Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse - Steamboat Willie (1928)

This is the third Mickey Mouse cartoon animated but the first one released.

When the silent versions of Plane Crazy and the Gallopin' Gaucho failed to gain distribution, Walt decided to make the third Mickey Mouse cartoon the world's first fully synchronized sound cartoon after seeing The Jazz Singer (Itself being the first synchronized live action film.) The short was animated by Ub Iwerks and the title comes from a parody of a Buster Keaton film, Steamboat Bill. A test with live sound was done for the staff in July 1928. Walt Disney voiced all the characters in the short. The film was distributed by Pat Powers.

Steamboat Willie premiered at Universal's Colony Theater in New York City on November 18, 1928 and became the most popular cartoon of its day and launched Mickey Mouse and Walt Disney into stardom.

In 1998, the film was selected by the United States Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry. It fell into the public domain in 2024.

Release date November 18, 1928

Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.