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,
Walt Disney Television (production company) Walt Disney Telefilms, was a TV film production company and a division of Walt Disney Television. The division provided movies for "The Wonderful World of Disney". With the purchase of Capital Cities/ABC, Disney CEO Michael Eisner wanted to relaunch "The Wonderful World of Disney" on ABC in 1996 with a movie franchise. Walt Disney Telefilms was formed to produce films for the anthology TV series by 1995. Leah Keith was transferred from Walt Disney Pictures that year to the telefilms division. Hollywood Pictures executive vice president Charles Hirschhorn oversaw Walt Disney Telefilms as president in June 1996, reporting to Dean