Public Domain Needs to Move Beyond Slasher Horror | a rant
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- Опубліковано 7 лют 2025
- How about some actual creativity?
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#publicdomain #steamboatwillie #popeye #pooh #horror #writing #creativity #slasherfilms #cartoon
Popeye fighting monsters in an action horror would be an awesome movie, sadly people are creatively bankrupt
And mickey learning space jam like antics to help Popeye
Public: "Companies are devoid of originality!"
Public when stories enter public domain:
these movies are psyops made by the companies to fool the people that public domain equals bad
That idea of Popeye fighting Cthulu monsters sounds AWESOME.
I'm picturing the Cthulu cult trying to sabotage spinach farming.
I'm also picturing Wimpy trying to mooch off of the food vendors in Innsmouth.
I'm glad Wizard of Oz entered the public domain 70 years before this trend started.
Return to Oz is the perfect example of how to do a creepy, horror inspired take on a beloved children's franchise.
Nobody tell this guy about Todd McFarlane's Twisted Land of Oz.
@@randomnerdery6511 unironically yes!
@@MonsterKidCory or James Rolfe's Dorothy Goes to Hell 🤢
@@kasaibouF29....the angry video game nerd?
Omni, you're expecting WAAAAYYY too much from people who have a distinct lack of ambition.
Honestly when I first heard a popeye horror movie I was excited because of the possibilities. Popeye in the cthulhu mythos would of been amazing but no...he's a slasher. That was stupid. I understand Grinch and Pooh but Popeye. WTF
I can totally picture Winnie the Pooh thriving in a medieval fantasy setting. Hell, he already lives in a primitive world with basic 19th century technology and most of his friends are talking creatures that can be easily fit in any fairy tale. So they might as well go back further and embrace it. And his red shirt counterpart is in the Disney family. They're infamous for their stories that take place predominantly in medieval fantasy settings, albeit a sanitized version of it.
I've actually seen a project in the works along those lines called Winnie the Pooh, Demon Hunter. Just at a glance, it looks interesting.
We kinda got that with those Warrior Pooh comics.
I do agree that the whole “making a cartoon character a slasher villain as soon as they get into the public domain thing” is getting kinda old, and we definitely need other ideas, but I feel like if you are gonna do that, at least bring a fraction of their cartoony power into their kills. Have them bend and contorting their bodies, or materialize whatever out of thin air, all while loudly hooting and cackling like a maniac. Something like the villain reveal in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, or the original concept for Cool World.
I think that using the PD to revive the OG concept of Cool World could work, or even the pitch for Roger Rabbit II (though replacing Roger with an OC since Roger was copyrighted in 1981)
Who here agrees that a steam punk popeye is a cool idea
I’d say I’m worried about a bad Superman horror movie, but that already exists.
Superman III.
Superman Returns was worse. There he was a stalker. It was like that movie was directed by some creep.
Give how many "evil superman" characters there are currently, (Omni man, Homelander, Injustice Superman) I'm hoping that when Super enters the public domain people will already be tired of the trope.
@@mikerude5073 about that...
@@TenDropChris At this rate, it WILL be hopefully.
@@TenDropChris I look forward to the "Man of Steel sucks! Superman doesn't kill!" guys banding together and making a slasher movie where Supes goes around slitting throats (not neck snapping) the second he goes into the public domain.
Omniverse plus public domain characters?!? Now you’re talking! I hope we don’t have to wait too long for this one. Oh, the possibilities.
the problem is apparently the belief that you have to jump genres or to subvert the canon once an intellectual property enters the public domain. there is nothing wrong with writing stories according to establshed lore.
There will be a Betty Boop horror film in 2026. Betty Boop entering public domain in 2026.
With Popeye entering the Public Domain, a thought came into my head... Popeye as a guest character for Street Fighter and/or King of Fighters. Popeye just feels like a character that could be right at home in a fighting game.
Then again, these games are primarily made by Japanese companies and I have no idea where Japan stands regarding Public Domain. I guess someone could make their own Popeye fighting game.
