Today we reflect back on “beginnings,” specifically those of their favorite (and most iconic) classic animated characters.
They are now part of our pop culture zeitgeist, but they all had to start somewhere and here is where they did:
Mickey Mouse, Steamboat Willie (1928)
Walt Disney’s most iconic Mouse made his debut in this quaint black and white short (one of the first to use synchronized sound), playing a deckhand on a steamboat to captain Pete, who Mickey eventually rescues Minnie from.
The “Oh boy!’ amiable-host-like personality that would eventually be Mickey Mouse was definitely not in place here. In Steamboat Willie, Mickey is much more mischievous and even insubordinate (with a penchant for animal abuse, as he uses the barnyard animals as musical instruments). Through the years, his persona would most definitely mellow.
His look would also be the first of many that would become a “Mickey through the years” evolution, that has, ironically, come full-circle in the current series of Mickey Mouse shorts. His current, “Pie-eyed,” red short, white gloved, skinnier frame, could almost be “Steamboat Willie 2.0”
For Mickey Mouse, everything old truly is new again.
Betty Boop, Dizzy Dishes (1930)
The darling of Max Fleischer’s Studio’s first appearance was really a cameo in this short, but is definitely a standout and one can see the reason why she was soon given her own starring roles.
Dizzy Dishes centers on a restaurant with a floorshow, all of which is populated by anthropomorphic animals. The star is Bimbo, the cook/waiter (a dog-like character) and his efforts to run the kitchen and serve the tables.
At one point, while running frantically through the restaurant, he stops to watch the singer, who sings in a high-pitch voice and with the look of a jazz-age flapper girl (complete with curly hair and a short skirt). It seems like we are watching Betty Boop…except something is a little off.
In this cartoon, which is credited as Betty’s debut, she was actually designed as a female dog (complete with a black, button nose and floppy ears). It took about a year for Betty to be transformed into the human character we know and love. Her floppy ears became earrings and her button canine nose, became a button human nose.
One major aspect of Betty that was in place in Dizzy Dishes was her now famous voice. Here, the character was voiced by Little Ann Little, an actress and singer at the time, not by Mae Questel, who became most famous for providing Betty’s voice.
Regardless, it’s great to look back at Dizzy Dishes and see Betty’s “Boop-opp-ah-doop” already in place.
Popeye, Popeye the Sailor (1933)
The other big star of the Fleischer Studio had first made his debut in the comic strip, Thimble Theater in 1929 and it was Max and Dave Fleischer who began adapting the characters from the newspaper strip into a series of cartoon shorts.
The first was Popeye the Sailor, which was technically a “Betty Boop Cartoon” as heralded above the title, in which she simply made a cameo and gave the rest of the film over to Popeye and the gang.
The short opens centering on Popeye’s already existing popularity, showing newspapers coming off the presses with the headline; “Popeye A Movie Star: The Sailor with the “Sock” Accepts a Movie Contract!”
Everything we would come to expect from and love about Popeye is squarely in place in his debut, he even enters the short singing his theme song. The plot is, no surprise, the standard: Bluto trying to win Olive Oyl’s affections, fighting Popeye, who then eats his spinach and beats Bluto (in this first cartoon, he punches Bluto into a makeshift coffin!).
In one scene, while Popeye and Olive Oyl are at a carnival, they stop to watch Betty Boop who is performing there and Popeye even manages to jump up on stage and perform with Betty.
Popeye the Sailor also features the usual Fleischer flare for inventive sight gags (Popeye punches a fish mounted on a wall, which then transforms into cannisters of sardines) and full animation (with Olive strapped to railroad tracks, Popeye punches out a train, which collapses brilliantly like a deck of cards).
Even though this was his first film, very little here from Popeye’s appearance to the familiar paradigm of a plot changed much through the almost ninety years since his debut. As Popeye himself would say, “I Yam What I Yam!”
Bugs Bunny, A Wild Hare (1940)
Once again, as iconic as they come in animation, not just in look, but also in personality, which was all right here in what’s considered Bugs’ first appearance, in this short directed by animation legend Tex Avery.
