What year was "Steamboat Willie" released?

A whistling mouse at the helm of a riverboat changed animation forever. "Steamboat Willie" was the animated short that birthed Mickey Mouse and transformed a struggling animator named Walt Disney into an entertainment pioneer. But in which year did this musical mouse first grab the wheel?

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The answer is: 1928

The mouse started with a whistle and ended with a roar. "Steamboat Willie" premiered on November 18, 1928 – exactly 96 years ago today. At the time, Walt Disney stood at a desperate financial point, having just lost his first successful character in a contract dispute (goodbye, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit). He needed a miracle.

The idea for Mickey came during a train ride from New York, where Walt had just learned he'd lost Oswald. As the story goes, Walt spent those long hours sketching mice that scurried along the train car walls. His wife Lillian vetoed his first name choice - Mortimer Mouse - and Mickey was born. But Mickey's first two cartoons, both silent, flopped. Walt needed something different.

He found inspiration in Buster Keaton's "Steamboat Bill Jr.," another film released in 1928. While other studios stumbled through the transition to sound, Walt orchestrated a symphony of slapstick. A cow became a marimba, a goat transformed into a phonograph, and a cat... well, PETA would have some thoughts about that scene today. The result was revolutionary - every squeak, whistle and musical beat matched perfectly with the action on screen.

Walt provided Mickey's voice himself until 1947, working late into the night getting every squeak just right. That obsessive attention to detail became his trademark – from pioneering animation techniques to practically taste-testing every restaurant in Disneyland before opening day.

The company he built has become an entertainment colossus, swallowing up everything from Star Wars to The Simpsons. They even got Congress to extend copyright terms in 1998 with the Copyright Term Extension Act (famously nicknamed the "Mickey Mouse Protection Act"). But since January 1st, 2024, that original Mickey has been living his best public domain life. Horror movies, art installations, political satire – he can do it all now. Just don't touch those ears. Disney still owns the trademark on those.