Mickey Mouse had starred in two shorts – Plane Crazy and Gallopin’ Gaucho – before the film that made his name, Steamboat Willie. Unlike these earlier efforts, though, Steamboat Willie featured synchronised sound.

In November 1928, this was a huge deal. The Jazz Singer had given audiences a glimpse of soundtracked films the previous year, and Disney has recognised that the industry was gripped by a game-changing transformation. In pioneering the sound for Steamboat Willie, he also remade the existing Mickey Mouse shorts with sound.

Accepting and adopting technological advances turned out to be one of Walt’s strengths. In 1932 he signed an exclusive deal with Technicolor to produce Mickey Mouse and his popular Silly Symphonies series in colour. The success of these shows allowed Walt to think about something more ambitious.