Still better than yet another slasher movie.
Well, there was a Japanese artist who said he would like to make a movie about Mikey and Felix the Cat, but the poor guy didn't seem to understand that since it was public domain, he could do it without any problem, since he thought that only horror stuff was allowed, and people in the comments had to explain it to him,
So these slayers productions alter people's perception of the public domain topic.
Popeye should be added to the next Smash.
One thing that uses the Public Domain creativity is something called the Public Domain game. It’s about Mickey Mouse entering the public domain, which in this game is a limbo that he has to escape. The whole game is made from public domain things. It’s not out yet, but the creator has a UA-cam channel with a trailer, and it has a lot of promise.
Excellent idea on having Popeye go up against Cuthulu Sir. In fact, I can picture that idea following in Godzilla's footsteps & becoming a VS series of films. Popeye vs Moby Dick, Popeye vs the Meg, Popeye vs Starkist tuna, Popeye vs Greenpeace, Flipper, Free Willy, Hedorah, hell the sky's the limit im saying.
Popeye should have gotten an open world hack n slash adventure game where you travel the seven seas battling antagonistic sailors while collecting spinach but instead we got another cheap horror movie.
somebody can still develop one.
@rickyrackey7930 That's not a bad idea, actually.
@@omniviewer2115or maybe Popeye can visit Atlantis
Yeah, like a Dynasty Warriors type game. That would be cool.
And make it very jolly and lighthearted comedic moments like in the original cartoon.
"Lol dur hurr classic thing is horror now!" Is a universal truth of the internet/reality. It's like rule 34 for horror: If it exists, someone will make horror out of it.
Heck, the fanfics don't even wait until public domain, they just do it anyway.
Correction : It's become the new rule 34.
@@Guyverman01 Ehhh... I wouldn't say that, because we already have instant thirsting for basically ALL new characters ever.
Maybe it's just Horror Rule 34: If it exists, someone will make horror out of it.
When I was in sixth grade there was a kid who always made fun of me for liking cartoons and told me to “get a life and watch some R rated movies”
Movies like this make me think he grew up and got a job in the film industry
Had he never heard of *Fritz the Cat?*
public domain immediately churning out horror movies could probably be a valid reason why horror movies deserve low ratings (I'M EXAGGERATING but still XD)
Another thing to point out, is that the people making these small independent low-budget horror movies with public domain characters, were already making low-budget horror movies years prior. So they already had the infrastructure in place. But the thing is with these low-budget horror movies, it's hard to get people to notice them. So it makes sense that they would take an already existing idea they had for a horror movie, and swap out their villain for a public domain character. Because that will attract a lot of attention that their film would otherwise not get.
As soon as Batman goes into public domain, a bunch of people will be leaving those he pummels completely distorted from broken bones.
I think that people just want to go for the cheapest choice that they can make simple as that.
i'm irritated because mascot horror doesn't even have to involve serial killers, FNAF made the fun mascot character trend interesting by having the games both involve a serial killer (turned mascot) AND the mascot characters having more purposes in their state than just killing.
You make a lot of great points about how classic slasher movies (Halloween, Scream, A nightmare on elm Street, The Texas chainsaw massacre, etc.) felt distinct and unique from each other, while these public domain horror movies based on IPs (Popeye, Steamboat Willie, Winnie the Pooh, etc.) is more trendy than creative, which just sucks out the creative potential in horror (horror is more than just slasher or blood and guts). The popeye meets Cthulu crossover idea sounds interesting.
as an author myself, I have no interest in using any of these characters, even if they came into public domain
I want a Popeye game inspired by Pizza Tower/Antonblast/Wario Land
Hey Omni! From what I heard from the filmmakers they said that they’re creating a cinematic universe with these cartoon characters as serial killers. They in speculation also expressed interest in making films about Thor, as well as copyrighted franchises such as Teletubbies, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and The Powerpuff Girls.
What do you think of this?