A similar, wise-acre, unnamed rabbit had appeared two years prior in Porky’s Hare Hunt, but it was here that we got the look (albeit it would continue to be altered through the years), the persona and yes, the trademark greeting, “What’s Up, Doc?”
There have been conflicting stories as to how the line was introduced. Director Avery claims that he came up with the line, as many friends in his native Texas used it, while master voice actor Mel Blanc claims to have ad-libbed the line.
Regardless, the line has been seared into our movie lexicon and for generations, just the mention of “What’s Up, Doc?’ immediately conjures up images of Bugs Bunny.
A Wild Hare centers on a showdown between Bugs and Elmer Fudd, one that audiences would revel in many times after.
But, Bugs’ ability to outsmart and out smart-aleck the dim-witted hunter is all here (“You wouldn’t be that skwewy wabbit, would you?,” asks Elmer. “Hmmmmm….could be,” replies Bugs, after which he plants a big kiss on Fudd).
From this first cartoon, it’s good to see that not much about Bugs changed through the years and that he’s always been a “waskally wabbit!”
Woody Woodpecker, Knock Knock (1940)
Walter Lantz’ star burst into the scene in this Andy Panda cartoon, in which he tortures poor Andy and his father.
Woody’s initial personality is extremely similar to that of Bugs Bunny (who had debuted earlier the same year), but Woody has an extra dash of annoyance and insanity here that was somewhat tamed down through the years.
Fittingly, Woody’s original voice here was provided by Mel Blanc, who would eventually sign an exclusive contract for Warner Bros. and stop proving Woody’s voice after thee cartoons. However, Blanc would bring much of the character’s well-known vocal traits to Woody’s debut, including the famous laugh.
In fact, when we first meet Woody in Knock Knock he asks “Guess who?” which would become his “entrance line” in cartoons through the years.
Like many characters, Woody’s look in his debut was somewhat different from what he would become. Here, he sports a thinner, almost hammer shaped-head, buck-teeth and thicker, swollen legs.
It would be four years before Woody became streamlined, thanks to the work of animation legends Emery Hawkins and James “Shamus” Culhane, who gave the character a sleeker appearance and simpler color scheme.
One thing that didn’t change through the years was the overt penchant for “cartoon violence” that would be a big part of Woody’s future cartoons. In Knock Knock, Woody is almost done in by a shotgun and a hidden bomb. Andy eventually captures Woody by placing salt on his tail (which had been an old superstitious belief).
It’s a wonder Woody made it back for future cartoons!
Tom & Jerry, Puss Gets the Boot (1940)
They fought from their first, opening frame. The ever battling, popular cartoon pair of Tom and Jerry had a contentious relationship from the get-go in this, their first cartoon short. In fact, in the opening scene, Jerry is attempting to get away from Tom, who is holding on to the mouse’s tail.
The usual cat-and-mouse chase shenanigans ensure, except here, Tom is chastised by the (politically incorrect) maid, who informs him that she will throw him out of the house if he breaks one more thing. Jerry sees the opportunity here: if he can implement Tom (referred to as “Jasper” in this first short) he will have the house to himself.
What follows are deviously humorous scenes of Jerry attempting to cause chaos, so that Tom will be blamed, with Tom attempting to keep everything quiet. There’s an ingeniously choreographed sequence, in which Jerry knocks plates off of a shelf and Tom/Jasper runs along underneath, catching them, resulting in an ever-growing stack.
Puss Gets the Boot features what would become standard in all Tom & Jerry cartoons: a chase between the two set against a veiled plot, of sorts. William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, are said to have directed the short (with Rudolph Ising), which explains why there is so much consistency with future Tom and Jerry outings.
Jerry looks almost identical to his appearance in later cartoons, while Tom changed somewhat drastically. Here, his body is fuller (almost kitten-like) and his facial design was much different, as well.
What is firmly in place from the get-go were the personalities of the two: Tom’s obsessive tenacity and Jerry’s mischievous revenge are here on display.
