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112-411: Steamboat Willie is a 1928 American animated short film directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks . It was produced in black and white by Walt Disney Animation Studios and was released by Pat Powers , under the name of Celebrity Productions . The cartoon is considered the public debut of Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse , although both appeared months earlier in a test screening of Plane Crazy and

224-536: A The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse special and series finale entitled Steamboat Silly featuring multiple copies of Mickey as he appears in this short. The first cinematic adaption of Steamboat Willie since its entry to public domain was the live-action art film Social Imagineering by multidisciplinary artist Sweætshops released at midnight on January 1, 2024, which was filmed on the PS Waverley paddle steamer. Steamboat Willie –themed levels are featured in

336-500: A TV special , a few films from the studio have added theatrical shorts as well. Warner Bros. often includes old shorts from its considerable library, connected only thematically, on the DVD releases of classic WB movies. From 2010–2012, Warner Bros. also released new Looney Tunes shorts before family films. Shorts International and Magnolia Pictures organize an annual release of Academy Award -nominated short films in theatres across

448-486: A distributor . According to Roy O. Disney , Walt Disney was inspired to create a sound cartoon after watching The Jazz Singer (1927). Disney believed that adding sound to a cartoon would greatly increase its appeal. The character of Pete predates Steamboat Willie by multiple years, having appeared as the villain to both Oswald and Disney's first ever cartoon hero, Julius the Cat (an unlicensed derivative character of Felix

560-480: A low budget or no budget at all. They are usually funded by one or more film grants, nonprofit organizations , sponsors , or personal funds. Short films are generally used for industry experience and as a platform to showcase talent to secure funding for future projects from private investors, a production company , or film studios . They can also be released with feature films, and can also be included as bonus features on some home video releases. All films in

672-641: A Nation . By the 1920s, a ticket purchased a varied program including a feature and several supporting works from categories such as second feature , short comedy, 4–10 minute cartoon, travelogue , and newsreel. Short comedies were especially common, and typically came in a serial or series (such as the Our Gang movies, or the many outings of Charlie Chaplin 's Little Tramp character). Animated cartoons came principally as short subjects. Virtually all major film production companies had units assigned to develop and produce shorts, and many companies, especially in

784-425: A big success for Fleischer. That same year, Helen Kane filed a lawsuit against Fleischer, Fleischer Studios, and Paramount claiming that the cartoons were a deliberate caricature of her, created unfair competition, and had ruined her career. The suit went to trial in 1934. Judge Edward J. McGoldrick ruled, "The plaintiff has failed to sustain either cause of action by proof of sufficient probative force." In his opinion,

896-404: A budget of $ 4,986.69, including the prints for movie theaters. There was initially some doubt among the animators that a sound cartoon would appear believable enough, so before a soundtrack was produced, Disney arranged for a screening of the film to a test audience with live sound to accompany it. This screening took place on July 29, with Steamboat Willie only partly finished. The audience sat in

1008-583: A cameo caricature in the early Talkartoon , Dizzy Dishes (1930). Fashioned after popular singer Helen Kane , she originated as a hybrid poodle/canine figure and was such a sensation in the New York preview that Paramount encouraged Fleischer to develop her into a continuing character. While she originated under animator Myron "Grim" Natwick , she was transformed into a human female under Seymour Kneitel and Berny Wolf and became Fleischer's most famous character. The "Betty Boop" series began in 1932 and became

1120-475: A combined projector and easel for tracing images from a live-action film. This device, known as the Rotoscope , enabled Fleischer to produce the first realistic animation since the initial works of Winsor McCay . Although his patent was granted in 1917, Max and his brothers Joe and Dave Fleischer made their first series of tests between 1914 and 1916. The Pathé Film exchange offered Max his first opportunity as

1232-471: A commercial category. The year 1938 proved to be a turning point in the history of film comedies. Hal Roach , for example, had discontinued all short-subject production except Our Gang , which he finally sold to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1938. The Vitaphone studio, owned by Warner Bros. , discontinued its own line of two-reel comedies in 1938; Educational Pictures did as much that same year, owing to its president Earle W. Hammons unsuccessfully entering

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1344-403: A composited image. This was an improvement over the method used by Bray where a series of 8" x 10" stills were made from motion picture film and used as backgrounds behind animation cels. The Rotograph technique went into more general use as "aerial image photography" and was a staple in animation and optical effects companies for making titles and various forms of matte composites. In addition to

1456-534: A demonstration film illustrating the Western Electric Variable Density sound recording and reproduction method. Despite the conflicts with Weiss, Fleischer managed to negotiate a new contract with Paramount to produce a revised version of the "Song Car-tunes", produced with sound and renamed Screen Songs , beginning with The Sidewalks of New York . At this early stage in the sound era, Fleischer produced many technically advanced films that were

1568-451: A falling-out over money, and Powers hired away Disney's lead animator, Ub Iwerks . Mickey Mouse is piloting a side-wheeler paddle steamer , cheerfully whistling " Steamboat Bill " and sounding the boat's three whistles. Soon, the captain, Pete , appears and orders Mickey off of the bridge . Annoyed, Mickey blows a raspberry at Pete who afterwards attempts to kick him, but Mickey rushes away in time and Pete accidentally kicks himself in

