Trivia / Steamboat Willie

• Blooper: The close-up of the cow on the dock has her losing her F.O.B. tag for a few frames on her neck just before she moos.
• Breakthrough Hit: It wasn't Mickey's true first appearance (that would be Plane Crazy), but certainly the reason why he and Walt Disney are big names in entertainment.
• Creator Backlash: According to at least one book, Walt admitted that he went too far when he had Mickey use the sow and piglets as musical instruments, and vowed he would never treat an animal that cruelly in any other cartoon.
• Cross-Dressing Voices: Walt Disney voices Minnie as well as Mickey, Pete, and the parrot.
• Deleted Scene: One scene cut from most home video releases of the short involves Mickey playing the sow like an accordion. The Walt Disney Treasures DVD release and the Celebrating Mickey Blu-ray restore this scene.
• First Appearance: Although Plane Crazy was the first short starring Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse to be produced, Steamboat Willie is the first to be released to the wider public and thus, is officially considered by Disney to be the debut appearance of both Mickey and Minnie (even though they predate this short).
• What Could Have Been: The original script pages describe scenes that were either reworked or condensed for the final film.
  • One scene had Mickey trying to console a sobbing Minnie after the goat eats her music before hitting upon his musical idea.
  • The scene of Pete confronting Mickey for goofing off was to have been a lot longer, and would have included a gag of Pete's mouth engulfing the screen and Mickey awkwardly whistling "Yankee Doodle". A similar sequence would appear in the 1929 short The Barnyard Battle.
  • The final scene, rather than being a continuation of an earlier gag with the parrot, was to simply have Mickey peeling potatoes while whistling "Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag".

---