Steamboat Willie

Music for Steamboat Willie was put together by Wilfred Jackson[?], one of Disney's animators (and not as sometimes reported by Carl Stalling). It comprises popular melodies including Steamboat Bill and Turkey in the Straw.

Although other cartoons with synchronized pre-recorded soundtracks had been produced and exhibited before (notably by Max Fleischer My Old Kentucky Home (1925)), Steamboat Willie was the first sound cartoon to attract widespread notice and popularity. The film has been close to entering the public domain several times; each time, copyright protection in the United States has been extended. (See U.S. copyright law.)

The film has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.

External links:

• The Test Screening of Steamboat Willie (http://www.filmsound.org/animation/steamboatwilly/)
• Chronology of Animation (http://www.public.iastate.edu/~rllew/chronint)