This is my remaster of the first Mickey Mouse cartoon ever made in color. It was made for the 1932 banquet for the 5th Academy Awards and was not officially. Those first several years of Disney animation continued in black and white with the creation of many more Mickey Mouse cartoons, and the introduction of the Silly Symphony shorts.
While Mickey is indisputably the genesis of Walt's blockbuster success as the Walt Disney Company, was he the first Disney character to appear in color? August 2, 1928 (test screening) Steamboat Willie - November 18, Mickey Mouse's first released and first cartoon with synchronized sound, including speech, Walt Disney 's first role as Mickey (although he speaks gibberish). Third cartoon to be produced. First Mickey Mouse short distributed by Celebrity Productions.
Most people who watch Disney cartoons featuring Mickey are used to seeing him appear in human size. However, in this early cartoon both he and Minnie are actually the size of regular mice, while their nemesis, Tom Cat (hardly an original name), is the size of a person. Needless to say, the two mice get into all sorts of hijinks.
The first color representation of Mickey Mouse was created for a cartoon shown at the 5th Academy Awards in 1932 called Parade of the Award Nominees. The first standard Mickey Mouse cartoon made in color was 1935's The Band Concert. The Band Concert is a 1935 animated short film directed by Wilfred Jackson.
It is the first Mickey Mouse cartoon in color. Mickey's band is performing a concert at the park. As the film opens they are being applauded for having just played music from Zampa.
They next begin Rossini's William Tell overture. Mickey is first disturbed by Peter Pig's vibrato trumpet playing and Paddy Pig's tuba. The first Mickey cartoon produced, Plane Crazy, suggests his mischievous side, as we see a young, scrappy Mickey looking for trouble and adventure.
One might observe him as overconfident and bold toward his female co-star, Minnie Mouse. These early days of Mickey present a happy-go-lucky character, but one that displays slight juvenile behavior. Disney chose to keep the look Mickey Mouse had in "The Pointer" but kept the pants.
Finally, by the time Mickey Mouse had reached the 1950′s and with the end of the theatrical cartoons approaching, eyebrows were added but have since been removed. Mickey first feature length film came in 1940 with "Fantasia". A few months later, the new, talking Mickey Mouse was first shown to the world in the cartoon Steamboat Willie.
Since that first appearance, Mickey Mouse has become the most recognizable cartoon character in the world. Mickey's Origins To fully understand Mickey's color, it helps to look back at his origins. Mickey was originally created by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks for animated shorts to be distributed by the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio.
The first true Mickey Mouse cartoon was 1928's Plane Crazy, which was a silent short.