Countdown to Epic Mickey: "Steamboat Willie"

Welcome to day two of my Epic Mickey countdown. Today's cartoon? Perhaps the ultimate Mickey classic: "Steamboat Willie."

We talked about it a little yesterday, but this cartoon's premiere date of November 18, 1928, is recognized by Disney as Mickey's birthday, in spite of the fact that "Plane Crazy" premiered first. This is because "Steamboat Willie" was the first Mickey Mouse cartoon to find a distributor.

As pretty much everybody knows, this was the first cartoon to have a synchronized soundtrack. It was also the first cartoon to show Mickey using a pig's nipples as a musical instrument. Yeah, early cartoons were weird. For a time, Disney had a censored version of the cartoon that cut out much of the "animal cruelty," but as of late, it has embraced the original again, even showing it uncut on special TV channels at its resorts.

FUN FACT (if you're a geek like me): the "goat-swallows-sheet-music-and-is-used-as-a-phonograph" gag was first used in the Oswald cartoon "Rival Romeos." It works better here, what with it actually having sound this time.

And now, "Steamboat Willie."



Hope you enjoyed that Mickey Mouse Sound Cartoon. Come back tomorrow, when the world's most forgotten cartoon rabbit gets his day in the sun.

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Plane Crazy

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