Beloved puppet Pinocchio gets a horror makeover in new film
A new entity is ready to enter the public domain horror universe. Pinocchio, the beloved storybook character and puppet, is the latest to get the gruesome makeover.
Jagged Edge Productions released a poster for the upcoming film during the week of Aug. 25. Filming of “Pinocchio: Unstrung,” begins in October, with a release scheduled for 2025.
Director Rhys Frake-Waterfield also brought Winnie The Pooh, another iconic character in the public domain, to the horror genre.
More adaptations for these kinds of movie characters are on the way, with films featuring Bambi and Peter Pan set to release later this year.
Frake-Waterfield is working to create an “expanded horror universe,” and a film where these characters all come together is already in the works.
South Korean opposition leader stabbed, attacker arrested as cameras record: The Morning Rundown, Jan. 2, 2024
An attacker stabs the leader of South Korea’s opposition party during a press event. And a plane with nearly 400 people on board catches fire while landing in Japan. These stories and more highlight The Morning Rundown for Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024.
Political leader in South Korea stabbed on livestream
The leader of South Korea’s opposition Democratic party continues to recover this morning after being wounded in a stabbing that was live-streamed just hours ago. Lee Jae-Myung was stabbed in the neck during a visit to the country’s southern city of Busan.
This type of violence must never be tolerated under any circumstances.
President Yoon Suk Yeol
Lee was touring the site of a proposed airport in South Korea when the video showed the assailant wearing a paper crown with Lee’s name on it approaching him. Police say the suspect asked Lee for an autograph and then stabbed him in the neck with a 7-inch knife.
The video shows the 66-year-old attacker being taken down and restrained by several in the crowd. Photographs from the scene show Lee on the ground with people pressing a handkerchief against his neck. He was taken to a hospital for emergency treatment; health officials said his injuries appeared to be non-life-threatening. Lee narrowly lost the 2022 presidential election to Yoon Suk Yeol. The president condemned the attack in a statement from his office.
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“This type of violence must never be tolerated under any circumstances,” Yoon Suk Yeol said.
Lee is currently on trial for bribery allegations. He has denied any wrongdoing. The stabbing suspect’s motives remain under investigation.
Japan earthquake kills at least 48 on New Year’s Day
At least 48 people have been killed after a 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck Japan on New Year’s Day. Rescue teams continue to attempt to reach isolated areas where buildings were toppled, and fires are burning in hopes of finding more survivors.
The Japanese government said there are around 120 cases of people awaiting rescue. The afternoon quake led to tsunami waves striking Japan’s western coast, sending people fleeing for higher ground. The earthquake knocked out power to tens of thousands, damaged rail services, and forced the closure of an airport due to cracks in its runway. Japan’s meteorological agency is reporting roughly 200 aftershocks have been detected and warning more tremors could strike in the coming days following the country’s deadliest earthquake since 2016.
Airplane catches fire on runway in Japan
Also in Japan, a new video, this morning shows a plane with nearly 400 people aboard catching fire as it skids down the runway after local media reports it crashed into another aircraft while landing. The video shows the Japan Airlines plane engulfed in flames at the airport in Tokyo around 6 p.m. local time on Tuesday, Jan. 2, with firefighters working to extinguish the blaze.
Officials said the plane collided with a Coast Guard aircraft, local media has reported that most of the Coast Guard crew was killed. The airline said all 379 passengers and 12 crew members were safely evacuated.
Sources: Illegal crossings at U.S. border reach historic numbers
Illegal crossings at the southern border saw record high numbers last month, according to sources with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Fox News reported that sources said more than 302,000 migrants were documented attempting to cross the border in December, making it the highest total ever recorded for a single month, as well as the first time the total has surpassed the 300,000 mark.
The historic numbers come as Texas continues to send migrants to cities run by Democratic mayors; Gov. Greg Abbott’s, R, office said the operation is an effort to force the Biden administration to secure the border.
Over the holiday weekend, New Jersey officials said 13 charter buses carrying nearly 450 migrants from Texas on their way to New York City were detoured to New Jersey in an apparent attempt to bypass an executive order passed last week by New York City Mayor Eric Adams, D, limiting when charter bus companies can drop off migrants in the city and requiring 32-hours advanced notice. Officials said once in New Jersey, bus chaperones assisted the migrants in transferring to trains or other buses headed to New York.
Deadly upstate New York New Year’s morning crash being investigated as possible terrorism
Two people are dead and several others injured after a crash outside of a concert venue in Rochester, New York, in the early morning of Monday, Jan. 1. According to law enforcement, the crash is being investigated as possible terrorism.
The collision happened just before 1:00 a.m. on New Year’s Day; police said a Ford Expedition barreled through an Uber that was leaving a parking lot at the Kodak Center, bursting into flames, killing two passengers and injuring the Uber driver. The fiery crash spilled into a nearby crosswalk, hitting pedestrians and two other vehicles; according to police, three people using the crosswalk were hit, one left with life-threatening injuries, and two suffering non-life-threatening injuries.
