Steamboat Willie

1928 American animated short film

Steamboat Willie is a short film that Walt Disney made in 1928. It was about Mickey Mouse, and is the one that would make Mickey Mouse popular. On January 1, 2024, Steamboat Willie entered the public domain.[2]

Steamboat Willie
Theatrical release poster[1]
Directed by
Story by
  • Walt Disney
  • Ub Iwerks
Produced by
StarringWalt Disney
Music by
Animation by
Color processBlack and white
Production
company
Distributed byPat Powers (Celebrity Productions/Cinephone sound)
Release date
  • November 18, 1928 (1928-11-18)
(United States)
Running time
7:47
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$4,986.69
Steamboat Willie

Mickey Mouse is cheerfully whistling on a boat before Captain Pete yells at him for not doing his job of cleaning the boat. While the boat starts leaving, Minnie Mouse shows up but misses the boat, so Mickey takes a hook from the boat to lift her onto the boat, giving her a wedgie in the process. Minnie plays her ukulele before the goats eat Minnie's music sheet, so Mickey uses the goats as instrumentation so that he and Minnie can play music. Captain Pete complains that Mickey still isn't doing his job and makes him peel potatos. A parrot then laughs at Mickey.

Influence

change

Steamboat Willie led to cartoons with sound in them becoming popular and to Walt Disney making a lot of sound cartoons about Mickey Mouse who then became a popular character. Some people think that Steamboat Willie was Mickey's name back then, when it was the name of the boat.[source?]

References

change
  1. Gerstein, David (2015). Learn to Draw Mickey Mouse & Friends Through the Decades. Walter Foster Jr. p. 14. ISBN 978-1-60058-429-9.
  2. "Steamboat Willie is finally in the public domain. Here's what that means". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 9, 2024.