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0:00 Early Version and Final Version Comparison 7:53 Deleted Scenes and Unused Shots Here’s a comparison of an early version and the final version of the iconic animated short that made Disney a household name, Steamboat Willie which started the first public appearance of Mickey Mouse and was released in theaters on November 18, 1928, 95 years ago. Despite this short is regarded one of the most revolutionary and beloved animation media of all time especially since the short recently along with Mickey Mouse himself (only the older design of the character) entered the public domain in 2024 there seems to be missing media from this iconic piece of Disney history. In fact this seems like one of the earliest pieces of Lost Media from Disney in existence. The storyboards from the short seems like it hasn’t fully surfaced online which is only partially available, it was officially released on the Walt Disney Treasures Mickey Mouse in Black and White DVD back in the 2000s but only the script and most storyboards from the short were included which some storyboards can also be seen at the Disney Studio Lot in Burbank, California along with the original script but the rest of the storyboards remain unavailable. And not just that there appears to be deleted scenes in some storyboards and the script like a scene of Minnie crying which can’t be seen on the DVD from the 2000s and no where else besides some web pages online, an unused close up shot of Pete, and the ending is different compared to the final version which Mickey doesn’t throw a potato at the parrot and whistles a song. Which this begs the question. Did these scenes got far into production? Were they recorded? Were they animated? It’s possible an early version of the short was shown to a test audience, according to Wikipedia a partly finished version of the short was shown at a test screening on July 29, 1928, but it’s unknown if the deleted scenes from the storyboards were shown. Interestingly scenes were cut in the 1953 theatrical release as well as tv airings of the short scenes like after Mickey pulls nursing piglets in tune to music, he removes them and plays on their mother's teats like an accordion. Another one of Mickey pulling on a cat’s tail but those scenes have been restored on home video releases of the short including Disney Plus. It’s also not the only pieces of media from this short that are missing, Wikipedia mentions the music in the final soundtrack was performed by the Green Brothers Novelty Band and was conducted by Carl Edouarde. Joe and Lew Green from the band also assisted in timing the music to the film. The first attempt to synchronize the recording with the film, done on September 15, 1928, was a disaster. Disney had to sell his Moon roadster in order to finance a second recording. This was a success, with the addition of a filmed bouncing ball to keep the tempo. So there’s possibly early recordings of the soundtrack of the short were made and footage of a bouncing ball that was made for the screening of the short but since it was probably shown only once and it’s been over 95 years since it’s been released it’s likely material of it doesn’t exist anymore and will probably be lost forever unless Disney somehow has the early soundtrack recordings in their archives. And the deleted scenes, the unused shots, shown in the storyboards as whether if they got far into production or not and the whereabouts of the rest of the storyboards from this piece of Disney and Animation history will remain a mystery. And it’s unfortunately likely that these pieces of media will never surface unless they are somehow very deep in Disney’s vault. Sources: #steamboatwillie #lostmedia
