Mickey Mouse is an American cartoon character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime icon and mascot of the Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red shorts, large shoes, and white gloves. He is often depicted with a cast of characters including his girlfriend Minnie Mouse, his pet dog Pluto, his friends Donald Duck and Goofy, and his nemesis Pete.
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit is an animated cartoon character created in 1927 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks for Universal Pictures. He starred in several animated short films released to theaters from 1927 to 1938. Twenty-seven animated Oswald shorts were produced at the Walt Disney Studio. After Universal took control of Oswald's character in 1928, Disney created a new character similar in appearance to Oswald as a replacement: Mickey Mouse, who went on to become the most famous cartoon character in the world.
Plane Crazy is a 1929 American animated short film directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The cartoon, released by the Walt Disney Studios, is the first finished project to feature appearances of Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse, and was originally a silent film. It was given a test screening to a theater audience and potential distributors on May 15, 1928. An executive from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer saw the film, but the film failed to pick up a distributor. Later that year, Disney released Mickey's first sound cartoon, Steamboat Willie, which was an enormous success; Plane Crazy was officially released as a sound cartoon on March 17, 1929. It was the fourth Mickey film to be given a wide release after Steamboat Willie, The Gallopin' Gaucho and The Barn Dance (1929).
Minnie Mouse is an American cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. As the longtime sweetheart of Mickey Mouse, she is an anthropomorphic mouse with white gloves, a red or pink bow, blue polka-dotted dress, white bloomers and yellow low-heeled shoes occasionally with ribbons on them.
The Gallopin' Gaucho is a 1928 American animated short film and the second short film featuring Mickey Mouse to be produced, following Plane Crazy and preceding Steamboat Willie. The Disney studios completed the silent version in August 1928, but did not release it in order to work on Steamboat Willie. The Gallopin' Gaucho was released, with sound, after Steamboat Willie on December 30 of the same year.
"Steamboat Bill" is a 1910 song with music by the vaudeville group The Leighton Brothers and lyrics by Ren Shields. It became one of the first hit recordings in the United States through its 1911 recording by Arthur Collins, mostly known as the music in Disney's Steamboat Willie, the first released Mickey Mouse sound cartoon. Steamboat Bill also appeared in the 1928 Buster Keaton film Steamboat Bill, Jr.
The Skeleton Dance is a 1929 Silly Symphony animated short subject with a comedy horror theme. It was produced and directed by Walt Disney and animated by Ub Iwerks. In the film, four human skeletons dance and make music around a spooky graveyard—a modern film example of medieval European "danse macabre" imagery. It is the first entry in the Silly Symphony series. In 1993, to coincide with the opening of Mickey's Toontown in Disneyland, a shortened cover of the cartoon's music was arranged to be featured in the land's background ambiance. The short's copyright was renewed in 1957, and as a published work from 1929, it entered the US public domain on January 1, 2025.
The Mad Doctor is a Mickey Mouse cartoon released in 1933. It is known as the first appearance of the title character "The Mad Doctor", or "Dr. XXX". It was the 52nd Mickey Mouse short film, and the second of that year.
Fiddlesticks is a theatrical animated short film directed and animated by Ub Iwerks, in his first cartoon since he departed from Walt Disney's studio. The short features Iwerks' character Flip the Frog. It is the first complete sound cartoon to be photographed in color.
Steamboat Willie is a 1928 American animated short film directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. It was produced in black and white by Walt Disney Animation Studios and was released by Pat Powers, under the name of Celebrity Productions. The cartoon is considered the public debut of Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse, although both appeared months earlier in a test screening of Plane Crazy and the then yet unreleased The Gallopin' Gaucho. Steamboat Willie was the third of Mickey's films to be produced, but it was the first to be distributed, because Disney, having seen The Jazz Singer, had committed himself to produce one of the first fully synchronized sound cartoons.
The Birthday Party is a Mickey Mouse short animated film first released on January 2, 1931, as part of the Mickey Mouse film series. It was the twenty-fifth Mickey Mouse short to be produced, the first of that year.
The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse is an American animated television series produced by Disney Television Animation for Disney+. The series is a continuation and revival of the Emmy Award-winning 2013 Mickey Mouse shorts, uses the same style, and has many of the same cast and crew, with the exception of the late Russi Taylor, who was replaced by Kaitlyn Robrock in the role of Minnie Mouse. The series premiered on November 18, 2020 to coincide with Mickey's 92nd birthday. The animation is provided by Mercury Filmworks.
When a work's copyright expires, it enters the public domain. The following is a list of creators whose works entered the public domain in 2024. Since laws vary globally, the copyright status of some works are not uniform.
Under the Copyright Term Extension Act, books published in 1928, films released in 1928, and other works published in 1928, enter the public domain in 2024. Sound recordings that were published in 1923 enter the public domain.
Infestation: Origins is an upcoming survival horror game developed and published by Nightmare Forge Games. The game is known for featuring Mickey Mouse as he appeared in the 1928 animated short film Steamboat Willie. It was announced on January 1, 2024, after the short entered the public domain in the United States. The game was released in early access on November 15, 2024.
The Mouse Trap is a 2024 Canadian slasher film directed, shot and edited by Jamie Bailey and written by Simon Phillips. It is a horror reimagining of Walt Disney's 1928 animated short film Steamboat Willie, the first appearance of Mickey Mouse. The film stars Phillips as a hypnotized manager masked as Mickey, who traps and terrorizes a group of friends inside an amusement arcade.
The Vanishing of S.S. Willie is a 2024 short horror film written and directed by Nick Lives. It uses the American public domain status of the short animated film Steamboat Willie, featuring the earliest version of Mickey Mouse.
Screamboat is an upcoming American slasher film, co-written, produced, and directed by Steven LaMorte. It is a horror reimagining of Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks's 1928 animated short film, Steamboat Willie. The film follows a group of New Yorkers who are terrorized by a monstrous rat; it stars Tyler Posey and Kailey Hyman, with David Howard Thornton portraying Steamboat Willie.
Mouse: P.I. for Hire is an upcoming first-person shooter game that is being developed by Poland-based Fumi Games and Australian publisher PlaySide Studios Limited. Loosely based on character designs from the early Mickey Mouse cartoons, it is scheduled to be released in 2025.
