Steamboat Willie (1928)

Mickey Mouse, piloting a steamboat, delights his passenger, Minnie, by making musical instruments out of the menagerie on deck.

Director:

Ub Iwerks

Stars:

Walt Disney

1 win.

Cast

Uncredited cast:
Walt Disney	...	Mickey Mouse / Minnie Mouse / The Parrot (voice) (uncredited)

Storyline

Mickey is piloting a steamboat when Captain Pete comes to the bridge and throws him off. They stop to pick up cargo. Minnie just misses the boat and Mickey uses the crane to grab her. She drops her sheet music of "Turkey in the Straw" and a goat eats it. With help from Mickey, she cranks the goat's tail, and it plays the tune. Mickey accompanies on percussion and by torturing various animals, until Pete comes down and puts a stop to it, putting Mickey to work peeling potatoes. While this is the first sound Mickey Mouse, there's no dialog.

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Plot Keywords:

steamboat | mouse | goat | captain | sheet music | 

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Genres:

Animation | Family | Comedy | Musical | Short

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 August 1930 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

Barco de vapor Willie

Box Office

Budget:

$4,986 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walt Disney Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

8 min

Sound Mix:

Cinephone

Color:

Black and White

Did You Know?

Trivia

One scene that was planned but never animated was at the loading dock. After Mickey loaded the cow onto the boat, he was to have loaded the sow and her piglets as well.

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Goofs

When Mickey picks up the hammer with his tail, it jumps out into mid-air for a frame then goes back in.

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Connections

Featured in The Making of 'Pinocchio': No Strings Attached (2009)

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Soundtracks

"Turkey in the Straw"
(uncredited)
Traditional

User Reviews

Mickey's debut

This was the first Mickey Mouse cartoon released and the first cartoon with sound. In the cartoon, Mickey does not yet wear gloves. He does not yet speak either. All he does is whistle and play music. The song that he plays is "Turkey in the Straw" using several farm animals as musical instruments. For example, he plays the teeth of a cow like a xylophone and pulls nursing piglets like an accordion keyboard. I taped this cartoon off of the Disney Channel and I think it is wonderful. It was based on a silent film starring Buster Keaton entitled "Steamboat Bill, Jr."