Thankfully though, the decision was made to change Tom’s name, because “Jasper and Jerry” just doesn’t have the right ring to it.
These cartoon shorts just scratch the surface of the innumerable first appearances of many of other favorite classic cartoon stars. This time of year, makes it the perfect season to binge them all.
Looking back at each of them is that like watching an early performance of your favorite actor and actress, as you marvel at how far they’ve come.
Michael Lyons is a freelance writer, specializing in film, television, and pop culture. He is the author of the book, Drawn to Greatness: Disney’s Animation Renaissance, which chronicles the amazing growth at the Disney animation studio in the 1990s. In addition to Animation Scoop and Cartoon Research, he has contributed to Remind Magazine, Cinefantastique, Animation World Network and Disney Magazine. He also writes a blog, Screen Saver: A Retro Review of TV Shows and Movies of Yesteryear and his interviews with a number of animation legends have been featured in several volumes of the books, Walt’s People. You can visit Michael’s web site Words From Lyons at: 
Great article, thank you. It’s fun seeing our favorite cartoon stars traced back to their humble beginnings. For many years, my only glimpse of Betty Boop was that hula scene she did with Popeye, who became my favorite character.
It is always nice to trace characters back to their beginnings. Unless you’ve indulged these cartoons for years, and binge watched them like I do, you sometimes forget that there were “humble” beginnings to these characters. They did change over the years, as noted in some of them.
Actually, all of them change throughout the years if they last long enough. There are times when I like anthropomorphic animals to lean more toward the animal than the human in animal disguise that is what brings me to the very first Tom and Jerry cartoon. Those early ones are those that you seldom seen on television these days, and the reason is noted above in the article. That human character lasted nearly through the entire run of theatrical Hannah Barbera “Tom and Jerry“ cartoons.
However, the real charm of this series is that it lasted so long through different subplot lines. So many great cartoons to come I’m sure.
During Helen Kane’s 1934 copyright infringement lawsuit against Max Fleischer, Judge Edward J. McGoldrick offered the following description of Betty Boop: “There is the broad baby face, the large round flirting eyes, the low placed pouting mouth, the small nose, the imperceptible chin, and the mature bosom. It was a unique combination of infancy and maturity, innocence and sophistication.” All the elements of this unique combination were already apparent in “Dizzy Dishes”, and they would remain so through all the changes in Betty’s design that ensued in the coming years.
Earlier this year I read a book called “The Life and Times of Betty Boop: the 100-year History of an Animated Icon” by Peter Benjaminson, which I cannot recommend because of its plethora of factual errors and off-base interpretations. Case in point: “Dizzy Dishes”.
Benjaminson believes that the last two characters who come to the kitchen’s service window must be observant Jews because they’re both wearing hats indoors. No; the first one is clearly Jewish, but the second is obviously meant to be a German because of his accent, his little bowler hat, and the fact that he’s a dachshund. The joke is that the Jewish character is demanding ham, while the German one is requesting Jewish cuisine. The gag is not, as Benjaminson avers, a commentary on the pressure to assimilate faced by first-generation American Jews in the 1930s. Also, the German’s line is “Bagels and fishes, vhere’s my knishes? Mach schnell!”, which Benjaminson misquotes as “Bagels and bitches, I want knishes.” Bagels and bitches? Oy….
Benjaminson also considers it a “problem” that Betty has no visible neck. “Why [Grim] Natwick decided not to provide Betty with a neck has been lost in the annals of animation history,” he writes, fulminating about her necklessness for — I’m not exaggerating — the next three paragraphs. Anyone who has ever seen a cartoon has probably noticed that many cartoon characters have disproportionately large heads that occlude the space normally occupied by the neck. No need to make a shtuss about it.
I have to say I prefer the sultry, topless Betty in “Popeye the Sailor” over the canine cabaret singer in “Dizzy Dishes”. But we all have to start somewhere.
Seriously, though, I mean, really, bagels and bitches??? Where does he get that stuff?
I have three major takeaways from today’s post:
1.) 1940 is very likely one of the most important years in animation history, between all three first-timers and Disney’s Pinocchio and Fantasia combined.