1680-510: A feature just when he was preparing to move the studio from New York City to Miami, Florida . Once in Miami relations between Max and Dave began deteriorating, beginning with the pressures to deliver their first feature, complicated further by Dave's adulterous affair with his secretary, Mae Schwartz. Jonathan Swift's classic novel Gulliver's Travels was a favorite of Max's and was pressed into production. Fleischer and Paramount originally budgeted

1792-479: A filmed bouncing ball to keep the tempo. Steamboat Willie premiered at Universal's Colony Theater in New York City on November 18, 1928. The film was distributed by Celebrity Productions, and its initial run lasted two weeks. Disney was paid $ 500 a week (~$ 9,000 in 2024). In its first run, the picture was presented five times a day. It played ahead of the independent feature film Gang War . Steamboat Willie

1904-607: A metaphoric account of the building and loss of his studio, casting himself as Noah. Following the war, he supervised the production of the animated adaptation of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1948), sponsored by Montgomery Ward . Fleischer left Handy in 1953 and returned as production manager for the Bray Studios in New York, where he developed an educational television pilot about unusual birds and animals titled, Imagine That! In 1954, Max's son, Richard Fleischer ,

2016-598: A paper confirming Brown's claims, alleging that publishing the paper could be slander of title , but Disney chose not to sue after its publication. Beginning in 2022, several Republican lawmakers vowed to oppose any future attempt to extend the copyright term due to Disney's opposition of the Florida Parental Rights in Education Act . Legal experts noted that later versions of Mickey Mouse created after Steamboat Willie will remain copyrighted, and Disney's use of

2128-731: A poor Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn . He continued his education at evening high school. He received commercial art training at Cooper Union and formal art instruction at the Art Students League of New York , studying under George Bridgman . He also attended the Mechanics and Tradesman's School in midtown Manhattan . Fleischer began his career at The Brooklyn Daily Eagle . Beginning as an errand boy, he advanced to photographer, photoengraver, and eventually, staff cartoonist. At first, he drew single-panel editorial cartoons, but then graduated to

2240-442: A producer due in part to the fact that Dave had been working there as a film cutter since 1914. Max chose a political satire of a hunting trip by Theodore Roosevelt . After several months of labor, the film was rejected, and Max was making the rounds again when he was reunited with John R. Bray at Paramount Pictures . Bray had a distribution contract with Paramount at the time and hired Max as production supervisor for his studio. With

2352-410: A promotional poster created in 1928 features Mickey Mouse wearing red shorts and yellow gloves, meaning those attributes might also now be in the public domain and available for anyone to use. However, while the poster was created in 1928, it is unclear whether it was published that same year; thus, its copyright status is unknown, and Mickey Mouse's red shorts and yellow gloves are not definitively in

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2464-440: A regular series in 1946 and lasted until 1956. By and large, however, the movies' one-reel subject of choice was the animated cartoon, produced by Walt Disney , Warner Bros. , MGM, Paramount , Walter Lantz , Columbia, and Terrytoons . One of the movies' oldest short-subject formats was the adventure serial , first established in 1912. A serial generally ran for 12 to 15 chapters, 15 to 20 minutes each. Every episode ended with

2576-399: A response by Congress to extensive lobbying by The Walt Disney Company. In the 1990s, former Disney researcher Gregory S. Brown determined that the film was likely in the U.S. public domain already due to errors in the original copyright formulation. In particular, the original film's copyright notice had two additional names between Disney and the copyright statement. Thus, under the rules of

2688-433: A room adjoining Walt Disney's office. His brother Roy placed the movie projector outdoors and the film was projected through a window so that the sound of the projector would not interfere with the live sound. Ub Iwerks set up a bedsheet behind the movie screen behind which he placed a microphone connected to speakers where the audience would sit. The live sound was produced from behind the bedsheet. Wilfred Jackson played

2800-449: A short along with each of its feature films during its initial theatrical run since 1995 (producing shorts permanently since 2001). Since Disney acquired Pixar in 2006, Disney has also produced animated shorts since 2007 with the Goofy short How to Hook Up Your Home Theater and produced a series of live-action ones featuring The Muppets for viewing on YouTube as viral videos to promote

2912-582: A short parody of the opening scene of Steamboat Willie , entitled Steamboat Itchy . In the 1998 film Saving Private Ryan , set in 1944, a German prisoner of war, nicknamed "Steamboat Willie", tries to win the sympathy of his American captors by talking about Mickey Mouse. In the 2008 film of the TV series Futurama titled The Beast with a Billion Backs , the opening is a parody of Steamboat Willie . As part of their 100-year anniversary, in July 2023, Disney released

3024-405: A shortened cover of the cartoon's music was arranged to be featured in the land's background ambiance. In 2007, a Steamboat Willie clip of Mickey whistling started being used for Walt Disney Animation Studios' production logo . In 2019, Lego released an official Steamboat Willie set to commemorate the 90th anniversary of Mickey Mouse. The whistle in the film has been used to make sound in

3136-636: A sideshow clown at Coney Island. It was one of the later tests made from footage of Dave as a clown that interested Bray. Fleischer's initial series was first produced at the Bray Studios and released as a monthly installment in the Bray-Goldwyn Pictograph Screen Magazine from 1919 to 1921. In addition to producing Out of the Inkwell , Max's position at Bray was primarily production manager, and supervisor of several educational and technical films such as The Electric Bell , All Aboard for

