The Walt Disney Company and starred in several Disney produced films. Ub Iwerks refined Disney's initial design of Mickey Mouse. Disney's first sound film "Steamboat Willie", a cartoon starring Mickey, was released on November 18, 1928 through Pat Powers' distribution company. It was the first Mickey Mouse sound cartoon released, but the third to be created, behind "Plane Crazy" and "The Gallopin' Gaucho". "Steamboat Willie" was an immediate smash hit, and its initial success was attributed not just to Mickey's appeal as a character, but to the fact that it was the first cartoon to feature synchronized sound. Disney used Pat Powers' Cinephone system,
The Walt Disney Company Walt's son-in-law Ron Miller, each trained by Walt and Roy. While Walt Disney Productions continued releasing family-friendly films throughout the 1970s, such as "Escape to Witch Mountain" (1975) and "Freaky Friday" (1976), the films did not fare as well at the box office as earlier material. However, the animation studio saw success with "Robin Hood" (1973), "The Rescuers" (1977), and "The Fox and the Hound" (1981). As head of the studio, Miller attempted to make films to drive the profitable teenage market who generally passed on seeing Disney films. Inspired by the popularity of "Star Wars", Disney produced the science-fiction