated reimagining of a beloved children’s character.

Evidently this is all building to yet another shared universe franchise, with this one being dubbed the “Twisted Childhood Universe.”

Early details for Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare reveal that this will be a version of Peter Pan who is not taking children to lead them to a world of adventure but is rather an evil character abducting children to torment them.

The children’s classic will be getting twisted on its head in a dark reimagining that will even see Tinkerbell using heroine, considering it her version of pixie dust.

A Failing Gimmick

It is honestly hard to pinpoint who these movies are aimed at, as fans of the classic versions likely regard these horror reimaginings as very cynical and mean-spirited.

Whereas even fans of horror movies will not be satisfied with a cheap gimmick and crave movies with well-crafted scares and lore.

While not released yet, Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare sounds poised to just be another low budget movie devoid of any big name actors and solely relying on a cheap gimmick.

Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare seems to show why companies like Disney really do not have much to worry about from expiring copyrights. Creators have had nearly a century to think of ideas for what to do with these characters and the best they can come up with is totally ignoring the established fanbases for these characters to create a shock value movie.

Both of the Blood and Honey horror movies so far have lost money and been near unanimously hated by critics, so clearly the gimmick is not succeeding.

The Poohniverse

However, that is not stopping the Twisted Childhood Universe from trying to move full steam ahead. Beyond Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare, coming down the pipeline there is also Pinocchio: Unstrung, and Bambi: The Reckoning in which Bambi will seek revenge for the death of his mom.

The plan is for this all to build to a parody of an MCU Avengers film called Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble where the horror versions of all these copyright free children’s characters will join together in the same movie.

Disney’s Pain Is The Best Part

Personally, I find it hard to imagine anyone who even found the idea of these movies funny in the first place will still be laughing at the same joke for that long.

The biggest source of amusement is that Disney was so worried about others profiting off of their brand’s characters, but the best efforts to do so thus far entail Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare trying to drum up interest by promising to let audiences see Tinkerbell using heroin.

The Parodies Will Never Surpass The Originals

I have long felt that fears over lapsing copyright were overblown. I think few creators have both the resources as well as the passion to use these characters in any kind of a way that would rival the stories told by the original copyright holders.

Call it a wild hunch, but somehow I doubt Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare will be surpassing the popularity of Disney’s 1953 Peter Pan.