Steamboat Willie is a 1928 American animated short film directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. It was produced in black and white by Walt Disney Studio and was released by Pat Powers, under the name of Celebrity Productions. The cartoon is considered the debut of both Mickey and Minnie Mouse, although both characters appeared several months earlier in a test screening of Plane Crazy. Steamboat Willie was the third of Mickey's films to be produced, but it was the first to be distributed, because Disney, having seen The Jazz Singer, had committed himself to produce one of the first fully synchronized sound cartoons.
Pete (left) confronts Mickey (right) on the bridge of the steamboat
The Broadway Theatre in New York, seen in 2007, where Steamboat Willie was first shown in 1928; the venue was known as "Universal's Colony Theatre" at the time
A 2024 illustration of Steamboat Willie entering the public domain
A segment of film cut from a Steamboat Willie reel by a 1930s cinema
Walter Elias Disney was an American animator, film producer, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film producer, he holds the record for most Academy Awards earned and nominations by an individual. He was presented with two Golden Globe Special Achievement Awards and an Emmy Award, among other honors. Several of his films are included in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress and have also been named as some of the greatest films ever by the American Film Institute.
Disney in 1946
Disney's childhood home
Walt Disney's business envelope featured a self-portrait, c. 1921.
Walt Disney introduces each of the seven dwarfs in a scene from the original 1937 Snow White theatrical trailer.