Mickey Mouse and Ub Iwerks. Iwerks again served as the head animator, assisted by Johnny Cannon, Les Clark, Wilfred Jackson and Dick Lundy. This short was intended as a parody of Buster Keaton's "Steamboat Bill, Jr.", first released on May 12 of the same year. Although it was the third Mickey cartoon produced, it was the first to find a distributor, and thus is considered by The Disney Company as Mickey's debut. "Willie" featured changes to Mickey's appearance (in particular, simplifying his eyes to large dots) that established his look for later cartoons and in numerous Walt Disney films. The cartoon was
Steamboat Bill, Jr. Harbaugh useless but "on the payroll". The film, named after a popular Arthur Collins 1911 song, "Steamboat Bill", also featured Ernest Torrence, Marion Byron, and Tom Lewis. In 2016, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. The film is known for what might be considered Keaton's most famous film stunt: The facade of an entire house falls on top of him while he stands in the perfect spot to pass through the open attic window instead of being flattened. William "Steamboat Bill" Canfield is the owner and captain of