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
Wilfred Jackson Wilfred Jackson Wilfred Jackson (Chicago, Illinois, January 24, 1906 – Newport Beach, California, August 7, 1988) was an American animator, arranger, composer and director best known for his work on the "Mickey Mouse" and "Silly Symphonies" series of cartoons and the two segments "Night on Bald Mountain" and "Ave Maria" of "Fantasia" from Walt Disney Productions. He was also instrumental in developing the system with which Disney added music and sound to Steamboat Willie, the first Mickey Mouse cartoon. Several of the Silly Symphony shorts he directed, including "The Old Mill" (1937), won Academy Awards during the 1930s. Starting with