who came up with steamboat willie?
Steamboat Willie. By Dave Smith, Chief Archivist Emeritus, The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney, who would become the best-known producer in animation history, had very humble beginnings. Starting his fledgling company in Hollywood in 1923, he began by making two uninspired animated series, the âAlice Come-dies,â and âOswald the Lucky Rabbit.â But it was with his third series, featuring an enduring character, Mickey Mouse, that Walt rose to fame. That series began with the release of Steamboat Willie at the Colony Theater in New York on November 18, 1928.