3248-595: A studio due to the demand for military training films, Fleischer was brought in as head of the animation department for the industrial film company, The Jam Handy Organization in Detroit, Michigan. While there he supervised the technical and cartoon animation departments, producing training films for the Army and Navy. Fleischer was also involved with top-secret research and development for the war effort including an aircraft bomber sighting system. In 1944, he published Noah's Shoes ,

3360-533: A wide market if the interchangeability angle does not interfere. Recommended unreservedly for all wired houses. The Film Daily (November 25, 1928) said: This is what Steamboat Willie has: First, a clever and amusing treatment; secondly, music and sound effects added via the Cinephone method. The result is a real tidbit of diversion. The maximum has been gotten from the sound effects. Worthy of bookings in any house wired to reproduce sound-on-film. Incidentally, this

3472-800: A year, the Fleischer brothers started experiencing mismanagement under Weiss and left the company in late 1928. Inkwell Films, Inc. filed for bankruptcy in January 1929, and Fleischer formed Fleischer Studios, Inc. in March 1929. Fleischer first set up operations at Carpenter-Goldman Laboratories in Queens with a small staff (see Fleischer Studios ). After eight months, his new company was solvent enough to move back to its former location at 1600 Broadway, where it remained until 1938. At Carpenter-Goldman, Fleischer began producing industrial films including Finding His Voice (1929),

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3584-540: Is the first Cinephone-recorded subject to get a public exhibition and at the Colony [Theater], New York, is being shown over Western Electric equipment. In 1994, members of the animation field voted Steamboat Willie 13th in the book The 50 Greatest Cartoons , which listed the greatest cartoons of all time. In 1998, the short was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by

3696-544: The Superman series has been grossly overstated for decades on the basis of Dave Fleischer's UCLA 1968 Oral History interview by Joe Adamson. The actual figure stated in Fleischer's 1941 contract was in the $ 30,000 range, twice the cost of a Popeye cartoon. Superman was a "serious" type of cartoon that was not being made by rival studios which features anthropomorphic comic animal characters. The science fiction/fantasy elements of Superman appealed to Max's interests, finally leading

3808-401: The 2011 movie of the same name . In 2009 the horror short film, No Through Road, that would go viral was released, creating analog horror. The short film would spark 3 sequels, creating No Through Road (web series) DreamWorks Animation often produces a short sequel to include in the special edition video releases of major features, and are typical of a sufficient length to be broadcast as

3920-528: The Copyright Act of 1909 , all copyright claims would be null. Arizona State University professor Dennis Karjala suggested that one of his law school students look into Brown's claim as a class project. Lauren Vanpelt took up the challenge and produced a paper agreeing with Brown's claim. She posted her project on the Internet in 1999. Disney later threatened to sue a Georgetown University law student who wrote

4032-522: The Library of Congress as being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". The Australian Perth Mint released a 1 kg gold coin in honor of Steamboat Willie in 2015. Prior to its entrance into the public domain, the film had been the center of a variety of controversies regarding copyright. Its copyright was extended by multiple acts of the United States Congress . Since

4144-512: The Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway attraction, which opened at Disneyland in January 2023. In the 1950s, Disney removed a scene in which Mickey tugs on the tails of the baby pigs, and then picks up the mother and kicks them off her teats, and plays her like an accordion, since television distributors deemed it inappropriate. A variant of this censored version is featured on the 1998 VHS/Laserdisc compilation special The Spirit of Mickey , where

4256-485: The Motion Picture Country House in 1967. Fleischer died from arterial sclerosis of the brain on September 11, 1972, two months after his 89th birthday. In the announcement of his death, Time Magazine labeled him the "dean of animated cartoons". His death preceded the reclaiming of his star character, Betty Boop, and a national retrospective. The anthology film The Betty Boop Scandals of 1974 started

4368-517: The Song Car-Tunes failed to keep the sound fully synchronized, while Steamboat Willie was produced using a click track to keep his musicians on the beat. As little as one month before Steamboat Willie was released, Paul Terry released Dinner Time , which also used a soundtrack, but Dinner Time was not a financial success. In June 1927, producer Pat Powers made an unsuccessful takeover bid for Lee de Forest 's Phonofilm Corporation . In

4480-479: The Steamboat Willie version as a logo in its films since 2007 may allow them to claim protection for the 1928 version under trademark law, as active trademarks can be renewed in perpetuity (so long as the owner can prove using it). In April 2023, John Oliver announced his intention to use the Steamboat Willie version of Mickey Mouse as the new mascot for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver as soon as

4592-481: The silent and very early sound era, produced mostly or only short subjects. In the 1930s, the distribution system changed in many countries, owing to the Great Depression . Instead of the cinema owner assembling a program of their own choice, the studios sold a package centered on a main and supporting feature, a cartoon and little else. With the rise of the double feature , two- reel shorts went into decline as

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4704-708: The "Stereoptical Process", a precursor to Disney's Multiplane animation. This technique used 3-D model sets replacing flat pan backgrounds, with the animation cels photographed in front. This technique was used to the greatest degree in the two-reel Popeye Features Popeye the Sailor Meets Sinbad the Sailor (1936) and Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves (1937). These double-length cartoons demonstrated Fleischer's interest in animated feature films. While Fleischer petitioned for this for three years, it

