In 1928, Disney and a little cartoon mouse named Mickey became stars of the silver screen. The first-ever animated film with synchronized sound, "Steamboat Willie tells the story of Mickey the steamboat pilot and his determination to impress Minnie Mouse.

The untold story of ten critical, formative years in the great producer's life

In Birth of an Industry, Nicholas Sammond describes how popular early American cartoon characters were derived from blackface minstrelsy. He charts the industrialization of animation in the early twentieth century, its representation in the cartoons themselves, and how important blackface minstrels were to that performance, standing in for the frustrations of animation workers. Cherished cartoon characters, such as Mickey Mouse and Felix the Cat, were conceived and developed using blackface minstrelsy's visual and performative conventions: these characters are not like minstrels; they are minstrels. They play out the social, cultural, political, and racial anxieties and desires that link race to the laboring body, just as live minstrel show performers did. Carefully examining how early animation helped to naturalize virulent racial formations, Sammond explores how cartoons used laughter and sentimentality to make those stereotypes seem not only less cruel, but actually pleasurable. Although the visible links between cartoon characters and the minstrel stage faded long ago, Sammond shows how important those links are to thinking about animation then and now, and about how cartoons continue to help to illuminate the central place of race in American cultural and social life.

Originally published in "Good Housekeeping" magazine, these 50 legendary one-page features translated Disney's newest releases into rollicking comic poems illustrated by master Disney painters Tom Wood and Hank Porter.

Includes full descriptions of all Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, Pluto, and Goofy cartoons; the story of Mickey's birth; the Disney Channel Premiere films and Disney television shows; the Disney parks; Disney Academy Awards and Emmy Awards; the Mouseketeers throughout the years; and details of Disney company personnel and primary actors.

"(Almost) everything you wanted to know about Mickey Mouse! Thousands of facts, quotes, and stories about Walt Disney's famous alter-ego." -- Back cover.

From Mickey Mouse to Hercules