The Steamboat Willie riverboat is the riverboat from Mickey Mouse's debut cartoon captained by Pete, who had Mickey working as his cabin boy.
According to Dave Smith, the boat officially has no name, with the short's title (a reference to the Buster Keaton film, Steamboat Bill, Jr., itself a take on the song "Steamboat Bill") instead being the name of the character Mickey plays in the short. Despite this, however, the boat has been named Steamboat Willie (or just simply "Willie") in some official Disney media.
Appearances[]
Steamboat Willie[]
In the original short, the boat is first seen being steered by Mickey (nicknamed Steamboat Willie in this short), playing about in Pete's cabin as if he were the captain. Pete catches him in the act and orders him to get back down to the deck. The boat is brought to Podunk Landing where Mickey has to load a cow onto the deck. When Mickey then sees Minnie Mouse wanting to hitch a ride onto the boat, he uses the ship's crane to bring her on deck, but the goat on deck eats Minnie's fiddle and sheet music. Mickey and Minnie then spend the afternoon playing "Turkey in the Straw" with all the animals on the boat, but Pete eventually puts an end to this and makes Mickey go peel potatoes as punishment.