"Steamboat Willie" (Walt Disney, 1928)

Steamboat Willie is a 1928 American animated short film directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. Disney’s Steamboat Willie is a landmark in the history of animation. It was the first animated film with fully synchronized sound and it was the first cartoon to feature a fully post-produced soundtrack. Disney was able to combine technology with handcraftsmanship, naturalism with abstraction, which proved him to be a great artist over time. The audience’s appeal for Steamboat Willie was so strong, that two weeks after its premiere, it was re-released it at the largest theater in the world, New York’s Roxy.

I chose to post this short film because it is great to see the progress overtime and how much animation has improved and changed. I am sure most of you have seen this film already. Enjoy!

Steamboat Willie

For this week's post I looked at one of the earliest examples of a Disney animation that I could find - Steamboat Willie.  In this classic animated short film we see the beginnings of Mickey Mouse and other cartoon characters play out a few scenes on a steamboat going down a river.  What I enjoy about the animation is the use of sound to accompany the action on screen.  Disney is a talented artist but the story would be far less effective if it was missing a soundtrack.

This animation was completed one frame at a time, with the artist drawing each frame with slight differences from the previous one.  These drawings were then photographed and when played back at speed, they show the story of Steamboat Willie and his friends.  I can't imagine having to draw each frame over and over again, so I have a deep respect for Disney and all of the animation team.