4816-456: The "baby" technique of singing did not originate with Kane. Fleischer's greatest business decision came with his licensing of the comic strip character Popeye the Sailor , who was introduced to audiences in the Betty Boop cartoon short, Popeye the Sailor (1933). Popeye became one of the most successful screen adaptations of a comic strip in cinema history. Much of this success was due to

4928-465: The 1920s into the 1970s when confined to two 35 mm reels or less, and featurettes for a film of three or four reels. " Short " was an abbreviation for either term. The increasingly rare industry term "short subject" carries more of an assumption that the film is shown as part of a presentation along with a feature film. Short films are often screened at local, national, or international film festivals and made by independent filmmakers with either

5040-507: The 1960s before exiting the short film business in 1969 (by which point the shorts had been in televised reruns for years ). MGM continued Tom and Jerry (first with a series of poorly-received Eastern European shorts by Gene Deitch , then a better-received run by Warner Bros. alumnus Chuck Jones ) until 1967, and Woody Woodpecker lasted to 1972; the creative team behind MGM's 1940s and 1950s cartoons formed Hanna-Barbera Productions in 1957, mainly focusing on television. The Pink Panther

5152-553: The 36 Song Car-Tunes 12 used the De Forest Phonofilm sound-on-film process, the first of which was My Old Kentucky Home in 1926. This preceded Walt Disney 's Steamboat Willie (1928), which has been erroneously cited for decades as the first cartoon to synchronize sound with animation. The Song Car-Tunes series lasted until early 1927 and was interrupted by the bankruptcy of the Red Seal company—just five months before

5264-638: The Cat ) starting with Alice Solves the Puzzle (1925), though he was originally depicted as a bear. Despite being recognized for it, Steamboat Willie was not the first cartoon with synchronized sound. Starting in May 1924 and continuing through September 1926, Dave and Max Fleischer's Inkwell Studios produced 19 sound cartoons, part of the Song Car-Tunes series, using the Phonofilm sound-on-film process. However,

5376-402: The Colony [Theater] they were stumbling over each other. It's a peach of a synchronization job all the way, bright, snappy, and fit the situation perfectly. Cartoonist, Walter Disney. With most of the animated cartoons qualifying as a pain in the neck, it's a signal tribute to this particular one. If the same combination of talent can turn out a series as good as Steamboat Willie they should find

5488-542: The East Coast, extending as far west as Cleveland, Ohio . During this period, Fleischer invented the " Follow the Bouncing Ball " technique in his Ko-Ko Song Car-Tunes series of animated sing-along shorts. In these films, the lyrics of a song appear on screen and theater patrons are encouraged to sing along with the characters. An animated ball bounces across the top of the lyrics to indicate when words should be sung. Of

5600-600: The Fleischer Renaissance with new 35mm prints of a selection of the best Fleischer cartoons made between 1928 and 1934. This was followed by The Popeye Follies . These special theatrical programs generated interest in Max Fleischer as the alternative to Walt Disney, spawning a new wave of film research devoted to an expanded interest in animation beyond trivial entertainment. Notes Citations Also, he appears in Walt

5712-594: The Inkwell Films, Inc. and partnered with his former animator Hal Seeger , to produce 100 color Out of the Inkwell (1960–1961) cartoons for television. Actor Larry Storch performed the voices for Koko the Clown and supporting characters Kokonut and Mean Moe. While Max appeared in the un-aired pilot, he became too ill to appear in the series, and, in poor health, he spent the rest of his life attempting to regain ownership of Betty Boop . Fleischer and wife Essie moved to

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5824-459: The Moon , and Hello, Mars . And it was as production manager that Fleischer hired his first animator, Roland Crandall , who remained with him throughout the active years of Fleischer's studio. Out of the Inkwell featured the novelty of combining live action and animation and served as semi-documentaries with the appearance of Max Fleischer as the artist who dipped his pen into the ink bottle to produce

5936-532: The US, UK, Canada and Mexico throughout February and March. Shorts are occasionally broadcast as filler when a feature film or other work does not fit the standard broadcast schedule. ShortsTV was the first television channel dedicated to short films. However, short films generally rely on film festival exhibition to reach an audience. Such movies can also be distributed via the Internet . Certain websites which encourage

6048-480: The aftermath, Powers hired a former DeForest technician, William Garrity, to produce a cloned version of the Phonofilm system, which Powers dubbed "Powers Cinephone". By then, de Forest was in too weak a financial position to mount a legal challenge against Powers for patent infringement. Powers convinced Disney to use Cinephone for Steamboat Willie ; their business relationship lasted until 1930 when Powers and Disney had

6160-457: The animals like musical instruments via pulling the tail of a cat, stretching a goose's throat, tugging on the tails of pigs , and using a cow's teeth and tongue to play the song as a xylophone . Captain Pete is unamused by the musical act and puts Mickey to work peeling potatoes as a punishment. Out of spite, Mickey uses a knife to peel the potatoes wastefully, discarding most of the potato along with

6272-413: The audience was extremely positive, and it gave Walt Disney the confidence to move forward and complete the film. He said later in recalling this first viewing: The effect on our little audience was nothing less than electric. They responded almost instinctively to this union of sound and motion. I thought they were kidding me. So they put me in the audience and ran the action again. It was terrible, but it

6384-452: The beginning of cinema were very short , sometimes running only a minute or less. It was not until the 1910s when films started to get longer than about ten minutes. The first set of films were presented in 1894 and it was through Thomas Edison 's device called a kinetoscope . It was made for individual viewing only. Comedy short films were produced in large numbers compared to lengthy features such as D. W. Griffith 's 1915 The Birth of

