leplatypus I labeled it with our father because the first time we saw it with my brother was during his Super 8 screening session. Dad filmed and edited our vacations and have a few reels with real movies and this cartoon was featured in a red box called Mickey Jubilee! It's true that Disney was a innovator as before he did colored animation or long features, he was the 1st to put the sound! But as Steve Jobs for Apple, it's not a solitary work because without his team, and especially the cartoonist Ub Iwerks who drawe 700 sheets a day (!!!), our beloved Walt would have been nothing! It's funny to see that this 1st Mickey Mouse looks like the future Looney Tunes in so far as it's a bit disrespectful: Minnie is picked up by her panties and Mickey gives a concert using animals for music instruments! For sure, there are stupid, grumpy bad mouths that screams animal cruelty! I would tell those poor stunted people that this is the basement for fun! Joke is sometimes about being mean and that's the gap that intelligent people grasp to laugh! Maybe those empty heads would like to have a caption saying that no cartoon animals were injured during the making but this stupidity equals their brain! With all that puritans and limited minds, it's a marvel that Disney could release this and become an inspiration for all those who still have their kid soul!

jamesngregson Steamboat Willie is a really clever and funny film, filled to the brim with amazing animation. Walt Disney did wonders with the equipment he had back in the day. Really fun film to watch every now and then.

Hitchcoc At first I thought this would be one of those things where you say, "The film wasn't much, but we get to see Mickey Mouse for the first time in sound." To the contrary, this is a funny, endearing little film, with our hero turning objects into musical instruments. He is a bad employee, constantly ridden by Pete his boss on the boat. Sometimes these bosses get a bad rap because, after all, their business should be important. Nevertheless, Mickey and Minnie are really cute and steal the show. I have always been impressed with the way the characters move and gyrate to the music. While the drawing is simple, it works wonderfully.

Seamus2829 No doubt about it. This is the animated short that put Uncle Walt on the map of success. When Walt's older brother,Roy suggested that the next Mickey Mouse short should include sound, Walt jumped at the chance. The result:Steamboat Willie was a runaway hit for 1928. It was, after all, the first animated short subject with a synchronized sound track (mostly music & sound effects,as dialog was minimal). Not to sound like a wet blanket, but the short is far from perfect. Animation prior to 1935 was creaky & rather herky jerky (but once equipment made improvements,and better artistic techniques came about,the rest was smooth sailing),and the sound was primitive (Disney wanted to use the then well known RCA Sound System,or the Western Electric Noiseless sound system,but was refused by both firms,prompting Disney to use the Photophone system that P.A. Powers was experimenting with at the time). The plot (there's an actual plot line here?)concerns Mickey (as the aforementioned Willie)is the pilot of a steamboat, that is terrorized by Black Pete (Captain Pete to you),and decides to have a jam session on ship, using the various animals on board as musical instruments (ASPCA, take notice). If you don't think too much about the technical shortcomings, Steamboat Willie can be eight minutes of fun (and a piece of history).