Valid rant it be cool to have horror other than slasher. A mickey ghost horror movie or psychological be cool thats. Just an example but, yes they have no real creativity very lazy
*Lonesome Ghosts* from 1937 already had Mickey, Donald, and Goofy busting ghosts.
For what is worth, tgere is one project that I am honestly looking forward to: Popeye and Steamboat Mickey are partbers and sail the seas together looking for adventure.
If I was talented enough to write a story using public domain characters it would probably be a fun, hopeful, family friendly (mostly), non-politically correct and sincere good vs evil High Fantasy starring Jack, Hansel and Gretel. Also starring Pinocchio, Gepetto, Aladdin, Prince Charming, King Cole and Chicken Little.
Christopher Robin, Winnie and Friends would occasionally show up as some of the supporting characters and be true to the originals.
Side Note: "Jack" as in Jack from "Jack and the Beanstalk", "Jack and Jill", "Jack Be Nimble" and "Jack the Giant Killer". I would make them all the same person.
It's probably because making something into a slasher movie is cheaper than doing something more creative.
Yeah, pretty much, but as I say in the video, even slasher movies can be more creative than what we see on display thus far.
Omni's League of Extraordinary Cartoons confirmed!... I was complaining about this exact thing years ago, as a fan of Victorian sci-fi and literature, when American McGee's Alice and Todd McFarlane's Twisted Land of Oz came out. Gore and porn appeal EXACTLY to the kind of puerile mind who wants to pervert the innocent things of childhood just because they are the innocent things of childhood. The only thing worse is what the copyright holders themselves are doing: which would you prefer, Mr. Toad as a Ripperesque slasher horror or Disney's own remake of Lady Toad as a sassy Black woman?
🙌🤝👏👏👏👏👏👏👏🤝🙌👍!!!!!!! Your Popeye idea is absolutely innovative and is oozing with creativity, I would love to read a story, or watch a movie concerning your idea for Popeye, thank you so much!!!!!!!!!!
Popeye in "When's a Closet not a Closet? When it's Ajar!"
In a few years the original 1933 "King Kong" will be public domain. I know that they will probably turn that idea into slasher My idea for "King Kong" is to re-create the scenes in stop-motion & b/w, with some slight changes, but all of this will be coming from the point of view a young boy watching it at Grauman's Chinese Theater. Yes, Ray Harryhausen! That idea would probably work best a a short subject.
Also, I'm not sure if this is going to happen or not, but will Godzilla ever enter the public domain? I feel like the answer is no, but I'm not sure. If it is possible, and he does enter the public domain...well, let's just say a certain someone has some interesting ideas about where to take the character storywise😏😏😏🤫😊.
This video has been very encouraging to me. I've actually been working for a little while now on writing my own series for when Batman becomes Public Domain in 2035, but instead of going the route of horror, I'm doing more of an Isekai Fantasy where he's a teenage boy who winds up in another world full of anthropomorphized bats. Can't say much else beyond that without going into spoilers and it might sound a bit crazy, but I honestly believe there's more creativity in what I'm making than most of these generic slashers. I even have ideas for a more futuristic Sci-Fi version of Wonder Woman when she enters PD 2 years after Batman. Technically speaking, if I came up with a story idea for Superman when he becomes PD in 2034, I could essentially have my own Holy Trinity of the "not" Justice League because that's still under copyright for a good while, but I'd only make my own Superman story if I feel like I had a good enough idea for it that could take the character in a new direction while not being creatively bankrupt or a cheap commercial cash grab.
Glad to have been encouraging. Best of luck with those projects!
"Where is the creativity?" I feel this way with the MV.
Steamboat Willie as a pulp action hero is something I didn't know I needed.
I really wish I could draw/code/had better ideas.
Is horror is the only thing they think how about Romance, Sci Fi, Adventure, Action or more
Walt Disney already did that with Mickey from the get-go before he became he eventually became a supporting player in his own cartoons.
TBH, Popeye actually would work in horror. But the execution they're doing is pathetic.