Law enforcement said the driver of the Ford, a Syracuse man, was transported to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. Police said he rented the large SUV from the Syracuse airport, and after firefighters were able to put the fire out, they found at least a dozen gas cans in and around the SUV.
The Joint Terrorism Task Force is leading an investigation. While authorities don’t yet know if the crash was terrorism, they said it is being investigated as such until they can determine what happened and why.
‘Steamboat Willie’ Mickey Mouse enters public domain
Straight Arrow News reporter Simone Del Rosario explained that it is the day Disney has dreaded for decades and spent considerable capital trying to avoid. You can find Simone’s full report here on Public Domain Day.
Step aside, Disney: Mickey Mouse belongs to all of us now, sort of
It’s the day Disney tried for decades to avoid: Mickey Mouse entered the public domain on Jan. 1. However, before appropriating Disney’s iconic mascot, know that the only free-for-all is the specific version from 1928’s “Steamboat Willie.”
Each year, copyrights expire on a new set of works. Individual copyrights are protected for the creator’s life plus 70 years. Meanwhile, corporate-owned works like “Steamboat Willie” remain intact for 95 years from initial publication.
“Copyright, by design, lasts for a limited time,” said Jennifer Jenkins, director of the Duke Center for the Study of Public Domain.
Jenkins also writes an annual column for “Public Domain Day,” sharing the latest set of works.
“While the copyright is active, it gives the authors, the rights holders, exclusive rights to make copies and to adopt the works,” Jenkins added. “And that’s a very good thing because it provides economic incentives that spur creativity. But after the term expires — when those works go into the public domain — that’s a great thing too, because that means those works can inspire future creators.”
Disney’s piece in question was originally set to enter public domain in 1984. However, the House of Mouse lobbied for a 20-year extension to the copyright term, which Congress granted in the 1970s. In 1998, Congress passed another piece of legislation known as “The Mickey Mouse Protection Act,” which added 20 years to the protection of Disney’s global ambassador and other works.
Only the “Steamboat Willie” version of Mickey — the pupilless mouse with a long tail and a nose that looks more like a rat’s — will enter the public domain. Any more modern versions remain protected under copyright law, as Disney frequently modernizes the mouse and updates the terms.
In 2022, another icon of purity entered the public domain: Winnie the Pooh from A.A. Milne’s original stories. But once again, this protects future iterations, specifically those used by Disney.
“It’s the original Winnie the Pooh as you encounter that charming little bear in the book from 1926, which has many of, not just the visual character, but the personality attributes. You know, the humility, the love of honey, the always being there for his friends,” Jenkins said.
Shortly after making his debut in the public domain, the honey-loving bear was given the horror treatment in “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey.” The film featured Christopher Robin’s return to the Hundred Acre Wood where Pooh and Piglet have become murderous psychopaths.
This marked the first time Pooh wasn’t made for kids, but a South Florida teacher screened it for their fourth grade classroom anyway. Students asked for the teacher to stop airing it and those who felt traumatized met with a school-provided mental health counselor.
“Everything that’s been spawned by Shakespeare, you’ve got ‘Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead’ from Hamlet; or you have ‘West Side Story’; or you have ’10 Things I Hate About You’ and ‘Romeo Must Die’ and ‘Gnomeo and Juliet’ — the whole point of the public domain is it enables all these reimaginings,” Jenkins said.
But it’s not unfettered access. There are still several limitations, especially when balancing the distinction between copyright and trademark law.
I can make my own animation off of it, but I can’t go around slapping Mickey Mouse the character on a backpack or a lunchbox or a pair of pajamas, because people would think it was Disney-licensed merchandise.
Director Jennifer Jenkins, Duke Center for the Study of Public Domain
“I can make my own animation off of it, but I can’t go around slapping Mickey Mouse the character on a backpack or a lunchbox or a pair of pajamas, because people would think it was Disney-licensed merchandise,” Jenkins said.
“It’s possible sometimes to have trademark rights, which is a different kind of law over characters,” she continued. “And they don’t expire after a set term the way copyrights do. They last for as long as someone is using that character as a brand.”
If the number of products featuring the famous mouse is any indication, Disney isn’t worried about losing that trademark. As for the public domain, the company itself has greatly benefitted from that arrangement since its inception.
“‘Snow White,’ ‘Sleeping Beauty,’ ‘Cinderella,’ ‘The Three Musketeers,’ ‘Christmas Carol,’ ‘Alice in Wonderland,’ all of these Disney movies were based on public domain works,” Jenkins said.
Disney told The Associated Press in December that ever since Mickey Mouse’s first appearance, “People have associated the character with Disney’s stories, experiences and authentic products. That will not change when the copyright in the ‘Steamboat Willie’ film expires.”
Pooh’s springy friend Tigger also joins Mickey Mouse in the public domain this year, but Jenkins says one of the best things about a copyright running out isn’t the headline-grabbing works.
“One of the most exciting things for me about the public domain is all of those works that no one’s thinking about, no one’s heard of, that have been completely forgotten after 70, 80, 95 years,” Jenkins said. “Those are the works where the barriers to access have been removed and they’re waiting to be rediscovered.”