Steamboat Willie Totally Explained

Everything about Steamboat Willie totally explained

Steamboat Willie (1928) is an animated cartoon featuring Mickey Mouse released on November 18, 1928. It was the third Mickey Mouse cartoon -- after Plane Crazy (May 1928) and The Gallopin' Gaucho (August 1928) -- to be made and the first with sound. Disney used Pat Powers' Cinephone system, created by Powers using Lee De Forest's Phonofilm system without giving De Forest any credit. Steamboat Willie premiered at New York's 79th Street Theatre, and played ahead of the independent film Gang War. Steamboat Willie was an immediate hit while Gang War is all but forgotten today.
   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 -- 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 feature film 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 made in DeForest Phonofilm 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; others claim that 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 at least 2023 unless there's another change of the law. However, it's already in the public domain in Australia, Canada and Russia, the last due to a non-retroactive enactment of the Berne Convention.
   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, suggesting he himself is the captain. Pete then arrives to take the helm and 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. The short ends with Mickey laughing at the bird struggling in the water.

Controversies

One of the striking things about Steamboat Willie is how violent and cruel to animals 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 (namely Oswald the Lucky Rabbit), 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. A full 30 seconds of scenes have been deleted from the original cartoon. A few of the cut scenes include Mickey pulling a cat's tail and then swinging the cat by the tail above his head, picking up a nursing sow and "playing" its babies like an accordion keyboard, and using a goose as bagpipes.
In June 1927, producer Pat Powers made an unsuccessful takeover bid for Lee DeForest's Phonofilm Corporation. In the aftermath, Powers hired a former DeForest technician, William Garrity, to produce a cloned version of the Phonofilm system, which Powers dubbed "Powers Cinephone". By now, DeForest was in too weak a financial position to mount a legal challenge against Powers for patent infringement. Powers convinced Disney to use Cinephone for a few sound cartoons such as Steamboat Willie, The Gallopin' Gaucho, and Plane Crazy (all 1928) before Powers and Disney had a falling-out over money -- and over Powers hiring away Disney animator Ub Iwerks -- in 1930.

DVD release

Steamboat Willie has been released uncut as part of the Walt Disney Treasures DVD collections twice:

Disc One of .
Disc Two of, as part of a tribute to animator Ub Iwerks. Plane Crazy, the first Mickey Mouse short, was also included on both DVD sets.

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). Save for Mickey Mouse himself and collectible items, the entire level remains black and white initially, though color is gradually added as the level progresses.
A Steamboat Willie-themed world named Timeless River is featured in the Disney/Square Enix video game Kingdom Hearts II, featuring appropriately "period" versions of the familiar characters. Mickey's design is slightly inaccurate in having white gloves and drawn with an increased 'roundness' more similar to the modern Mickey Mouse. The game's in-world dossier also claims Mickey first appeared in Steamboat Willie, despite a sub-level themed around the true original, Plane Crazy.

References in other media

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 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.

In the second series of the UK comedy series Alexei Sayle's Stuff, Steamboat Willie and the creation of Mickey Mouse are parodied as Steamboat Fatty featuring a crudely animated Alexei Sayle.

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 Mickey Mouse-esque character for control of the steering wheel to a steamboat.

The new logo for Walt Disney Feature Animation features Steamboat Willie.

The entire short can be seen playing in WDW hotels.

In a Mickey Mouse cartoon on House of Mouse, in order to prove his identity to inherit a million "bucks", Mickey goes through various forms, including his Steamboat Willie form. His rival, Mortimer Mouse, did the same thing when impersonating Mickey.

An episode of Pokémon has the parody title "Steamboat Willies".

In the spectacle Fantasmic! in Disney's Hollywood Studios and Disneyland, the Mark Twain Riverboat is driven by Mickey Mouse.Further Information

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