2.) A Fleischer Popeye is worth every penny.
3.) It didn’t take as long as I initially thought for cartoon studios to circumvent the Hays Code.
“To view this masterpiece, would you give me a penny, for which I will gladly pay you back Tuesday?” — J. Wellington Wimpy, “Customers Wanted”
I guess Felix the Cat doesn’t rate well enough outside of cartoon historians to get his debut on this list.
Not to make it about me, but today happening to be my birthday, this post hits particularly close to home.
Great model sheet for Jasper. Whoever did it really understood cats.
Mickey and Betty both developed likable, sympathetic personalities — not unique, but still a comparative novelty. Ultimately, both were more appealing than funny. Their cartoons were often great, but the mouse and the flapper were more emcees / observers than active clowns.
By the late 30s, character animation had advanced to the point that appeal was expected. The new model was to put those personalities in the service of comedy, so we got Bugs, Woody, Tom & Jerry, and other characters who caused the laughs instead of just reacting to them.
I’m sure there’s some debate over what counts as a character’s “first” appearance.
Take Pluto, for instance.The hounds in “Chain Gang” (and especially Norm Ferguson’s animation of them) certainly laid the groundwork for Pluto, but those dogs are mere plot devices and don’t have personality. The dog in “The Picnic” is named Rover as serves as Minnie’s dog, but he has all the recognizable traits that we associate with Pluto; he’s a big clumsy mutt driven by curiosity.
As for Chip & Dale, the chipmunks in “Private Pluto” look and behave exactly the same and, again, are plot devices. In “Squatter’s Rights” gave them more humanistic designs, but they’re still very much indistinguishable. It was their third film, “Chip an’ Dale”, gave them their names, distinctive designs and personality traits (though Dale’s nose wouldn’t be red until after).
Bugs Bunny still remains a confusing example. The rabbit in “Porky’s Hare Hunt” and “Hare-um Scare-um” are very different from the Bugs that debuted in “A Wild Hare”, he was promoted by that name as early as 1939 (NOT “Happy Rabbit”, as Mel Blanc and MeTV would tell you). And don’t get me started on Egghead/Elmer.
A Wild Hare is the first official Bugs cartoon IMO. The rabbit in those Dalton/Hardaway and Jones shorts is nothing like Bugs.
I agree, Ian. The statement by some that Disney “stole” Mickey from Iwerks, besides being false, would be silly to believe simply because the early Mickey is not recognizably the modern-day happy-go-lucky nice guy invented by Disney. Happy Rabbit is the same situation, since Avery did most of the developing of Bugs’ personality.
I guess because of animation’s changing atmosphere, A Wild Hare and Puss Gets the Boot are way too slow for the series they’re in! A Wild Hare is my favorite of those, though. Knock Knock is surprisingly fast.
Re “Popeye the Sailor,” the Betty Boop hula-dance sequence was lifted from the earlier Betty Boop cartoon, “Betty Boop’s Bamboo Island.”
No doubt hoping that lightning would strike twice, Fleischer also used Betty Boop to try and introduce other comic-strip characters to animation, having her appear with The Little King, Little Jimmy, and Henry, none of which were successful enough for follow-up series.
Wikipedia says that the voice of Betty Boop here was Margie Hines, not Little Ann Little. Which is right?
It’s always a real treat to see how such iconic cartoon characters looked and sounded prior to being rewritten and redesigned into the characters we know today. I think Mickey Mouse might be the most surprising for most modern audiences seeing Mickey more like one of his most recent incarnations. Woody Woodpecker’s earliest design was a bit too clunky, it didn’t lend itself well to animation. Of all of them, Popeye seemed to be the most recognizable and consistent with his later incarnations. Also, it’s quite odd seeing how Betty Boop was initially designed as a dog considering it was all too common to see funny animal characters back then, that she seems too generic.
Seriously? “Steamboat Willie” was the first Mickey? What about “Plane Crazy” and “Gallopin’ Gaucho?” I’ll give the Bugs Bunny thing a pass, but Mickey is the same in all three.