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Steamboat Willie
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Steamboat Willie (1928) is an animated cartoon featuring Mickey Mouse released on November 18, 1928. It was the first Mickey Mouse cartoon released (Mickey had appeared in two earlier, unreleased cartoons, Plane Crazy and The Gallopin' Gaucho). It was also the first Disney cartoon to feature synchronized 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.
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Encyclopedia
Steamboat Willie (1928) is an animated cartoon featuring Mickey Mouse released on November 18, 1928. It was the first Mickey Mouse cartoon released (Mickey had appeared in two earlier, unreleased cartoons, Plane Crazy and The Gallopin' Gaucho). It was also the first Disney cartoon to feature synchronized 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, including My Old Kentucky Home (1926), and Paul Terry's Dinner Time (released September 1, 1928).
The film has been the center of a variety of controversies regarding copyright. The copyright of the film has been repeatedly extended by acts of the United States Congress. However, recent evidence suggests that the film may be in the public domain due to technicalities related to the original copyright notice.
The film has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry, maintained by the Library of Congress. In 1994, it was voted #13 of The 50 Greatest Cartoons of all time by members of the animation field.
Plot
Mickey is serving aboard Steamboat Willie under Captain Peg-Leg 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 at Podunk Landing for cargo. One of the animals waiting to be picked up there is the as-of-then unnamed and non-anthropomorphic Clarabelle Cow, who is so thin that Mickey had to feed her a ton of hay in order to lift her into the ship due problems in tightening a belt around her. 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
A full 30 seconds of scenes of what might be considered cruelty to animals have been removed from several versions of Steamboat Willie, including Mickey pulling a cat's tail and then swinging the cat by the tail above his head, picking up a nursing sow and "playing" her babies like an accordion keyboard, and using a goose as bagpipes. On or before October, 2008 however, Disney seems to have moved toward honoring historical accuracy by showing the original, in its entirety, on the "Cartoon" channel offered in the rooms of Disney World resort hotels. Also, when Pete throws Mickey off the bridge, Mickey blows a big "raspberry" sound at Pete from behind, Pete wheels around, but Mickey waves his hands behind his rear to give the impression it was flatulence.
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.
Copyright
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 through 2023 unless there is another change of the law.
In the 1990s, former Disney researcher Gregory S. Brown determined that the film was likely in the public domain in the United States already due to errors in the original copyright formulation. In particular, the original film's copyright notice had two additional names between Disney and the copyright statement. Thus, under the rules of the Copyright Act of 1909, all copyright claims would be null. Arizona State University professor Dennis Karjala suggested that one of his law school students look into Brown's claim, as a class project. Lauren Vanpelt took up the challenge and produced a paper agreeing with Brown's claim. She posted her project on the Web in 1999. Disney later threatened to sue a Georgetown University law student who wrote a paper confirming Brown's claims.
DVD release
Steamboat Willie has been released uncut as part of the Walt Disney Treasures DVD collections twice:
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. In the Sega CD and PlayStation versions of the game, the Steamboat Willie version of Mickey returns in the penultimate level along with the other featured Mickeys to help defeat Pete.
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.
See also
External links
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