Thread by @connorratliff

To celebrate #MickeyMouse's 90th birthday, I am gonna watch every MM theatrical cartoon in chronological order (and maybe a few other things, too).

I'm gonna try to limit it to one per day, which means this will take MONTHS.

#Mickey90
#MickeyTrueOriginal
#Mickeys90thCelebration

I have seen a lot of the classic shorts, but certainly not all of them. And it's been a while. So this should be fun, watching the way the MM character changes & develops over time.

(I have owned these DVDs a long time now without watching most of what is on them.)

"The World's Funniest Cartoon Character" is how he was billed in the early days, but on the recent #Mickey90 TV special did anyone talk about MM being funny? (I genuinely don't recall, maybe someone did. But they definitely no longer tried to argue that he's the "funniest").

November 18, 1928: "Steamboat Willie"

I almost didn't start with this one, since it wasn't the first MM short Walt & Ub Iwerks made. But it's the classic, agreed-upon 1st one, and it feels snobby to start out with anything else. This is where it all began.

The big wow, obviously, is that this is the first cartoon with a synchronized soundtrack-- ie the sounds line up with the actions. It seems so simple now but that whistling was a big deal in 1928.

Terrific opening shot of the titular boat.

Also, technically this isn't the 1st cartoon with synchronized sound, but that felt impolite to say right out of the gate. There were others, but this one was funny & popular & is sort-of remembered as the 1st "sound cartoon."

Iconic 1st shot of Mickey. This is a star-making moment.

Fun steam whistles

Closed auction for a production drawing of one of those steam whistles; it sold for $1,346! I hope whoever owns it has it displayed nicely somewhere.

The first thing that happens to Mickey is he gets his guts pulled out by his boss, then tucks them back in. This is the kind of thing that would happen to Oswald The Lucky Rabbit.

Actually, THIS is the record to beat for most miserable moment. Will anything worse than this ever happen to Mickey Mouse? We shall see.

I can picture 2018 Pete at a Trump rally. I can also picture him in Trump's cabinet or maybe even on the Supreme Court.

(I won't apologize for this thread ever being anti-Trump. Mickey Mouse would be, 100%.)

This is also the 90th birthday of Minnie Mouse, who makes her first appearance here, running late for the boat & bringing on board a ukulele & some sheet music which is all instantly eaten by a goat

Gonna point out some callbacks to the Oswald The Lucky Rabbit series...

I mean, that looks like the exact same hook, doesn't it?

Goat eating sheet music and a ukulele...

It's a small world, after all...

Oswald does this all on his own...

While with Mickey & Minnie, it's a collaborative effort:

Also: "Turkey In The Straw HEY! HEY!"

I still maintain that someone should have played this song at that #Mickey90 concert.

Big fun being had by Mickey & Minnie but also a lot of tormenting the livestock in order to make music happen.

Not a good look, Mickey.

(Oh man, we are gonna uncover a LOT of unfortunate clips in this thread, aren't we? Is Mickey gonna hafta hold some kind of press conference or put out a statement?)

I know this isn't Donald, but I am gonna argue that it IS and that Mickey is the reason his voice is all fucked up.

More footage of Mickey that he would prefer no one see in 2018:

A) yes, Pete is an asshole but he's not wrong to be upset here. Mickey is the one who is out-of-line
B) Mickey is objectively terrible at peeling potatoes
C) Mickey's final moment of triumph is hitting a bird with a potato. No one showed that clip on the #Mickey90 special

This doesn't feel like the same mouse that people like Bob Iger were making speeches about. I would argue that we are almost in anti-hero territory here in short #1...

"A Walt Disney Comic"

If anyone wants to own an original production drawing from "Steamboat Willie," you can find some for just over 3 grand on ebay. On the one hand, that's a lot of money; on the the other, it's less than I thought it would be.

Celebrating #Mickey90 in 90 seconds! (I'll be doing it for 90+ days...)

(Also, if anyone happens to have a spare button for #Mickey90, I would like one of these...)

