If this was the second...
It says in the trivia that this is the second Mickey Mouse cartoon, so what was the first? And is Mickey actually called Mickey or is his name Willie? If it is Mickey, why is it called Steam Boat Willie.
shareThe first Mickey Mouse cartoon was Plane Crazy:
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0019278/
Plane Crazy was produced as a silent cartoon, and so was its immediate follow-up, The Gallopin' Gaucho, but they weren't released right away. First, the Disney crew made Steamboat Willie with its synchronized soundtrack, and that film was such a hit when it was previewed they went back and added sound to the two silent cartoons. Plane Crazy, the first made, was the second released, and The Gallopin' Gaucho, the second made, was the third released.
You're right...to a point. First off, "Plane Crazy" was RELEASED at a Hollywood theater on May 15, 1928 as a SILENT film. "The Gallopin' Gaucho" was released on either August 2 or 7, 1928 ALSO as a SILENT film. They both were treated as "just another filler in the picture program to make your ten cents worth it". Disney could not afford to hold them back from release because of his financial status. Let's remember now, though up until around the release of "Gaucho", Disney was finishing out his contract at Universal with the Oswald shorts. But every cent that went into "PC" and "Gaucho" came from Walt's pocket as well as Roy's scrapperings. This was Walt's biggest drop since he came off the Laugh-O-Grams flop, so being that the shorts were complete, he might as well have released them. He needed the money that the shorts made (the very little of it) to fund for "Willie", because there was only so much that Roy could squeeze out of people. Not only that, they were also paying to use the (bootleg) Cinephone system. Now tell me something, how do you expect to pay for something so expensive as sound equipment (in those days) by holding other films back from release that you could make even the SLIGHTEST bit of money on to pay up for that and any possible losses you might accumulate?
Now only after "Willie" was a success did Walt even think of adding sound to "PC" and "Gaucho". He added a soundtrack to "Gaucho" a few weeks after the release of "Willie", and release the sound "Gaucho" on December 30, 1928. A day before "Gaucho"'s re-release, "PC" was also dubbed for sound. It wasn't released until March 19, 1929, which was after a previous Mickey called "The Barn Dance" (also released in 1928, it was the 4th Mickey produced)!
Also, in answering the original poster's question; "Steamboat Willie" was originally meant to be a parody of Buster Keaton's comedy hit of the same year, "Steamboat Bill Jr.", but in "Willie", there's nothing parodied except the title and the song "Steamboat Bill" which is whistled by Mickey in the opening sequence. If any characters between the films are being compared, Mickey is imitating Buster Keaton's role, and Pete (though referred to as "the captain in the "Willie" storyboards) is taking on Ernest Torrance's role. Throw in anything else you want, but there is nothing left between them but the title.
I hope you don't take this reply as an attack on your intelligence, I'm merely another amateur film historian with an eye for trivia and rare films. I do complement you, however for stating that "PC" was the first Mickey ever produced. Not everyone who hears that chooses to believe it.
No offense taken, you've provided interesting information and I always appreciate hearing from well-informed people.
In 1978, on the 50th anniversary of the release of Steamboat Willie, I went to see a presentation given by Ward Kimball, one of Disney's original Nine Old Men. (Which was great fun, by the way!) Mr. Kimball showed several early cartoons and gave an outline of the events surrounding Mickey's creation. He wasn't actually on staff himself yet in the very early days, so he was telling the accepted version of events, and what I wrote in my earlier posting was what I recalled of his talk.
One thing I've learned in reading interviews or seeing TV documentaries featuring aging film pioneers (like Hal Roach, Raoul Walsh, Howard Hawks, etc.): they're almost always charming old guys, but where film history goes, take what they say with a grain of salt!
One other thing I recall from that evening: when he showed Plane Crazy (which Mr. Kimball emphasized was the first MM cartoon), the couple in the row in front of me started bickering about whether the mouse in the cartoon was "really" Mickey, that is, whether he's real Mickey the world came to know. And, amusingly, during the bit where Mickey starts trying to smooch with Minnie while they're airborne, the guy turned to his girlfriend and insisted: "That is not Mickey Mouse!"
Just thought I'd say something: Oh, how I wish I would've seen Ward Kimball or any of the nine old men speak in public. Ollie Johnston's still alive, but I'd be suprised if he spoke in public. Some people are just lucky.
Also, I also find that the old-timers always take they say with a grain of salt, and sometimes I find myself confused about What's Really True. But, I love hearing the older generation talk about the films they were apart of.
Anyway, very intersting story about Plane Crazy.
T.H.
"The romance of picture making ends here..." Douglas Fairbanks Sr. in 1929...