But Winnie and Mickey don't fit in a horror setting, despite the fact both have scary moments (Heffalumps and Woozles for the former, and The Mad Doctor for the latter)
I plan on making a animation with popeye and Mickey but it will get made in 2026 since Betty boop is planned to be in it but it might get delayed to 2027 due to flip a clip being garbage
Imagine a Godzilla horror movie when Godzilla becomes public domain
Popeye in the Monsterverse would go HARD
SPOILERS FOR OPERATION RED DRAGON
At the end Barracudasaurus is dragged away by a monster with tentacles who is set up to be a major villain going forward. Is that going to be Cthulhu?
I've read that book, too. I think it's a distinct possibility.
Bugs Bunny goes public domian in 2036, not 2035.
Good video, Omni. I was planning to write my own take of Frankenstein's monster, and while I don't know exactly how I would do it, but I have some rough ideas about how it could go.
Steamboat Willie as an anti-colonial radical who leads colonizers to their doom.
People will make more stuff with it, it just takes time
totally down for popeye vs cthulhu movie need to work on fan casting for actors/ voice actors depending on witch way you want to play it. then again still holding out for a wacky races movie and have been for years.
Im in your tall omni viewer popeye meets h.p lovecraft take my money i will love to see that crossover .
and you right about how the studio making this stupid cartoon horror movie they ruined your favorite childhood cartoon
We should get a Winnie the Pooh movie based on the wizard of oz where Christopher robin gets transported to a magical world and adventures with Winnie the Pooh and his friends to get Christopher robin back to the real world and a steamboat Willie movie about Mickey finding ancient treasure and Popeye fighting sea monsters would be awesome too
I think the trend can be traced back to two sources, Bendy and the ink machine and blood and Honey. Bendy and the ink machine worked because it was an original I.p that poked fun at old cartoons while still clearly respecting them, while blood and honey got by on shock value that’s rapidly worn off.
At least thankfully, you didn't refference your distaste on the Disney remakes. I still haven't gotten over what you said a while ago. Since I'm the kind of person who doesn't forgive and forget too easily.
I see more potential in a film where Christopher Robin and pals try to make a horror movie.
Hell, I think Disney should just rerelease Runaway Brain as a giant middle finger to the hacks using Mickey Mouse for shitty horror stuff.
Or, someone could...you know...just make a good Popeye movie. One in which he and his friends go on an adventure, has Bluto try to steal Olive from him, and has him eat spinach and defeat all of the bad guys in the end. Because we haven't had an actual Popeye movie in the modern era. Genndy Tartakovsky was set to direct one for Sony a few years ago. It was a dream project for him and I don't doubt it would have been an absolute riot had it been made, but I'm also not surprised in the least that Sony got cold feet and cancelled it. Popeye, when you get down to it, is too violent and politically incorrect a cartoon character for mainstream studios nowadays. Now that he's public domain, though, someone can go ahead and make the over-the-top action comedy that he belongs in.
If you've never seen it, look up Genndy Tartakovsky's Popeye animation test. It will both brighten your day AND make you sad that the movie was never made.
He is with Popeye the Sailor meets Sinbad the Sailor.
The public domain meta intensifies!
Popeye was going to be featured as sinbad in a movie before Snow White came out
There's already a Popeye cartoon from 1936 called Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor, and it's great!
@@vidwatcher30s 100% agreed.😁
Instead of a slasher flick, I would make a Popeye movie that was an action movie like John Wick, a martial arts movie like Enter the Dragon but with Popeye, or an Indiana Jones-style adventure film. And if you want to go the horror route, do what Evil Dead did and have Popeye be the hero like Ash. It's been awhile since we had an iconic horror movie hero.
Well to be fair at least for the popeye the slayer man they had some creativity like he kill peoples with his toon force powers like stumping their head like I agree (for Popeye at least) some cartoon public domain characters have more potential than just being a horror villain like the chance of these recent year of public domain characters made into a movie that the characters being portrayed as good guy is highly unlikely (maybe some day) but this will likely to be on Fanmade UA-cam videos or something
How about a roadhouse style action film of Popeye?
