Happy Birthday, Mickey!

Today was Mickey's 80th birthday:

Eighty years ago, one of the world's most beloved stars was born as Mickey Mouse whistled his way onto the silver screen with the cinema debut of "Steamboat Willie" at the Colony Theater in New York.

That day, November 18, 1928, is widely considered the iconic mouse's official birthday. But months before, Walt Disney had dreamt up the cartoon character and featured it in the short animated film "Plane Crazy."

"'Steamboat Willie' is the most famous of the early Mickey Mouse films because it has a soundtrack," Eric Smoodin, a professor of film studies at the University of California, Davis, told AFP.

"Mickey Mouse, within a year or two after Steamboat Willie, becomes the biggest star in the world," Smoodin said.

Read the whole thing.

Unfortunately, today is also the fifth anniversary of the date Steamboat Willie should have entered into the pulic domain.

Here is the cartoon that started it all: