Nicolas Cage's new creature feature horror movie is actually inspired by one of Disney's most innocent characters
Apr. 15, 2024Is no beloved childhood character safe?
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The director of Nicolas Cage’s new survival horror movie Arcadian has shockingly revealed that the movie’s distinctive monster is actually inspired by a very well-known and beloved animated character…Disney’s Goofy.
“From the beginning, I had this idea of big nocturnal eyes, and massive spaced-out teeth, teeth way too big for the creature’s mouth. Goofy, the Disney character, was a big inspiration,” said director Ben Brewer in an interview withIGN, before explaining that the incentive particularly came from a childhood fear of his – the scene in A Goofy Movie where Goofy’s son Max has a nightmare about turning into his father.
“That’s where the Goofy thing comes in because in that film, that dream sequence… it’s terrifying,” said the director, adding, “It’s too much personality. We gave our creatures too much personality because it would be freaky for people.”
Arcadian follows a man named Paul (Cage) and his two sons, living in a near dystopian future where violent monsters come out at night and cause havoc,I Am Legendstyle. But when one son doesn’t return home before sundown one day, Paul must leave the safety of his fortified farm and battle killer creatures to save his family. Alongside Cage, Arcadian starsIT’s Jaeden Martell,Reacher’s Maxwell Jenkins, andSaltburn’s Sadie Soverall.
Brewer, who worked on the visual effects for the Oscar-winning movieEverything Everywhere All at Once, also sharedinitial sketches with IGNof the otherworldly creatures, which we have to admit, do share a likeness with the Disney dog. But Goofy isn’t the first animated character to get the horror treatment, as recently we have seen Winnie the Pooh turn into a serial killer inWinnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, and Mickey Mouse inthe trailer for The Return of Steamboat Willie. Whoever will be next?
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