Steamboat Willie

Steamboat Willie (1928) is an animated cartoon featuring Mickey Mouse released on November 18, 1928). Contrary to claims by some sources, it wasn't the first cartoon produced to feature Mickey (Mickey starring in Plane Crazy was released, but not produced before Steamboat Willie and The Gallopin' Gaucho, although the latter was not distributed until after Steamboat Willie), but it was the one that made Mickey Mouse famous. Steamboat Willie was also the first sound cartoon to attract widespread notice and popularity.

The cartoon was written and directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks; the title is a parody of the Buster Keaton film Steamboat Bill Jr. Music for Steamboat Willie was put together by Wilfred Jackson, one of Disney's animators (and not, as sometimes reported, by Carl Stalling), and comprises popular melodies including "Steamboat Bill" and "Turkey in the Straw".

It is noted in the history books as the first animated short with a completely post-produced soundtrack of music, dialogue, and sound effects, although other cartoons with synchronized soundtracks had been exhibited before, notably by Max Fleischer's series Song Car-Tunes starting in May 1924 -- and including My Old Kentucky Home (1926) -- and Paul Terry's Dinner Time (released 1 September 1928).

The film has been the center of some attention regarding the 1998 Copyright Term Extension Act passed in the United States. Steamboat Willie has been close to entering the public domain in the United States several times. Each time, copyright protection in the United States has been extended. Many people have claimed that these extensions were a response by the U.S. Congress to extensive lobbying by Disney. However, the copyright extensions that Congress has passed in recent decades have followed extensions in international copyright conventions to which the United States is a signatory. (See U.S. copyright law, Universal Copyright Convention, and Berne Convention.) The U.S. copyright on Steamboat Willie will be in effect until 2023 unless there is another change of the law. However, it is already in the public domain in Australia^{[citation needed]}, Canada^{[citation needed]} and Russia^{[citation needed]}, the last due to a non-retroactive enactment of the Berne Convention^{[citation needed]}.

The film has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. In 1994 it was voted #13 of the 50 Greatest Cartoons of all time by members of the animation field.

Synopsis

Mickey is serving aboard Steamboat Willie under Captain Pete (a longtime Disney villain). He is first seen piloting the steamboat while whistling. Pete arrives to take the helm and angrily throws him off the bridge. They soon have to stop for cargo. Almost as soon as they set off again, the as-of-then unnamed Minnie arrives, too late to board. Mickey manages to pick her up from the river shore. Minnie accidentally drops her sheet music for the popular folk song "Turkey in the Straw," which is eaten by a goat. Mickey and Minnie use its tail to turn it into a phonograph, which plays the tune. Mickey uses various other animals as musical instruments, disturbing Captain Pete, who puts him back to work. Mickey is reduced to peeling potatoes for the rest of the trip. A parrot attempts to make fun of him, but Mickey strikes him with a potato, knocking him into the river.

One of the striking things about Steamboat Willie is how violent and misanthropic Mickey is originally, in contrast to his later benevolence, kindness, and family-friendly appeal. Mickey's character closely followed the violent and sneaky character traits of other contemporary cartoons, and was only softened later when Disney moved towards a family-friendly animation empire. Because of the jarring contrast in characterization, the short is rarely shown in its entirety today when evoked by Disney for nostalgic or historical purposes.

Video games

Steamboat Willie was the basis for, and title of, the first level in, the game Mickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mouse (for Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, Sega CD and Sony PlayStation (as Mickey's Wild Adventure).

A Steamboat Willie-themed world named Timeless River is featured in the Disney/Square Enix video game Kingdom Hearts II. This "world" is actually Disney Castle in the past, hosting the yet to be safeguarded Cornerstone of Light that prevents the darkness from consuming their world. However, Maleficent decided to alter the past when Pete somehow summoned a pathway leading to Timeless River. To counter it, Merlin created another pathway for Sora and company to use.

In this grayscale world, Sora's character model has been simplified (making him look more like a 1960s' Osamu Tezuka-style character), Goofy and Donald Duck have the same designs when they first appeared in Disney Cartoons. The trio encountered the Pete of that time, attacking him on the assumption that he was the Pete they knew. Later Sora is confused and mentions these versions of Pete and Mickey seem very different than the one he knows (an intentional fourth wall reference to their early characterizations and designs).

Appropriately, this version of Mickey does not speak. However, his design is slightly inaccurate in having white gloves and drawn with an increased 'roundness' more similar to the modern Mickey Mouse.

Cameos

• Toward the end of Disney's 1996 animated film, Aladdin and the King of Thieves, Genie comes out of the Giant Turtle disguised as 'Steamboat Willie.' The disguise is all but perfect, except for Genie's pointed shoes, beard, earrings, and lack of rounded ears.
• In an episode of The Simpsons, the violent cartoon pair, Itchy & Scratchy, are said to have risen to fame because of their famous 1928 film, Steamboat Itchy.
• In one Goofy cartoon on Mickey Mouse Works, the entire opening scene, even the title card, is spoofed with Goofy (resembling Dippy Dawg, his earliest form) substituting for Mickey. His steamboat rear-ends another in front of it. This boat has the real Steamboat Willie Mickey on it, who squeaks at Goofy's boat madly, while it inexplicably sinks into the water.
• In the 1995 cartoon Runaway Brain, Mickey goes through pictures of himself, one of which being from Steamboat Willie, commenting "Aw, that's old..."
• In the first episode of House of Mouse, Donald Duck attempts to imitate the opening scene of Steamboat Willie trying to please the crowd.
• In the 1998 film Saving Private Ryan, a German POW speaking in English to an American soldier says, "American...I like American. Steamboat Willie. *toot-toot*." The character is referred to in the movie credits as Steamboat Willie.
• The South Park episode "The New Terrance and Phillip Movie Trailer" contains scenes from a fictional TV show, Russell Crowe Fightin' Around the World, in which Russell Crowe travels the world on a tugboat to fight people of various ethnicities. He is shown on the bridge of his boat whistling and spinning the steering wheel as a parody of Steamboat Willie.
• Alexei Sayle had a comedy show in the late '80s or early '90s and is in one scene depicted as a caricatured Mickey Mouse, walking, with the title "Steamboat Fatty".
• In the pilot episode for the cartoon Duckman, Duckman reviews a collection of home movies, the first of which involves young Duckman bullying a very Micky Mouse-esque character for control of the steering wheel to a steamboat.

See also

• Mickey Mouse: Addition of sound to the series
• The Golden Age of American animation
• Song Car-Tunes
• Dinner Time

Wikipedia information about Steamboat Willie This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Steamboat Willie". It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer). Help contribute to Americola and edit this article.