Lets make an anime.....: Kokaishi to Nezumi
Or Popai to Mikki no Daiboken
Razorfist was right when he said the public domain is an ass.
People like to pretend it's inherently a good thing but really in most cases it's a one way ticket to mediocrity and being forgotten
It feels lazy. Like people don't have enough creativity to make anything else.
I am so tired of this trend. Like you said, at least put some blasted effort into the thing, make it more of an intellectual horror if you want to do horror.
I think the other thing that bothers me is the character assassination. Turning Popeye into a villain and all that. If you want to take the IP in a more nature direction, fine. But why fundamentally change what the character is?
why not make it a r rated action film, why horror
You're missing the point. You're missing the big picture. Stop punching down on people actually using the public domain for it's intended purpose.
Instead, why don't you do something creative with these public domain properties, instead of complaining about what others are are doing?
You don't seem to realize that there are thousands of people making wonderful creations using characters and stories from the public domain. You just aren't bothering to seek them out. You just just see the ones that have the most money behind them, and think that's all anybody is doing.
What you fail to realize is that the reason why the horror movies are popular, is because they have a lot of money pumped into them from independently wealthy individuals.
People need to understand that you can't just go to a movie studio and pitch a movie using public domain characters. The major Hollywood studios aren't interested. They're not gonna give you $100M to make a movie with public domain characters. They have their own characters, and their own IP that they would rather make, with established filmmakers.
So if you wanna do something with characters from the public domain, you're gonna have to fund it yourself.
And that's why you're hating on the horror movies. These movies cost anywhere from $100K-$500K to produce. Now even though, by Hollywood standards, that's considered extremely low-budget, that's still way more money than most people have.
Most people don't have a spare $100K laying to fund their passion project. The people making these horror movies do. That's really what you're mad at. That's why you're upset. Because they have the money to make their movies, and you don't. It comes from jealousy and spite. It makes no sense to be upset at people using the public domain for its intended purpose. But you think that's the _only_ thing people are doing. When that's not the case.
Like I said previously, there are thousands of other people making their own works of art using the public domain. You just aren't seeking it out. They don't have hundreds of thousands of dollars to market their work, like the horror people do. You have to put some effort in, and do some work to find them. Because it's not just horror movies. It's just a simple matter of fact, that they just have the most money, and they can promote it.
And I get your bitterness. You're annoyed that the people with the most money are choosing to do this. And you would much prefer more talented people doing thing to that scale. Unfortunately, that's not the way works. They people with the most money, get noticed, because they have the budget to promote this to the masses. While the truly talented people with no money go completely ignored. But you're doing them no favors by not acknowledging them. You're the problem, because you're not seeking them out. And you're the one giving this perception that the _only_ people who are using the public domain, are _only_ making horror movies, and nobody else is doing anything. You're doing a great disservice to all those talented individuals.
Instead what you should be doing, is elevating the work from the underground artists, instead of punching down the above ground artists. But you're not looking for the underground artists. So they stay underground. You're instead going for the low hanging fruit instead.
Or how about this, get mad at the major studios, who won't throw money at any of these independent artists making great use of the public domain. Why get mad at the people who are using it, the way it was meant to be used?
You think the reason I made this video is because I'm mad about money? Sorry, my friend, but you're the one who doesn't get it.
I am aware of other works involving public domain characters. I've even made some myself. One of my recent books utilizes the Jersey Devil, a folkloric figure who has existed for night unto three centuries, and I am working on another book that will involve not only that character, but other public domain characters. You think I don't realize that other people are doing stuff with the public domain? As a matter of fact, I'm one of them, and I would love for mainstream audiences to notice those of us who are actually being creative with these ideas. Dig through my backlog of videos, and you'll see that I actually do promote underground works and indie projects, but you clearly haven't sought those out.
