Mickey Mouse made his film debut 83 years ago today. Steamboat Willie was the third Mickey Mouse film to be produced, but the first to be released. Plane Crazy and The Gallopin’ Gaucho were both made before Willie, but were released after. In all three films, Walt Disney himself provided the voices of both Mickey and Minnie Mouse. I don’t think there was much of what you’d call dialog in these three shorts, but there was lots of music and plenty of fun noises. Coming just months after the first “talkie,” Steamboat Willie must have been really impressive. My great-grandfather ran the only movie house in Richfield, Utah during the early 20's. That was probably a bit before Mickey’s time. He would have been more familiar with the stars of the silent films, like Buster Keaton, Lon Chaney, Gloria Swanson, Bela Lugosi, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks.
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