November 18, 1928: Steamboat Willie premieres, at Universal's Colony Theatre in New York. Although both characters had first appeared earlier in the year, in a test screening of the cartoon Plane Crazy, this was the 1st wide-release film to feature the characters of Mickey Mouse and his love interest Minnie Mouse.
The film was produced by the brothers Walt and Roy Disney. Walt and Ub Iwerks wrote it, drew it, and directed it. (An American of German descent, real name Ubbe Ert Iwwerks, Iwerks had a falling-out with Walt in 1930, and has been relegated to a secondary role in Mickey's creation.)
The cartoon lasts 7 minutes and 24 seconds. It begins with Mickey piloting a steamboat, suggesting that he is the captain. But the real captain appears, a big cat named Pete, who forces him off the bridge, causing a parrot to laugh at him. (Pete would go on to become a regular nemesis for Mickey.) Pete docks the boat to pick up livestock, and Minnie comes aboard. Using some of the livestock as "instruments," they play the song "Turkey in the Straw." Pete sees this, and puts Mickey to work peeling potatoes. The parrot laughs at Mickey again, and Mickey throws a potato at it, knocking it into the river.
Variety, the trade paper of show business, wrote of it, "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."
This was the beginning of the Disney empire. Mickey Mouse would become the most famous cartoon character of all time, and lead to Disney creating bigger and better cartoons, many of them musicals. It would lead to the Disney theme parks, especially Disneyland in Anaheim, California; and Walt Disney World outside Orlando, Florida. The Walt Disney Company is often called "The House of Mouse."
Walt Disney
A 2015 episode of the YouTube series Epic Rap Battles of History featured "Epic" Lloyd Ahlquist as Stan Lee, against "Nice" Peter Shukoff as Muppets creator Jim Henson, with Zach Sherwin stepping in as Walt Disney, "taking over" the battle the way his company bought out both Marvel and the Muppets franchise.
On January 1, 2024, the copyright on Steamboat Willie ran out. For the first time, a version of Mickey Mouse -- but only this specific version -- entered the public domain. For the first time, The Walt Disney Company lost control of a piece of their cornerstone character. And they had long dreaded the day: If there's one thing that a powerful corporation, especially Disney, values more than money, it's control.
Universal's Colony Theatre still stands, under the name of the Broadway Theatre, at 1681 Broadway at 53rd Street. In 1940, Disney would premiere Fantasia at the same theater. It would later host the original productions of the musicals This Is the Army, Carmen Jones, The Cradle Will Rock, High Button Shoes, Where's Charley?, The Most Happy Fella, Gypsy, The Wiz, Evita, Les Misérables, and Miss Saigon.
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November 18, 1928 was a Sunday. Baseball, basketball and hockey were out of season. But there were 4 games played in the National Football League:
* The football team named the New York Giants lost to the Green Bay Packers, 7-0 at the Polo Grounds.
* The football team named the New York Yankees lost to the Detroit Wolverines, 13-0 at the University of Detroit Stadium.
* The Providence Steam Roller (always written without an S on the end) beat the Frankford Yellow Jackets of Northeast Philadelphia, 6-0 at the Providence Cycledrome.
* And the Chicago Bears beat the Pottsville Maroons, 13-6 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
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