Walt Disney + Ub Iwerks: Steamboat Willy 1928 3.13

Disney’s great foundation invention was Mickey Mouse, conceived by Disney and drawn and animated by Ub Iwerks. Mickey appeared first in Steamboat Willy. Disney’s other great conceptual innovation was the animated illustration of European fairy stories. Drawing from public-domain copies of Grimm and Anderson the great fairy-story collectors of the 19th century, Disney transmuted them into comics and animated cartoons and marketed them to the newly arrived European immigrants - most of whom were learning English, and who knew the stories from childhood.

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