Steamboat Willie

Mickey is a steamboat pilot captained by Pete, trying to impress Minnie and make a little music along the way.

The first Mickey cartoon released, and Disney's first animated film with a synchronized sound recording.

Some scenes of what might be considered gratuitous animal violence have been cut including Mickey playing a nursing sow's teats like an accordion keyboard, pulling a cats tail and swinging it around his head, and using a goose as a bagpipe. Some of these cuts have since been reinstated.

Added to the National Film Registry at the Library of Congress in 1998.

The illusion worked well enough to convince Disney to go forward. Since all the major players in the sound revolution were still in New York City, Walt had to make the cross-country trip to arrange for a sound recording system. On the way there, he stopped off in Kansas City and persuaded old friend Carl Stalling to quickly put together a score.

In 1928, history was made with the release of first talkie animation film Steamboat Willie featuring Mickey Mouse. Steamboat Willie was released in an America threatened by spectre of depression and this cute little character of Disney managed to cheer up the entire depression generation. The success of this film carved a permanent spot for animated characters on celluloid and made Disney a star in the history of the silver screen.

In 1973 I got my first subscription on the Swedish Donald Duck Magazine, Kalle Anka & C:o , and I've been a fanatic Disney-fan ever since. I'm a proud member of the Swedish Donaldist Society.

In somewhere around 1986 Winz told me that I couldn't use my usual nome de plume when I entered his BBS, since everyone should be anonymous and my - then - nickname, Scratch, was to familiar. I was on-line and tried, almost in pain, to come up with another alias. Suddenly my eyes strayed unto an old framed movie-poster for Steamboat Willie and there I had it! I could never imagine that this nickname would stay with me for the next ten years and that I would be known among most of my friends under that name...