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77-411: 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

154-542: 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

231-503: 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

308-489: 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

385-480: 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

462-646: 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

539-404: 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

616-471: 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

693-451: 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

770-656: A few years later in connection with Max's early experiments with his first major invention, " The Rotoscope " and was the source of their first character who evolved into Koko the Clown in the pioneering series, Out of the Inkwell . Around 1913–14, he began working as a film cutter for Pathé Exchange the American branch of Pathé , the French company that was the world's largest film production and distribution company, and

847-486: 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

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924-615: 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

1001-410: 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

1078-440: 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

1155-399: 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

1232-433: 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

1309-453: 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

1386-589: 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

1463-405: 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

1540-538: 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

1617-558: 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

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1694-401: 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

1771-540: 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

1848-537: 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

1925-571: 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

2002-563: The Palace Theater on Broadway , where he was exposed to vaudeville . This experience contributed to the development of his sense for gags and comic timing , which came into play when he joined forces with his older brother, Max in the production of animated cartoons. At one point, the family lived in Coney Island , and he became interested in being a clown for one of the sideshow amusements. This clown character would be recalled

2079-524: 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

2156-487: 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

2233-489: 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

2310-465: 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

2387-507: 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

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2464-657: 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,

2541-402: 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

2618-507: The Crow and Li'l Abner series, as well as the omnibus Phantasies series. In spite of the Oscar nominations, Harry Cohn fired Dave in 1944, replacing him with Henry Binder. After getting kicked out of Columbia, he approached Republic Pictures with an elf-like version of Koko the Clown, a character named "Snippy", who was tried out as a live action–animation combo novelty at the end of

2695-737: The Filmack Trailer Company of Chicago, Illinois . Filmack was one of the biggest theatrical-advertising companies in North America, it was at the same Filmack headquarters in Chicago that he famously animated the Let's All Go to the Lobby snipe in 1957. Following a series of oddball assignments, Dave landed a permanent position as a "technical specialist" at Universal through animation producer, Walter Lantz . At Universal, Dave

2772-457: The Popeye cartoons. This forced the temporary surrender of Fleischer Studios to Paramount on May 24, 1941, while their final feature was contracted for completion. Max Fleischer secured the license for Superman after Republic Pictures allegedly passed on the property as a potential serial. Budgeted at twice the cost of a Popeye cartoon, Superman became the most successful cartoon series of

2849-609: The Sailor , Color Classics . He also supervised two animated features Gulliver's Travels and Mr. Bug Goes to Town . Following a relocation to Miami, Florida , and the production of their first feature, Gulliver's Travels , Fleischer Studios became indebted to Paramount Pictures due to the cost overruns on Gulliver and losses in rentals on the new 1940s cartoon series produced under Dave's control. The new series, including Stone Age Cartoons , Gabby and Animated Antics , were poorly received with theaters only valuing

2926-540: 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

3003-485: 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

3080-461: 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

3157-413: 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

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3234-452: 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

3311-464: 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

3388-408: 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

3465-562: 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

3542-406: 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

3619-508: 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

3696-875: 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

3773-439: 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,

3850-494: 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

3927-415: 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

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4004-571: 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

4081-519: 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

4158-535: The largest manufacturer of film equipment in the first decades of the 20th century. In 1921, he joined forces with Max in starting their first studio, Out of the Inkwell Films, Inc. in a dingy basement apartment in midtown Manhattan . He went on to become director and later supervising producer of the studio's output. Among the cartoon series Fleischer supervised were Out of the Inkwell , Inklings , The Inkwell Imps , Talkartoons , Betty Boop , Popeye

4235-458: The late Fleischer Studio period, representing its maturing into the 1940s. Relations between the brothers began to deteriorate around 1938, which was aggravated further by Dave's taking control of production starting in 1940, which resulted in the poorer cartoons produced under his control compounded by his continued rejection of Max's input and late completion of films. Dave Fleischer resigned from Fleischer Studios in late November 1941, following

4312-448: 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

4389-415: The low-budget nightclub musical, Trocadero . A "Snippy" cartoon series was never materialized unfortunately. Fleischer continued at Republic as associate producer of the minute-long animation sequence for another "B" movie, That's My Baby! (1944). For a short period, he had a comic strip for The Hollywood Citizen News . In the early 1950s, Dave animated a series of Technicolor theatrical snipes for

4466-439: 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

4543-457: 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. Dave Fleischer Dave Fleischer ( / ˈ f l aɪ ʃ ər / ; July 14, 1894 – June 25, 1979)

4620-415: 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"

4697-448: 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

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4774-407: 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

4851-457: The recording of the score for Mr. Bug Goes to Town . His official resignation was announced on December 31, 1941. He would then eventually become a producer for Screen Gems at Columbia Pictures in April 1942, where he produced Song of Victory and Imagination , the latter of which was nominated for an Academy Award . Fleischer took over for Frank Tashlin and also produced both The Fox and

4928-452: 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

5005-410: 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

5082-421: 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

5159-908: 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

5236-416: 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

5313-626: 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,

5390-468: 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

5467-531: Was a Special Effects Technical and general problem-solver, working on films such as Francis , The Birds , and Thoroughly Modern Millie . He was credited as "Technical Advisor" on Universal's American release of the Russian animated feature, The Snow Queen (1957), supervising the English language dubbing. Following his assignment on Thoroughly Modern Millie , Fleischer retired and continued to live at

5544-468: Was an American film director and producer who co-owned Fleischer Studios with his older brother Max Fleischer . He was a native of New York City. Fleischer was the youngest of five brothers and grew up in Brownsville, Brooklyn , a poor Jewish neighbourhood. By the time he was born, his father had lost his means of livelihood due to the mass production of garments. Fleischer worked as an usher at

5621-515: 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

5698-473: 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

5775-432: 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

5852-426: 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

5929-517: 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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