• Steamboat Willie (1928) is, of course, the first appearance of Mickey Mouse and the first synchronized sound cartoon, but it was also the debut of Mickey’s long-time leading lady, Minnie Mouse. Both Mickey and Minnie, as well as the parrot, were voiced by Walt Disney himself. The short is based on an early silent film by Buster Keaton titled Steamboat Bill, Junior.
• Plane Crazy and The Gallopin’ Gaucho were actually the first two Mickey Mouse shorts produced, but were held from release so that sound could be added.
• The Gallopin’ Gaucho (1928) was a parody of Douglas Fairbanks’ The Gaucho (1927).
• Plane Crazy (1928) was inspired by the American hero of the day, ace aviator Charles Lindbergh.
• Ink and Paint girl Marcelitte Garner was recruited by Walt to provide the voice of Minnie after Steamboat Willie. She continued in the role until 1939’s Mickey’s Surprise Party.
• Mickey uttered his first words (“Hot dogs! Hot dogs!”) in The Karnival Kid (1929).
• “Minnie’s Yoo-Hoo”, Mickey’s first theme song, was first heard in Mickey’s Follies (1929).
• A pair of bloodhounds first seen in The Chain Gang (1930) would later evolve into Mickey’s beloved dog Pluto. Pluto would first appear as Mickey’s pet in Mickey Steps Out (1931).
• Beppo, the title character in The Gorilla Mystery (1930), went onto make two more appearances in Mickey shorts, including the starring role in a King Kong parody seen in The Pet Store (1933).
• Several Mickey shorts have alternate titles, including Pioneer Days (1930, a.k.a. Red Hot Mickey), Mickey’s Nightmare (1932, a.k.a. Mickey’s Wild Dream), Ye Olden Days (1933, a.k.a. Mickey’s Royal Battle), The Mail Pilot (1933, a.k.a. Mickey Saves the Mail) and Camping Out (1934, a.k.a. Keep ’Em Flying).
• The Birthday Party (1931) was remade in color in 1942 under the title Mickey’s Birthday Party.
• As with the Silly Symphonies, music was an integral part of the success of the early Mickeys, as seen in Blue Rhythm (1931), The Whoopee Party (1932) and others.
• Only two black and white Mickeys were ever nominated for an Academy Award for Best Cartoon Short: Mickey’s Orphans (1931) and Building a Building (1933). Both lost to Silly Symphonies: respectively, Flowers and Trees and Three Little Pigs.
• Mickey’s Orphans was the first Christmas-themed Disney short.
• Mickey’s Revue (1932) marks the first appearance of a character that would soon be known as Dippy Dawg and, eventually, Goofy. He would make his first ‘regular’ appearance in The Whoopee Party.
• Mickey’s Nightmare was a remake of a 1928 Oswald the Lucky Rabbit short titled Poor Papa.
• Touchdown Mickey (1932) was the first sports-themed Disney short.
• The Klondike Kid (1932) was inspired by the Charlie Chaplin silent classic, The Gold Rush (1925).
• The Mad Doctor (1933) was banned by British censors, who deemed it too scary for children.
• Veteran Disney Storyman Joe Grant was first brought to the Studio to work on the movie star caricatures seen in Mickey’s Gala Premiere (1933). He was soon hired full-time, the beginning of a career that remarkably continues to this day.
• Included in the host of celebrities of that era who ‘appear’ in Mickey’s Gala Premiere are Laurel and Hardy, the Marx Brothers, Mae West, Charlie Chaplin, John Gilbert, Joan Crawford, Marie Dressler, Jean Harlow, Douglas Fairbanks, Greta Garbo, Janet Gaynor, Harold Lloyd, Will Rogers, Janet Gaynor, Clark Gable, the Barrymores (John, Ethel and Lionel), Marlene Dietrich, Edward G. Robinson, William Powell, Wallace Berry, Eddie Cantor, Buster Keaton, Jimmy Durante, Sid Graumann (the owner of Graumann’s Chinese Theater) and three actors (Adolphe Menjou, Ed Wynn and Maurice Chevalier) who would later star, ‘in the flesh’, in Disney live action movies.
• Fifi, Minnie’s dog and an early love of Pluto’s, made her debut in Puppy Love (1933).
• Giantland (1933) was an early take on the Jack and the Beanstalk tale, later redone as Mickey and the Beanstalk in the 1947 feature Fun and Fancy Free.
• Gulliver Mickey (1934) was, of course, inspired by Gulliver’s Travels, the classic novel by Jonathan Swift.
• Donald Duck made his second screen appearance, and his first with Mickey, in Orphan’s Benefit (1934). This short, which would be remade in color in 1941, also was the first appearance of Clara Cluck.
• In the one and only time that someone other then Walt voiced Mickey prior to Jimmy MacDonald’s inheritance of the role in 1946, Clarence ‘Ducky’ Nash covered the role of the famous mouse (due to Walt being in Europe on business) in The Dognapper (1934).
• Often misidentified as the last black and white Disney short (even on the packaging for this set), Mickey’s Service Station (1935) was actually the second-to-last. It was released a few weeks before the official last black and white, Mickey’s Kangaroo. (Both of these shorts were actually released after Mickey’s color debut, The Band Concert, early that same year.) Mickey’s Service Station is the first of several great Mickey/Donald/Goofy shorts where the trio are engaged in some sort of odd job, such as the later Lonesome Ghosts, Clock Cleaners and Mickey’s Fire Brigade.

Coming Soon in Toon Talk:

• Parts 2 and 3 of the Walt Disney Treasures DVD reviews, focusing on Behind the Scenes at the Walt Disney Studios and The Complete Goofy.
• This year’s summer hit, Lilo and Stitch, making its DVD debut.
• The perfect Disney Christmas gift: The Lion King roars onto IMAX and other large screen theaters on Christmas Day.
• Murder, mayhem and “All That Jazz” … Renee Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Richard Gere star in Miramax’s Oscar-baiting film version of the Tony Award-winning Kander and Ebb musical Chicago, opening in limited release December 27^th and nationally January 17^th.
• Toon in for the Toon Talk Top 10 - The Best of 2002.

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-- Kirby C. Holt

Kirby, a former Walt Disney World Resort Cast Member (and Trivia Champ), is a lifelong Disney fan and film buff. He is also an avid list maker and chronic ellipsis user ...

Took Talk: Disney Film & Video Reviews by Kirby C. Holt is posted whenever there's something new to review.

The opinions expressed by our Kirby C. Holt, and all of our columnists, do not necessarily represent the feelings of LaughingPlace.com or any of its employees or advertisers. All speculation and rumors about the future plans of the Walt Disney Company are just that - speculation and rumors - and should be treated as such.

-- Posted December 3, 2002