6496-460: The boat before it leaves. Mickey does not see her in time, but she runs after the boat along the shore calling out Mickey's name. Mickey hears Minnie's calls and he takes her on board by hooking the cargo crane to her bloomers . Landing on deck, Minnie accidentally drops a ukulele and sheet music for the song " Turkey in the Straw ", which are eaten by a goat. After a brief tug of war with the goat over

6608-408: The cartoon entered the public domain in 2024, and debuted the "brand new character". Not affecting trademark status, Steamboat Willie entered the US public domain on January 1, 2024, more than 95 years after its release. Although it was believed that only the black-and-white depiction of Mickey Mouse—which lacks the red shorts and gloves—would enter the public domain, it has been pointed out that

6720-570: The clown figure on his drawing board. While the technique of combining animation with live action was already established by others at the Bray Studio, it was Fleischer's clever use of it combined with Fleischer's realistic animation that made his series unique. In 1921, Max and Dave established Out of the Inkwell Films, Incorporated, and continued production of Out of the Inkwell through various states-rights distributors. "The Clown" had no name until 1924, when Dick Huemer came aboard after animating on

6832-550: The copyright was filed in 1928, three days after its initial release, it was extended for over half a century. Steamboat Willie could have entered the public domain in four different years: first in 1955, at which point it was renewed to 1986, then extended to 2003 by the Copyright Act of 1976 , and finally to 2023 by the Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 (also known pejoratively as the " Mickey Mouse Protection Act "). It has been claimed that these extensions were

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6944-518: The early Mutt and Jeff cartoons. He set the style for the series, redesigning "The Clown", and named him "Ko-Ko". Huemer created Ko-Ko's canine companion, known as Fitz, and moved the Fleischers away from their dependency on the Rotoscope for fluid animation, leaving it for special uses and reference points where compositing was involved. Because Max valued Huemer's work, he instructed Huemer to make just

7056-406: The feature-film field. With these major comedy producers out of the running, Columbia Pictures actually expanded its own operations and launched a second two-reel-comedy unit in 1938. Columbia and RKO Radio Pictures kept making two-reel comedies into the 1950s. Theater managers found it easier and more convenient to fit shorter, one-reel (10-minute) subjects into their double-feature programs. In

7168-469: The film Gulliver's Travels at $ 500,000—the same miscalculation made by Disney with Snow White . The final cost for Gulliver's Travels was $ 1.5 million. It played limited engagements with only 24 prints in 36 theaters during the 1939 Christmas season, but grossed more than $ 3 million during the Christmas week, giving Paramount a profit of $ 1.5 million before going into foreign release. But Fleischer Studios

7280-508: The film is spoken by the ship's parrot. When Mickey falls into a bucket of soapy water, the bird says, "Hope you don't feel hurt, big boy! Ha ha ha ha ha!". After Mickey throws the bucket onto the parrot's head, it cries "Help! Help! Man overboard!". It repeats the phase at the end of the short, after Mickey throws a potato onto the parrot and it falls into the water. The production of Steamboat Willie took place between July and September 1928, which according to Roy O. Disney's personal notes had

7392-839: The film was selected by the United States Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry . The cartoon entered the public domain in the United States on January 1, 2024, as the work was published in 1928. Mickey Mouse was created as a replacement for Oswald the Lucky Rabbit , an earlier cartoon character that was originated by the Disney studio but owned at the time by Universal Pictures . The first two Mickey Mouse films produced, silent versions of Plane Crazy and The Gallopin' Gaucho , had failed to gain

7504-439: The film, although there is little intelligible dialogue. The film has received wide critical acclaim, not only for introducing one of the world's most popular cartoon characters but also for its technical innovation. The short is often considered to be one of the most influential cartoons ever made. Animators voted Steamboat Willie as the 13th-greatest cartoon of all time in the 1994 book The 50 Greatest Cartoons , and in 1998,

7616-483: The final soundtrack was performed by the Green Brothers Novelty Band and was conducted by Carl Edouarde . Joe and Lew Green from the band also assisted in timing the music to the film. The first attempt to synchronize the recording with the film, done on September 15, 1928, was a disaster. Disney had to sell his Moon roadster in order to finance a second recording. This was a success, with the addition of

7728-415: The first cartoons to feature a fully post-produced soundtrack , which distinguished it from earlier sound cartoons, such as Inkwell Studios ' Song Car-Tunes (1924–1926), My Old Kentucky Home (1926) and Van Beuren Studios ' Dinner Time (1928). Disney believed that synchronized sound was the future of film. Steamboat Willie became the most popular cartoon of its day. Music for Steamboat Willie

7840-556: The first part of said scene with Mickey pulling on the piglets' tails is reinstated. Since then, the full version of the film was included on the Walt Disney Treasures DVD set "Mickey Mouse in Black and White", as well as on Disney+ and the Disney website, as well as a plethora of re-uploads after entering the public domain in 2024. Short film In the United States, short films were generally termed short subjects from

7952-600: The full strips "Little Algie" and "S.K. Sposher, the Camera Fiend". These satirical strips reflected his life in Brownsville and his fascination with technology and photography, respectively—both displaying his sense of irony and fatalism. It was during this period he met newspaper cartoonist and early animator, John Randolph Bray , who would later give him his start in the animation field. On December 25, 1905, Fleischer married his childhood sweetheart, Ethel (Essie) Goldstein. On

