Editing Mickey Mouse (section)

====Debut (1928)====
[[File:Steamboat Willie (1928) by Walt Disney.webm|thumb|thumbtime=0:26|Mickey's debut in ''[[Steamboat Willie]]'' (1928)]]

Mickey was first seen in a test screening of the cartoon short ''[[Plane Crazy]]'', on May 15, 1928, but it failed to impress the audience and Walt could not find a distributor for it.<ref name="disneyshorts.org Plane Crazy">{{cite web|url=http://www.disneyshorts.org/shorts.aspx?shortID=94|title=1928: Plane Crazy|publisher=Disney Shorts|access-date=April 8, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120301151952/http://www.disneyshorts.org/shorts.aspx?shortID=94|archive-date=March 1, 2012}}</ref> Walt went on to produce a second Mickey short, ''[[The Gallopin' Gaucho]]'', which was also not released for lack of a distributor.

''Steamboat Willie'' was first released on November 18, 1928, in New York.<ref>{{cite web | title=Ub Iwerks, Walt Disney. Steamboat Willie. 1928 | website=The Museum of Modern Art | date=November 18, 1928 | url=https://www.moma.org/collection/works/302797 | access-date=March 3, 2024 | archive-date=January 1, 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240101173917/https://www.moma.org/collection/works/302797 | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Burke 2024 e186">{{cite web | last=Burke | first=Myles | title=Steamboat Willie: How Mickey Mouse's first appearance saved Walt Disney from ruin and changed cinema forever | website=BBC Home | date=January 2, 2024 | url=https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20231117-steamboat-willie-how-walt-disney-came-back-from-ruin | access-date=March 3, 2024 | archive-date=March 3, 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240303174103/https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20231117-steamboat-willie-how-walt-disney-came-back-from-ruin | url-status=live }}</ref> It was {{nowrap|co-directed}} by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. Iwerks again served as the head animator,<ref name="Smith_2010">{{cite web |last=Smith |first=Dave |title=Library of Congress - National Film Preservation Board Essays: Steamboat Willie |date=October 2010 |url=https://www.loc.gov/programs/static/national-film-preservation-board/documents/steamboat_willie.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215161143/https://www.loc.gov/programs/static/national-film-preservation-board/documents/steamboat_willie.pdf |archive-date=February 15, 2017 |access-date=March 13, 2022 |website=Loc.gov}}</ref> assisted by [[Les Clark]],<ref name="Widmar 2021 j754">{{cite web | last=Widmar | first=Aaron | title=5 Facts About Disney Legend Les Clark | website=WDW Magazine | date=November 17, 2021 | url=https://www.wdw-magazine.com/5-facts-about-disney-legend-les-clark/ | access-date=March 3, 2024 | archive-date=March 3, 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240303174104/https://www.wdw-magazine.com/5-facts-about-disney-legend-les-clark/ | url-status=live }}</ref> Johnny Cannon,  Wilfred Jackson and [[Dick Lundy (animator)|Dick Lundy]].{{citation needed|date=December 2022}} This short was a nod to [[Buster Keaton]]'s ''[[Steamboat Bill,&nbsp;Jr.]]'',<ref name="Smith_2010" /><ref name="The International Buster Keaton Society 2022 n369">{{cite web | title=Film: STEAMBOAT WILLIE by Walt Disney | website=The International Buster Keaton Society | date=September 1, 2022 | url=https://busterkeaton.org/2022/09/film-steamboat-willie-by-walt-disney/ | access-date=March 3, 2024 | archive-date=March 3, 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240303174103/https://busterkeaton.org/2022/09/film-steamboat-willie-by-walt-disney/ | url-status=live }}</ref> released earlier that year. Although it was the third Mickey cartoon produced, it was the first to find a distributor, and thus is considered by The Disney Company as Mickey's debut. It also featured some design refinements, and included the use of a bouncing ball on the film print to allow conductors and musicians to match the tempo of their music with the film.<ref name="Burke 2024 e186" /><ref name="Smith_2010" />

The cartoon was not the first cartoon to feature a soundtrack connected to the action. [[Fleischer Studios]], headed by brothers [[Dave Fleischer|Dave]] and [[Max Fleischer]], had already released a number of sound cartoons using the [[Phonofilm|DeForest]] system in the mid-1920s. However, these cartoons did not keep the sound synchronized throughout the film. For ''Willie'', Disney had the sound recorded with a [[click track]] that kept the musicians on the beat. This precise timing is apparent during the "Turkey in the Straw" sequence when Mickey's actions exactly match the accompanying instruments. Animation historians have long debated who had served as the composer for the film's original music. This role has been variously attributed to Wilfred Jackson, Carl Stalling and Bert Lewis, but identification remains uncertain. Walt Disney himself was voice actor for both Mickey and Minnie and would remain the source of Mickey's voice through 1946 for theatrical cartoons. [[Jimmy MacDonald (sound effects artist)|Jimmy MacDonald]] took over the role in 1946, but Walt provided Mickey's voice again from 1955 to 1959 for ''[[The Mickey Mouse Club]]'' television series on [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]].{{citation needed|date=August 2019}}

Audiences at the time of ''Steamboat Willie''{{'}}s release were reportedly impressed by the use of sound for comedic purposes. [[Sound film]]s or "talkies" were still considered innovative. Most other cartoon studios were still producing silent products and so were unable to effectively act as competition to Disney. As a result, Mickey would soon become the most prominent animated character of the time. Walt Disney soon worked on adding sound to both ''Plane Crazy'' and ''The Gallopin' Gaucho'' (which had originally been silent releases) and their new release added to Mickey's success and popularity. A fourth Mickey short, ''[[The Barn Dance]]'', was also put into production; however, Mickey does not actually speak until ''The Karnival Kid'' (1929). After ''Steamboat Willie'' was released, Mickey became a close competitor to Felix the Cat, and his popularity would grow as he was continuously featured in sound cartoons. By 1929, Felix would lose popularity among theater audiences, and Pat Sullivan decided to produce all future Felix cartoons in sound as a result.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.toontracker.com/felix/felix.htm |title=Felix the Cat |publisher=Toontracker.com |access-date=April 8, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120126060635/http://www.toontracker.com/felix/felix.htm |archive-date=January 26, 2012}}</ref> Audiences did not respond well to Felix's transition to sound and by 1930, Felix had faded from the screen.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g1epc/is_tov/ai_2419100434|archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20090628135144/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g1epc/is_tov/ai_2419100434|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 28, 2009|work=St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture|title=Felix the Cat|first=Ian|last=Gordon|year=2002}}</ref>