December 30, 1928: "The Gallopin' Gaucho"

This one was actually made BEFORE "Steamboat Willie" and it features Mickey as a swashbuckling hero with a mischievous streak. Drinking & smoking & other forms of misbehavior by Mickey Mouse, this is when he was WILD

This version of Mickey Mouse rarely gets talked about anymore, but he shows up & immediately all eyes are on him. He's hot shit and he KNOWS it. We aren't yet to the point where Mickey speaks, but I would argue that there's no way *this* mouse speaks in a high-pitched voice.

Mickey enters, riding an ostrich

Mickey doesn't use the front door, leaps in via the 2nd story window. Cantino Argentino looks lively. Minnie Mouse is dancing and the guitar player is INTO it.

Mickey is so cool that he is confident about being disgusting: teeth flying out to catch his cigarette, using his bare feet to light a match

Here is one image you won't be seeing on any #Mickey90 #MickeyTrueOriginal merch:

Mickey Mouse is still alive at 90 despite smoking cigarettes before he even turned one year old. Do not use him as a role model unless you are a cartoon mouse.

This is the first time it has ever occurred to me that Mickey Mouse could end up on the Supreme Court

He throws a glass mug out a 2nd story window without a moment's hesitation.

Pete escapes riding a mule, Mickey pursues him on his ostrich who is now drunk. Pete goes into some building. Ostrich & Mule are treated poorly, like many "real" animals in cartoons from this era...

Mickey Mouse yells at drunken ostrich.

It is possible-- though I have not done the research to be certain-- that this is a cinematic first, that no one had yelled at a drunken ostrich prior to this film.

#Mickey90
#MickeyTrueOriginal

Pete flattens his mule and then appears to drag its corpse along by the neck.

(Don't worry, the mule is not dead! Just horribly mistreated)

Mickey's ingenious stunt appears to ruin this poor ostrich. Mickey feels no guilt, only rage.
#Mickey90
#MickeyTrueOriginal

Legitimately ominous

A daring rescue w/some lively swordfighting. Peg Leg Pete ends up with what appears to be a chamber pot on his head.

This was no doubt exciting stuff to watch in a movie theater back in 1928 & I bet if you put this in front of a movie even now, it would still play pretty well

Peg Leg Pete hates women

Mickey stabbing Peg Leg Pete directly in the ass

And again

Peg Leg Pete removes Mickey's shorts and not only does it not throw Mickey off his game, he seems invigorated by it

When Mickey & Minnie kiss, they momentarily look EXACTLY like Oswald The Lucky Rabbit & his girlfriend. I wonder if this was a deliberate middle finger to Charles Mintz, the producer who screwed Walt & Ub Iwerks out of the character they created.

And that is Day 2! Personally, I think "Gallopin' Gaucho" is more fun than "Steamboat Willie" but so far this thread is off to a great start and I am excited to tear through these cartoons.

I wanna recommend a few books while I'm at it...

First, I'll mention a book I have yet to actually read because I only just discovered that it exists! But I will be reading it very soon bc its subject is Ub Iwerks, who co-created Mickey Mouse & is/was a semi-forgotten animation great. By @Jeff__Ryan:

amazon.com/dp/B07DMNTNJ3/…

Next, I'll mention the book I grew up reading, @leonardmaltin's Of Mice And Magic. I checked this out from the library constantly as a child, eventually realized I needed to own it. It isn't just Disney, it covers all early 20th century American animation: amazon.com/dp/0452259932/…

Finally, I'll mention this monstrous/impressive new @TASCHEN book for people who are not messing around.

It is huge & heavy & expensive but also you will probably know from a single glance whether or not you MUST own a book this huge about Mickey Mouse.

amazon.com/dp/3836552841/…

I visited the pop-up shop for the #MickeyTrueOriginal exhibit in NYC and the second I saw this book I was a goner.

(I justified the high cost as a "business expense" as if this twitter thread is my job or something.)

Look how much content is in this book JUST about today's short! I do not regret buying this gigantic big stupid wonderful book