8064-519: The hero or heroine trapped in a life-threatening situation; audiences would have to return the following week to see the outcome. These "chapter plays" remained popular through the 1950s, although both Columbia and Republic Pictures were now making them as cheaply as possible, reusing action highlights from older serials and connecting them with a few new scenes showing identically dressed actors. Even after Republic quit making serials in 1955 and Columbia stopped in 1956, faithful audiences supported them and

8176-460: The key poses and have an assistant fill in the remaining drawings. Max assigned Art Davis as Huemer's assistant and this was the beginning of the animation position of "inbetweener", which was essentially another Fleischer "invention" that resulted in efficient production and was adopted by the entire industry by the 1930s. It was during this time that Max developed Rotoscoping , a means of photographing live action film footage with animation cels for

8288-448: The live-action field, humorist Robert Benchley had been making short comedies since the dawn of sound; his various series for Fox, Vitaphone, MGM, and Paramount ran from 1928 to 1944. MGM's Pete Smith Specialties had been a standard "added attraction" in moviehouse programming since 1935 and lasted through 1955. RKO's Flicker Flashbacks revivals of silent films ran from 1943 to 1956, and Warner Bros. ' Joe McDoakes comedies became

8400-411: The mere mention of Disney's name, Max would mutter, "that son-of-a-bitch". Fleischer won a lawsuit against Paramount in 1955 over the removal of his name from the credits of his films. While Fleischer had issues over the breach of contract, he had avoided suing for a decade to protect his son-in-law, Seymour Kneitel, who was a lead director at Paramount's Famous Studios. In 1958, Fleischer revived Out of

8512-439: The music on a mouth organ , Ub Iwerks banged on pots and pans for the percussion segment, and Johnny Cannon provided sound effects with various devices, including slide whistles and spittoons for bells. Walt Disney provided what little dialogue there was to the film, mostly grunts, laughs, and squawks. After several practices, they were ready for the audience, which consisted of Disney employees and their wives. The response of

8624-483: The oldest film festivals dedicated to short films are Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival , France (since 1979), Tampere Film Festival , Finland (since 1969) and International Short Film Festival Oberhausen , Germany (since 1954). All of them are still considered the most important short film festival in the world to date. Max Fleischer Max Fleischer (born Majer Fleischer / ˈ f l aɪ ʃ ər / ; July 19, 1883 – September 11, 1972)

8736-666: The outbreak of World War I , Max was sent to Fort Sill , Oklahoma to produce the first Army training films on subjects that included Contour Map Reading , Operating the Stokes Mortar , Firing the Lewis Machine Gun , and Submarine Mine Laying . Following the Armistice , Fleischer returned to Bray and the production of theatrical and educational films. Fleischer produced his Out of the Inkwell films featuring "The Clown" character, which his brother Dave originated; he had worked as

8848-415: The partially eaten ukulele, Mickey loses his grip and it lands inside the goat. The force from the ukulele makes the goat begin to play musical notes. Mickey, interested, orders Minnie to begin using the goat's body as a phonograph by turning its tail like a crank. Music begins to play which delights the two mice. Mickey uses various objects on the boat as percussion accompaniment, and later on begins to "play"

8960-480: The perfect match of the Fleischer Studio style combined with its unique use of music. By the late 1930s, a survey indicated that Popeye had eclipsed Mickey Mouse in popularity, challenging Disney's preeminence in the market. During its zenith by the mid-1930s, Fleischer Studios was producing four series, Betty Boop , Popeye , Screen Songs , and Color Classics , resulting in 52 releases each year. From

9072-448: The public domain. The cartoon has been adapted into two horror films: The Mouse Trap , a slasher film where a mass murderer in a Mickey Mouse mask hunts down a group of teenagers inside an amusement arcade, and Screamboat , a comedy horror film where Mickey Mouse turns into a mutated creature that starts a murderous rampage on a ferry. The fourth-season 1992 episode of The Simpsons " Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie " features

9184-407: The rear. Mickey falls down the stairs, slips on a bar of soap on the boat's deck, and lands in a bucket of water. A parrot laughs at him and Mickey throws the bucket on its head. Pete, who has been watching the occurrence, pilots the steamboat himself. He bites off some chewing tobacco and spits into the wind. The spit flies backward and rings the boat's bell. Amused, Pete spits again, but this time

9296-722: The recommendation of Bray, Fleischer was hired as a technical illustrator for the Electro-Light Engraving Company in Boston. In 1909 he moved to Syracuse, New York , working as a catalog illustrator for the Crouse-Hinds Company, and a year later returned to New York as art editor for Popular Science magazine under editor Waldemar Kaempffert . By 1914, the first commercially produced animated cartoons began to appear in movie theaters. They tended to be stiff and jerky. Fleischer devised an improvement in animation through

9408-414: The result of his continued research and development that perfected the post-production method of sound recording. Several of these devices provided visual cues for the musical conductor to follow. As dialogue and songs became major elements, more precise analysis of soundtracks was possible through other inventions from Fleischer such as "The Cue Meter". Max Fleischer's Betty Boop character was born out of

