Steamboat Willie (1928)
Mickey pilots a riverboat, loses it to a bullying captain, sneaks his sweetheart aboard, and turns a goat, a washboard and a row of piglets into a one-man band playing "Turkey in the Straw." The first cartoon built around synchronized sound, and the debut most people remember Mickey Mouse from.
For 95 years the most fiercely guarded eight minutes in Hollywood. As of 2024 it is finally yours to watch, share and remix — the early Mickey, at least.
Background
Steamboat Willie premiered at the Colony Theatre in New York on 18 November 1928 and is the cartoon that made Mickey Mouse a star. Ub Iwerks did the bulk of the animation, Walt Disney supplied Mickey’s voice, and the soundtrack was recorded with the Powers Cinephone system. Its central gag borrows from Buster Keaton’s Steamboat Bill, Jr., released earlier that year.
What to watch for
The cartoon’s copyright expired on 1 January 2024, so this specific 1928 film is in the public domain. That does not free every version of Mickey: later designs remain protected, and Disney’s trademarks still apply. Watch the animals being played like instruments, from the goat’s teeth to the cat’s tail, for the invention that impressed audiences: sound and image locked together, so that every gag lands on a beat. It is worth seeing how rough and mischievous the early Mickey is compared with the polished mascot he later became.