But I'm not saying this because I'm angry about money. I state plainly in the video that I'm disappointed in the lack of creativity, and so are many others. As both and author and a fan, I care about the art of storytelling, and I believe that quality should be the priority of anyone in the field of entertainment. A cheap, copy-paste slasher is quick and easy to make and will get attention in the short term, but in the long term, it will be forgotten.
Audiences deserve quality entertainment. The people who made these public domain characters deserve better than to have their legacies exploited by people who don't care. That's what I'm concerned about. That's why I'm writing my own stuff and I try to promote my fellow creatives when I can.
I'm not missing the point. I understand the point quite well, and I made this video to remind everyone of that point.
Now, would you be interested in supporting an indie creator who has poured his heart and soul into his work? As you said, it's much better than punching down at the little guy.
@omniviewer2115 nah, I wasn't trying to offend you. So don't take offense. Art and creativity is fine and dandy. But it needs to be marketed. That's just how business works. That's what I was talking about. The people who made the horror films, had the money to market them, to get them into the public consciousness. And now you have you have all these people who think that's the only thing that comes out of the public domain. And people are hating on the horror movies, and saying that they are misusing the public domain. And people have even been saying that things should *never* enter the public domain because they're just gonna make a horror movie out of it. And that's frustrating, because they're not misusing the public domain. They're actually using it properly. They don't like the fact that they made horror movies from it. There was literally a NBC News hit-piece piece where a reporter asked blatantly "should things even enter the public domain, if people are just going to desecrate them by making bad horror movies?" Which I feel sets a dangerous precedent and is a bad idea to be putting out there to the masses, because a lot of people have already been influenced that things entering the public domain is a bad thing, and the public domain shouldn't exist. And you now have a major corporation essentially confirming that belief these people have.
And I apologize for thinking you were one of those simple minded people, who think "public domain bad! they make horror films that ruin my childhood."
I specifically remember in 2024, I said Popeye is gonna be public domain next year. And without fail, the very first comment I got was someone sarcastically saying "I can't wait to see what horror movie they ruin our childhood with with Popeye." Meaning, that's immediately what they think when they hear public domain.
No worries, I think this opens the door for discussion.
I would never say that the public domain should not exist just because it's currently being used in a lazy manner. That's like saying hammers should not exist because some people hit their fingers instead of the nail they were aiming for.
My argument is for the public domain to be used better than it currently is. One or two slasher movies is not big deal, but to date, we've got roughly ten either released or in the works, and roughly half of them are different productions with the same characters. At this point, it's not creativity;; it's trend-chasing. I'm not even opposed to the movies being Horror. I like Horror. I've written Horror. But there are other kinds of Horror than Slasher, which is all we're seeing done thus far. What about Gothic Horror? Cosmic Horror? Psychological Horror?
This trend-chasing is the reason people make the joke you mention about "This character enters the public domain. I wonder how long before we get a trailer for his slasher movie?" It's pattern recognition. I don't think the majority of people really want to see it, at least not so frequently or so haphazardly done, but since it keeps happening, it's expected. Basically, this has become so frequent, and even has been done with non-PD characters (such as The Mean One, a Slasher spin on the Grinch), that people have a Pavlovian response now. People associate the public domain with Horror because they were programmed to. The problem is that they associate it with bad Horror because the movies tend to be bad. Even if the filmmakers have every right to use the characters in such a way, that negative association could do a lot more harm than good in the long run.
Popeye the Slayer Man made me think of Popeye in drag… the reality was disappointing to say the least
Please do review of the sequel of Godzilla vs the mighty morphing power rangers volume 2.
I wont rest until Garfield enters the public domain and we get a slasher version of that character as well finally lol. 😾🔪😁👍🩸🔫
(5:04) Easy, Popeye would defeat Cthulhu and the other lovecraftian monsters by just eating some spinach and beat the snot out of them lol. ⛵⚓💪🥬
But what if the Cthulhu cult sabotages spinach production and distribution?
See you in 2074.
@@Attmay Alright, i'll mark it on my calendar lol. 📝😁👍🗓