Steamboat Willie (1928)

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.

Steamboat Willie (1928) **** (out of 4) I think it's quite fair to say that STEAMBOAT WILLIE is the most important animated film in history. While it wasn't the first Mickey Mouse short (it's the third) it is the one that really turned him into a superstar and it took Walt Disney into a while new level unlike anything we've ever seen. The story is pretty simple as Mickey decides to whistle and dance his way throughout the boat. Yes, whoever would have guessed that by simply whistling this little mouse would become a part of cinematic history? Not only is this film historic but it's also quite excellent in its own right. The film has a certainly charm and good-hearted feel to it that it's impossible not to smile with it and it's even more impossible not to want to join in on the whistling. There are countless highlights here but my favorite has always been the sequence where the cow is too small to get loaded onto the boat so Mickey must do something to put meat on his bones.

This 8 minute gem is not only timeless, but it is a cartoon milestone. It is Mickey's third cartoon, and one of his best ones too. It is a cartoon milestone because it was the first one with synchronised sound. And my goodness, even after 70+ years it is ever so good, and gives real additional weight to the narrative. The black and white animation is excellent, and the character features are convincing enough. The music is wonderful, I love the soundtrack, it does add to the fun the cartoon has, no matter how thin the story sometimes is. And the cartoon is funny! So many memorable moments, like the cow's teeth being used as an xylophone and its udder as a bagpipe. The characters are also engaging, Mickey and Minnie two landmark Disney characters are well voiced by Walt Disney, and Pete serves well as "the villain of the piece". All in all, "Steamboat Willie" is just a timeless gem that everybody should see at least once. 10/10 Bethany Cox

'Steamboat Willie (1928)' is often erroneously touted as the first Mickey Mouse film, though that title actually goes to 'Plane Crazy (1928).' The source fuelling this common misconception is probably an episode of "The Simpsons," which places the origin of Itchy the Mouse in a 1928 short called 'Steamboat Itchy,' obviously a parody of this cartoon. Interestingly, 'Steamboat Willie' was itself a parody, spoofing the latest Buster Keaton release, 'Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928),' though the connection stretches little beyond the title and the general story setting. In this Walt Disney short, Mickey Mouse takes charge of a river steamboat, much to the annoyance of Captain Pete the cat, who spitefully casts him aside. But Mickey is not to be outdone in nastiness. Far removed from the pleasant, wholesome Mickey that more recent generations enjoyed, this little mouse cares only for numero uno, inflicting pain and displeasure on a series of farm animals in order to provide music for his own amusement.First there's the laughing parrot, which cops a bucket and a large potato to the head. Then a goat is cranked by the tail to provide music ("Turkey in the Straw") from a guitar it has swallowed. A cat is swung around by its tail, a goose throttled about the throat, and a piglet viciously booted. For a children's cartoon, 'Steamboat Willie,' directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks, certainly has some mean-spirited humour, though I also noticed similar elements (though not quite to this extent) in some later Disney shorts, like 'Gulliver Mickey (1934).' Let's not forget Minnie Mouse, of course, who suffers treatment for which she could today sue for sexual harassment! The jokes may be crude, and the animation perhaps even more so, but this cartoon delivers a bucket-full of laughs, and it's easy to see why this little rodent became one of the most beloved characters in cinema history. If you're a fan of Mickey Mouse, or Disney in general, this is one steamboat you can't afford to miss.