Latest news with #SteamboatWillie
Chicago Tribune
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Today in History: Department of Agriculture established
Today is Thursday, May 15, the 135th day of 2025. There are 230 days left in the year. Today in history: On May 15, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed an act establishing the Department of Agriculture. Also on this date: In 1800, President John Adams ordered government offices to relocate from Philadelphia to the newly-constructed city of Washington, in the federal District of Columbia. In 1928, the Walt Disney cartoon character Mickey Mouse appeared for the first time in front of a public audience in a test screening of the short 'Plane Crazy.' (Mickey made his formal screen debut with the release of 'Steamboat Willie' six months later.) In 1940, brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald opened the first McDonald's fast-food restaurant, in San Bernardino, California. In 1967, the U.S. Supreme Court, in its In re Gault decision, ruled that juveniles accused of crimes were entitled to the same due process afforded adults. In 1970, less than two weeks after the shooting at Kent State University, two Black students at Jackson State College in Mississippi were killed and 12 were injured when police opened fire during student demonstrations. In 1972, Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace was shot and left paralyzed while campaigning for president in Laurel, Maryland, by Arthur H. Bremer, who would serve 35 years in prison for the attempted murder. In 2015, a jury sentenced Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to death for the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing that killed three and left more than 260 wounded. In 2020, President Donald Trump formally unveiled a coronavirus vaccine program called 'Operation Warp Speed,' to speed development of COVID-19 vaccines and quickly distribute them around the country. Today's Birthdays: Artist Jasper Johns is 95. Counterculture icon Wavy Gravy is 89. Actor-singer Lainie Kazan is 85. Basketball Hall of Fame coach Don Nelson is 85. Musician Brian Eno is 77. Actor Chazz Palminteri is 73. Baseball Hall of Famer George Brett is 72. Rapper Melle Mel is 64. Baseball Hall of Famer John Smoltz is 58. Football Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith is 56. Football Hall of Famer Ray Lewis is 50. Actor Jamie-Lynn Sigler is 44. Tennis player Andy Murray is 38.
Boston Globe
15-05-2025
- Boston Globe
Today in History: May 15, police kill two students during Jackson State protests
In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed an act establishing the Department of Agriculture. Advertisement In 1928, the Walt Disney cartoon character Mickey Mouse appeared for the first time in front of a public audience in a test screening of the short 'Plane Crazy.' (Mickey made his formal screen debut with the release of 'Steamboat Willie' six months later.) In 1940, brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald opened the first McDonald's fast-food restaurant, in San Bernardino, Calif. In 1967, the US Supreme Court, in its In re Gault decision, ruled that juveniles accused of crimes were entitled to the same due process afforded to adults. In 1970, less than two weeks after the shooting at Kent State University, two Black students at Jackson State College in Mississippi were killed and 12 were injured when police opened fire during student demonstrations. Advertisement In 1972, Alabama Governor George C. Wallace was shot and left paralyzed while campaigning for president in Laurel, Md., by Arthur H. Bremer, who would serve 35 years in prison for the attempted murder. In 2015, a jury sentenced Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to death for the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing that killed three and left more than 260 wounded. In 2020, President Donald Trump formally unveiled a coronavirus vaccine program called 'Operation Warp Speed,' to speed development of COVID-19 vaccines and quickly distribute them around the country.
New York Post
04-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Colin Jost tries to sell his Staten Island ferry in ‘SNL' sketch after calling vessel his ‘dumbest' purchase ever
Colin Jost pleaded for somebody to buy his decommissioned Staten Island ferry during a rare sketch appearance on 'Saturday Night Live.' During the May 3 episode, host Quinta Brunson and longtime castmember Mikey Day portrayed two angry drivers who insulted each other using bizarre hand gestures through closed car windows on a ferry. 3 Colin Jost pleaded for somebody to buy his retired Staten Island Ferry during a sketch on 'Saturday Night Live.' WWD via Getty Images The 42-year-old 'Weekend Update' co-anchor made a surprise cameo near the end of the nearly 3-and-a-half-minute clip and begged the characters to buy the retired ferry he purchased with SNL alum Pete Davidson in 2022. 'Hey, you said you love ferries?' Jost, who was playing himself, shouted with his hands pressed against the window. 'If you love ferries, would you like to buy one?' 'Oh my God, is that Colin Jost?' Chloe Fineman's character, who played Day's daughter, asked. 'That's Colin Jost,' Day replied. 'We're good, man, thanks.' 'Please buy it,' Jost desperately pleaded before he pretended to be his business partner. 'Hey, hey, wait – hey, I'm Pete Davidson. Hi!' Jost quipped. Jost and Davidson bought the retired orange Staten Island ferry for $280,000 at auction in 2022 while they were allegedly 'very stoned.' 'It is absolutely the dumbest and least thought-through purchase I've ever made in my life,' Jost told People in September. 'The way I justified it is for the amount of money we were putting into buying it, on just a basic square-footage level, is if you found the right place for it to be, you were essentially buying a building on its side that's 65,000 square feet. So around New York, that is a very good price per square foot.' 3 Colin Jost and fellow Staten Islander Pete Davidson bought the decommissioned Staten Island Ferry at an auction in 2022. James Keivom 3 Davidson claimed the ferry's renovations could take up to ten years. Robert Miller The duo — in a partnership with architect and developer Ron Castellano and comedy club owner Paul Italia — planned to turn the ferry into a $34 million entertainment venue. The jokesters were able to rent out the vessel for a 'Steamboat Willie' horror film and it was the location for a Tommy Hilfiger fashion show in September 2024. 'I never thought it was a money pit, except that it, you know, costs money,' Jost said after the Hilfiger event. 'I always had faith that it will be something really fun. I thought tonight was really fun!' Jost joined 'Saturday Night Live' as a writer in 2005 and was promoted to co-anchor of 'Weekend Update' with Michael Che in 2014. In April, Davidson revealed that the floating entertainment space will consist of 'a couple' of restaurants and that the renovation project will take between five and 10 years. 'We have a floor done out of the four and we're holding events on the first floor,' Davidson told Variety. 'People are like 'I guess nothing's happening with it.' We don't know anything about boats, so we're all figuring it out and it's been really fun. We're having a good time and it's in a good place and we have a couple of fun events planned for the summer.'