9520-614: The second of six children of a tailor from Dąbrowa Tarnowska , Aaron Fleischer, who later changed his name to William in the United States, and Malka "Amelia" Pałasz. His family emigrated to the United States in March 1887, settling in New York City, where he attended public school. During his early formative years, he enjoyed a middle-class lifestyle, the result of his father's success as an exclusive tailor to high society clients. This changed drastically after his father lost his business ten years later. His teens were spent in Brownsville ,

9632-452: The skin. In the potato bin, the same parrot that laughed at him earlier appears in the porthole and laughs at him again. Fed up with the bird's heckling, Mickey throws a half-peeled potato at it, knocking it back into the river below. Mickey then laughs as he sits next to the potatoes and hears the parrot squawking. Mickey, Minnie, and Pete perform in near-pantomime, with growls and squeaks but no intelligible dialogue. The only true dialogue in

9744-410: The spit hits him in the face, to his dismay. The steamboat makes a stop at "Podunk Landing" to pick up a cargo of various livestock . Mickey has trouble getting one of the slimmer cows with a FOB tag onto the boat attached to a harness. To solve this, Mickey fills the cow's stomach up with hay to fatten the slim cow into the harness. Just as they set off again, Minnie Mouse appears, running to catch

9856-451: The start of the sound era. Alfred Weiss, owner of Artcraft Pictures, approached Fleischer with a contract to produce cartoons for Paramount. Due to legal complications of the bankruptcy, the Out of the Inkwell series was renamed The Inkwell Imps and ran from 1927 to 1929. This was the start of Fleischer's relationship with the huge Paramount organization, which lasted for the next 15 years. After

9968-432: The studio into maturity and relevance for the 1940s. The early returns on Gulliver prompted Paramount president Barney Balaban to order a second feature for their 1941 Christmas release. This second feature, Mr. Bug Goes to Town , was unique, having a contemporary setting. Most importantly, it was technically and artistically superior to Gulliver's Travels . Paramount had high hopes for its Christmas 1941 release, which

10080-421: The studios re-released older serials through the mid-1960s. The 1964 revival of Columbia's Batman serial resulted in a media frenzy, spurring a new Batman TV series and a wave of Batman merchandise. With the rise of television , the commercial live-action short was virtually dead; most studios canceled their live-action series in 1956. Only The Three Stooges continued making two-reel comedies; their last

10192-904: The submission of user-created short films, such as YouTube and Vimeo , have attracted large communities of artists and viewers. Sites like Omeleto, FILMSshort, Short of the Week, Short Films Matter, Short Central and some apps showcase curated shorts. Short films are a typical first stage for new filmmakers, but professional actors and crews often still choose to create short films as an alternative form of expression. Amateur filmmaking has grown in popularity as equipment has become more accessible. The lower production costs of short films often mean that short films can cover alternative subject matter as compared to higher budget feature films. Similarly, unconventional filmmaking techniques such as Pixilation or narratives that are told without dialogue, are more often seen in short films than features. Tropfest claims to be

10304-551: The theatrical comedy films, Fleischer produced technical and educational films including That Little Big Fellow and Now You're Talking for A.T.&T. In 1923, he made two 20-minute features explaining Albert Einstein 's Theory of Relativity and Charles Darwin 's Evolution using animated special effects and live action. In 1924, Fleischer partnered with Edwin Miles Fadiman, Hugo Riesenfeld and Lee de Forest to form Red Seal Pictures Corporation, which owned 36 theaters on

10416-416: The then yet unreleased The Gallopin' Gaucho . Steamboat Willie was the third of Mickey's films to be produced, but it was the first to be distributed , because Disney, having seen The Jazz Singer , had committed himself to produce one of the first fully synchronized sound cartoons. Steamboat Willie is especially notable for being one of the first cartoons with synchronized sound , as well as one of

10528-443: The time-consuming and tedious process of cel inking. While ahead of his time, that same year Fleischer and Paramount experienced lost revenues owing to the failure of the new series Gabby , Animated Antics , and Stone Age , all launched under the leadership of Dave. After Republic Studios allegedly failed to develop Superman as a live-action serial, Max acquired the license that fall and initiated development. The cost for

10640-461: The very beginning, Fleischer's business relationship with Paramount was a joint financial and distribution arrangement, making his studio a service company supplying products for the company's theaters. During the Great Depression , Paramount went through four bankruptcy reorganizations, which affected their operational expenses. As a founding member of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers , Fleischer

10752-604: The video games Mickey Mania (1994), Kingdom Hearts II (2005), and Epic Mickey (2010). An alternate Steamboat Willie -themed costume of Kingdom Hearts ' Sora was featured in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (2018). The Steamboat Willie versions of Mickey Mouse and Pete are featured as playable racers in Disney Speedstorm (2023). In 1993, to coincide with the opening of Mickey's Toontown in Disneyland,

10864-463: The world's largest short film festival. Tropfest now takes place in Australia (its birthplace), Arabia, the US and elsewhere. Originating in 1993, Tropfest is often credited as being at least partially responsible for the recent popularity of short films internationally. Also Couch Fest Films , part of Shnit Worldwide Filmfestival, claimed to be the world's largest single-day short film festival. Among

10976-453: Was a Polish-American animator and studio owner. Born in Kraków , Poland, Fleischer immigrated to the United States where he became a pioneer in the development of the animated cartoon and served as the head of Fleischer Studios , which he co-founded with his younger brother Dave . He brought such comic characters as Koko the Clown , Betty Boop , Popeye , and Superman to the movie screen, and

