Was Steamboat Willie really Mickey Mouse’s first cartoon?

Mickey Mouse whistling at the wheel of a steamboat is one of the most famous images in animation, and it is often called his debut. The Apple is whistling the tune already. The Sole, who once spent a happy afternoon under the desk of a teacher showing old cartoons, says Mickey had a first flight before he ever set sail.

The short answer

No. The first Mickey Mouse cartoon made was Plane Crazy, which was shown to a test audience in Los Angeles in May 1928. Steamboat Willie, released in November 1928, was the first Mickey cartoon to go on general release, and the one with synchronised sound.

The real story

Mickey was born out of a setback. Walt Disney had lost the rights to his earlier character, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, to producer Charles Mintz. He needed a new star, fast.

Disney and his lead animator, Ub Iwerks, came up with a mouse. Iwerks animated the first short at remarkable speed, partly in secret, while Walt’s wife Lillian, his brother Roy’s wife Edna and Lillian’s sister Hazel reportedly helped ink the drawings in Walt’s garage. The plot cashed in on the craze for aviator Charles Lindbergh, who had flown solo across the Atlantic the year before. Mickey builds a plane and tries to impress Minnie, who makes her first appearance too, as does Clarabelle Cow. The whole silent short reportedly cost about 1,772 dollars to make.

This early Mickey was not the friendly mascot we know. He was cheeky and rather badly behaved, showing off and pestering Minnie until she bails out with a parachute improvised from her underwear.

Plane Crazy got a one-day test screening in May 1928 and audiences liked it, but as a silent short it could not find a distributor. Disney then bet on sound, and Steamboat Willie, with its synchronised music and effects, became a sensation. Plane Crazy was later re-released with a soundtrack in 1929.

Why people get it wrong

Steamboat Willie, released on 18 November 1928, was the first Mickey cartoon most audiences actually saw. History tends to remember the hit, not the rehearsal.

Plane Crazy did get a small moment in the spotlight in 2024, when its silent version entered the public domain in the United States, though with far less fanfare than its famous sibling.

So the next time someone tells you Mickey’s career began on a steamboat, you can politely point out that he actually started in the air, crash-landed with distributors, and only then found his sea legs. The Wiper confirms Plane Crazy flew first and Steamboat Willie merely floated in later. He then forgot which one had the boat.

“Even Mickey’s first go didn’t land, and look how he turned out. Gives an old shoe a bit of hope, that does.”