Perth Now
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
'We lovingly poke fun at all things Disney...' Screamboat director Steven LaMorte shares inspiration for movie
'Screamboat' director Steven LaMorte hopes Disney "won't come after us" because the horror comedy mocks everything about the corporation. LaMorte helmed the reimagining of the Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks 1928 animated short film 'Steamboat Willie', with the gore-filled flick following a group of New Yorkers who are picked off by a monstrous mouse named Steamboat Willie. Animation 'Steamboat Willie' is considered to be the public debut of Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse and although Disney retains exclusive rights to its own Mickey Mouse universe, the 'Steamboat Willie' version of the character entered the public domain on January 1, 2024, with 'Screamboat' being announced a day later. LaMorte admits his new movie lampoons many aspects of Disney and he hopes the corporation will see the funny side. Speaking to the new issue of SFX magazine, he said: "We lovingly poke fun at all things Disney; it's corporate culture, TV shows, lore and pricing - all of it. "And you know hopefully they won't come after us!" Homicidal mouse Steamboat Willie is played by David Howard Thornton, famous for portraying Art the Clown in the 'Terrifier' franchise, as well as Allison Pittel, Amy Schumacher, Jesse Posey, Kailey Hyman, Jesse Kove and Jarlath Conroy. LaMorte revealed that Thornton had to spend four-and-a-half hours in makeup each day to play the miniature murderer and suffered in the heat of his furry suit for the role. The filmmaker shared: "Once the cowl and the ears are on, he's able to move, but it's extremely hot. He's wearing a fur suit, and he's constantly burning through these cooling vests that he has underneath." LaMorte also shared all the filming tricks he used to make David as Steamboat Willie appear as small as a mouse. He said: "We knew the only way this would really be funny, the only thing that would keep him from looking like a guy in a suit or a mascot at a theme park, is that he had to be a creature and he had to be small. "Having a miniature killer made the film exponentially harder to make. "We have shots where the mouse is walking, where if you look, it's a puppet. We used LED walls, forced perspective and oversized props. Really every magic trick under the sun to make him appear tiny." LaMorte has teased he has an idea for a sequel meaning horror fans have not seen the last of 'Screamboat'. He said: "I may or may not have a completely outlined a fully formed idea. So if there was to be an opportunity to make a second one I'm definitely open to it, because there's plenty of stories left to tell on the Staten Island Ferry." 'Screamboat' is on Digital Platforms 5 May and DVD and Blu-ray 2 June. Distributed by Signature Entertainment.
The Guardian
31-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Screamboat review – rodent IP horror sends Mickey Mouse on a ferry rampage
Here's another draining bout of horror opportunism, spawned in this instance by the copyright expiring on Disney's Steamboat Willie, the 1928 landmark animation that launched Mickey Mouse into the world. Scurrying on to screens months behind the similarly motivated The Mouse Trap, Steven LaMorte's bloody pastiche opens with a quote coyly ascribed to 'Walt D' before plodding mirthlessly in the pawprints of those recent Winnie-the-Pooh carve-ups, demonstrating no greater brio, invention or wit. Its mock Mickey is a genetically modified super-violent pipsqueak (played by Terrifier breakout star David Howard Thornton, in mangy rodent costume), let loose from the sewers by blundering engineers; rather than the jaunty steamboat his predecessor commandeered, he wreaks murderous havoc on a grimy approximation of the Staten Island ferry, whistling while he works. The whole never recovers from its leaden opening half-hour, devoted to lugging potential corpses onboard leaving us to wonder who, if anyone, will survive the lacklustre carnage. (Hopes are lowered like a flag for the airheaded bachelorette party.) LaMorte notionally expands the scope of his non-satirical attack by having the critter's victims mouth familiar Magic Kingdom phrases. 'Can you feel the love tonight?' says one topless passenger, shortly before being hosed down with gore. One point in favour of these cheap-and-cheerless cash-ins: in an era of dead-eyed data scraping, they may yet radicalise a generation of sleepover attenders to pursue ways of toughening up copyright law. Arterial spray fans won't feel short-changed, but many of the kill scenes are torpedoed by poor lighting, clumsy-to-inept camera coverage and cutting, and effects that only erratically match the action. Amid a number of Sharknado-level performances, and accidentally serving the public by muffling dialogue that wasn't exactly sparkling to begin with, Thornton gives his Mickey a certain bouncy malevolence – but we get the idea after only a few minutes of watching the actor tap dance on a pop culture grave. These tacky novelty films have been unlucky to land at a moment when mainstream horror has seriously raised its game, but something as cut-price, retrograde and reactionary as this really does deserve the damning label of Mickey Mouse fare. Screamboat is out in US and UK cinemas on 2 April.