11088-449: Was affected by a five-month strike , resulting in a boycott that kept the studio's releases off theater screens until November. Having a paternal attitude towards his employees, Max took it personally, as if he had been betrayed, and thus developed an ulcer. Following the strike, Max and Dave Fleischer decided to move the studio for more space and to escape further labor agitation. In March 1938, Paramount approved Max's proposal to produce

11200-515: Was an immediate hit, while Gang War has since been lost and all but forgotten today. The success of Steamboat Willie not only led to international fame for Walt Disney but for Mickey as well. Variety (November 21, 1928) wrote: Not the first animated cartoon to be synchronized with sound effects, but the first to attract favorable attention. This one represents a high order of cartoon ingenuity, cleverly combined with sound effects. The union brought forth laughs galore. Giggles came so fast at

11312-466: Was arranged by Wilfred Jackson and Bert Lewis, and it included the songs " Steamboat Bill ", a composition popularized by baritone Arthur Collins during the 1910s, and the popular 19th-century folk song " Turkey in the Straw ". The title of the film may be a parody of the Buster Keaton film Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928), itself a reference to the song by Collins. Disney performed all of the voices in

11424-427: Was asked for his resignation. Dave had resigned following the completion of Post-production on Mr. Bug in late November 1941. Paramount finished out the remaining five months of the 1941 Fleischer contract with the absence of both Max and Dave Fleischer, and the name change to Famous Studios became official on May 27, 1942. Paramount installed new management, among them Max's son-in-law, Seymour Kneitel . Unable to form

11536-524: Was aware of the technical advancements of the industry, particularly in the development of color cinematography. Due to Paramount's financial restructuring, he was unable to acquire the three-color Technicolor process from the start. This created the opportunity for Walt Disney , who was then a small fledgling producer, to acquire a four-year exclusivity. With this, he created a new market for color cartoons beginning with Flowers and Trees (1932). In 1934 Paramount approved color production for Fleischer, but he

11648-529: Was directing 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea for Walt Disney . This brought about the honorary luncheon that united Max with his former competitor and reunited him with several former Fleischer animators who were then employed by Disney. This meeting of the former rivals seemed cordial, and Max remarked that he was very happy making educational films at this point in his career. However, in his collection of memoirs entitled Just Tell Me When to Cry , Richard relates how, at

11760-631: Was left with the limited two-color processes of Cinecolor (red and cyan) and Two-Color Technicolor (red and cyan) for the first year of his Color Classics . The first entry, Poor Cinderella (1934) was made in the two-emulsion/two-color Cinecolor Process and starred Betty Boop in her only color appearance. By 1936, Disney's exclusivity had expired, and Fleischer had the benefit of the three-color Technicolor Process beginning with Somewhere in Dreamland . These color cartoons were often augmented with Fleischer's patented three-dimensional effects promoted as

11872-566: Was not until the New York opening at Radio City of Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (February 1938) that Paramount executives realized the value of animated features and ordered one for a 1939 Christmas release. The popularity of the Popeye cartoons created a demand for more. To meet Paramount's demands, the studio was challenged with rapid expansion, production speed-ups, and crowded working conditions. Finally, in May 1937, Fleischer Studios

11984-457: Was penalized $ 350,000 for going over budget, and the contract did not allow Max and Fleischer Studios participation in the foreign earnings. This was the beginning of the financial difficulties of Fleischer Studios with reduced royalties due to this debt to Paramount. In 1940, Max was relegated to business affairs and continued technical development. His efforts resulted in a reflex camera viewfinder and research into line transfer methods to replace

12096-432: Was released in 1959. Short films had become a medium for student, independent, and specialty work. Cartoon shorts had a longer life, due in part to the implementation of lower-cost limited animation techniques and the rise of television animation , which allowed shorts to have both theatrical runs and a syndication afterlife. Warner Bros. , one of the most prolific of the golden era, underwent several reorganizations in

12208-461: Was responsible for several technological innovations, including the rotoscope , the " follow the bouncing ball " technique pioneered in the Ko-Ko Song Car-Tunes films, and the " stereoptical process ". Film director Richard Fleischer was his son. Majer Fleischer was born July 19, 1883, to a Jewish family in Kraków , (then part of Austria-Hungary : Austrian Partition ). He was

12320-426: Was the last regular theatrical cartoon short series, having begun in 1964 (and thus having spent its entire existence in the limited animation era) and ended in 1980. By the 1960s, the market for animated shorts had largely shifted to television, with existing theatrical shorts being syndicated to television. A few animated shorts continue within the mainstream commercial distribution. For instance, Pixar has screened

12432-429: Was well received by critics during its December 5 preview. However, the exhibitors rejected it, fearing that it would not do business because it was not a Disney animated Fairy Tale. And with the bombing of Pearl Harbor two days after the preview, the original Christmas release due in three weeks was cancelled. With the cancellation of Mr. Bug Goes to Town , Max was called to a meeting with Balaban in New York, where he

12544-511: Was wonderful! And it was something new! Iwerks said: "I've never been so thrilled in my life. Nothing since has ever equaled it." Walt Disney traveled to New York City to hire a company to produce the soundtrack, since no such facilities existed in Los Angeles. He eventually settled on Pat Powers 's Cinephone system, created by Powers using an updated version of Lee De Forest's Phonofilm system, without giving De Forest any credit. The music in

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