Walt Disney Tells a Cat to Mind its Manners (1931)
When Ub Iwerks and Walt Disney dreamed up a cartoon mouse that looked like a descendant of their Oswald the Rabbit character. Disney’s distributor sold off Oswald’s rights, forcing the creative duo to create another character that would remain in their (officially patented) control. While Ub was the quiet designer of the infamous mouse, Walk Disney became the literal and figurative voice of the character, and eventually the face of the empire.
This 1931 photo shows the jovial side of Walt Disney, scolding a cat for getting too close to his creation. The mouse was already revolutionary, even early on. Steamboat Willie, starring Mickey Mouse, was the first “synchronized sound” cartoon, changing animation forever, debut in 1928. Still six years away from their first hit feature Snow White, Disney and Iwerks could not have foreseen the mega global stardom their character would achieve in its first hundred years.
