Due to the short length of this work, all spoilers will be unmarked. You Have Been Warned.
"The Vanishing of SS Willie''
The Vanishing of S.S Willie is a 2024 Analog Horror Mockumentary short film created by Nick Lives and based on Steamboat Willie, released shortly after it fell into the public domain. It can be viewed here.
It focuses on the disappearence of the titular ship in 1909, after a series of bizzare events involving music coming from an unknown source playing at night.
Tropes appearing in The Vanishing of S.S Willie:
- Apocalyptic Log: The Captain's Log. For several night, he records the strange happenings and slow decline of the crew's mental health over the course of a few days. The last log is a handwritten note, clearly written under duress, stating "I found the Music."
- Adaptational Heroism: Downplayed. Pete was more of a Villainy-Free Villain in the original Steamboat Willie, but he was still a Jerkass who directly opposed Mickey, while most of his subsequent appearances have him being genuinely villainous (or at least, a bully). Here, he's the closest thing the story has to a hero and genuinely wants to keep his crew safe, showing horrified concern when they start going missing.
- Adaptational Villainy: Even though Mickey had a few Jerkass qualities in the early shorts, he's never shown to be outright evil. The Cabin Boy, on the other hand, is implied to have killed the rest of the crew sans the Chambermaid. The Chambermaid herself is an even stronger example: Minnie was always a Nice Girl, while the Chambermaid is implied to have been the Cabin Boy's accomplice.
- Body Horror: The crew of the S.S Willie (bar the Captain, who seems to have died later than the others) were all horribly mutilated into instrument-like forms by their assailant - and, if the "Our Music" record is any indication, at least some of them were still alive and in agony while the Cabin Boy was "playing" them.
- Captain's Log: The film's creator investigates the Captain's log in order to discover why the ship disappeared.
- Deadly Euphemism: If you've watched the original short (or are rewatching this one), then it quickly becomes clear that the Cabin Boy's desire to "make music" with his beloved is shorthand for the pair murdering the rest of the crew by making them into instruments.
- Furry Confusion: Averted, in sharp contrast to the original cartoon: all the animals seen in the story are shown to be fully sapient, making what ultimately happened to the crew of the S.S Willie all the more harrowing.
- He Knows Too Much: Implied. The Captain's corpse is the only one that doesn't appear to have been mutilated into a musical instrument, and his final journal entry implies that he was killed shortly after finding out about the Cabin Boy and Chambermaid's little dance party.
- Mature Animal Story: The short film presents a more horrific take on its source material, taking the Black Comedy Animal Cruelty in the original short and playing it for horror by not only making the animals into fellow crew members, but also showing that the things done to them were far from painless.
- Missing Episode: In-Universe: The movie was suppose to have came out in 1928 but it was lost shortly before premiering.
- Mockumentary: A documentary of a In-Universe mystery.
- Never Found the Body: When the filmmakers locate and explore the wreck of the Willie, they discover the skeletonized corpses of the crew, except for the Cabin Boy and Chambermaid.
- Nightmare Face: The Cabin Boy has one of these, of the "subtly sinister" variety; his vacant eyes, realistic features and slight smile make him look incredibly uncanny without showing anything explicit.
- No Name Given: None of the characters are given names, and are referred to by their position in the ship's crew. In-Universe, it was done to protect their families.
- Retraux: Done to resemble an old silent film.
- Soundtrack Dissonance: The film is about the disturbing circumstances surrounding the disappearance of a ship and its crew. A rather jaunty tune plays over all of this.
- Thousand-Yard Stare: The Cabin Boy is shown with one of these, foreshadowing the darkness underneath.
- Unholy Matrimony: Implied to be the case with the Cabin Boy and the Chambermaid. He did tell the witness that this was his last trip and he was about to get married...
- Wham Shot:
- The final page of the Captain's Log, which is just a crude note reading "I found the Music."
- The shot of the Cow crewmate's skeleton. Their teeth have been replaced with piano keys...
- World of Funny Animals: All of the characters are anthropomorphic animals. The witness refers to the Cabin Boy as "Mouse" the same way someone might refer to someone by their nationality or occupation.
