One of the most famous cartoons ever produced is “Steamboat
Willie,” which was released on Nov. 18, 1928 by Disney Brothers Studio.
This
iconic, black and white cartoon featured a soundtrack that was synchronized to
the visual animation of the story, something that was relatively new for
audiences. Despite this cartoon’s historical impact, I couldn’t honestly say
that I’d watched the entire thing from start to finish, which is why I added it
to my bucket list several years ago.
Yesterday (Sunday), I officially scratched this item off my
bucket list when I watched it from start to finish a couple of times. At a
little over seven minutes long, it doesn’t take a lot of time to watch this
cartoon, and if you’d like to see if for yourself, you can watch Walt Disney
Animation Studios’ posting of it on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBgghnQF6E4.
“Steamboat Willie” is important because it's also considered the official debut of
Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse. Even though Mickey had appeared in at least two
earlier cartoons, neither of those cartoons were distributed, so they weren't as successful or impacting as
“Steamboat Willie.” Now, 85 years later, Mickey Mouse is one of the most
recognizable characters on the planet.
For those of you who have never seen this short cartoon,
the plot is pretty simple. Mickey is a helper aboard a river steamboat
captained by Pete, who appears to be a large, ugly cat. They stop at a landing,
where they take on livestock, but pull away before Minnie can get on board.
Mickey uses a crane to bring her aboard, but she drops her
fiddle and sheet music to the ship's wooden deck. Those items are then eaten by a goat, and Mickey
proceeds to lead a resourceful and funny concert by making music with a variety
of items aboard the ship, including all of the animals. The cartoon ends with a
reprimanded Mickey cutting up potatoes in a room alone, but he does get a
little revenge on a parrot who’s been giving him trouble throughout the
cartoon.
Also, for a cartoon that’s 85 years old, it's pretty
funny. It’s hard to watch the whole thing and not crack a smile. It also goes to show
that there’s a lot to be said for keeping it simple. We sort of take for
granted today’s high tech animation, but there’s still no reason that we can’t
enjoy older cartoons like “Steamboat Willie.” While much shorter than blockbuster
hits like “The Incredibles” and “Finding Nemo,” audiences today should remember that “Steamboat
Willie” was cutting edge when it was first released.
While reading up on “Steamboat Willie,” I was also
interested to learn that it was added to the prestigious National Film Registry
in 1998. It was also ranked No. 13 on a best-of list called “The 50 Greatest
Cartoons,” which was compiled by animators in 1994.
In the end, how many of you have seen “Steamboat Willie”?
What did you think about it? Let us know in the comments section below.
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