Ub Iwerks in the context of "The Birds (film)"

Anthropomorphism (from the Greek words "ánthrōpos" (ἄνθρωπος), meaning "human," and "morphē" (μορφή), meaning "form" or "shape") is the attribution of human form, character, or attributes to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to abstract concepts such as nations, emotions, and natural forces, such as seasons and weather. Both have ancient roots as storytelling and artistic devices, and most cultures have traditional fables with anthropomorphized animals as characters. People have also routinely attributed human emotions and behavioral traits to wild as well as domesticated animals.

Mickey Mouse is a cartoon character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime icon and mascot of the Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red shorts, large shoes, and white gloves. He is often depicted with a cast of characters including his girlfriend Minnie Mouse, his pet dog Pluto, his best friends Donald Duck and Goofy, and his nemesis Pete.

Mickey was created as a replacement for a prior Disney character, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. The character was originally to be named "Mortimer Mouse", until Disney's wife, Lillian, suggested "Mickey". Mickey first appeared in two 1928 shorts Plane Crazy and The Gallopin' Gaucho (which were not picked up for distribution) before his public debut in Steamboat Willie (1928). The character went on to appear in over 130 films, mostly shorts as well as features such as Fantasia (1940). Since 1930, Mickey has been featured extensively in comic strips (including the Mickey Mouse comic strip, which ran for 45 years) and comic books (such as Mickey Mouse). The character has also been featured in television series such as The Mickey Mouse Club (1955–1996).

Walter Elias Disney (/ˈdɪzni/ DIZ-nee; December 5, 1901 – December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film producer, he holds the record for most Academy Awards won (22) and nominations (59) by an individual. He was presented with two Golden Globe Special Achievement Awards and an Emmy Award, among other honors. Several of his films are included in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress and have also been named as some of the greatest films ever by the American Film Institute.

Born in Chicago in 1901 and raised largely in Missouri, Disney developed an early interest in drawing. He took art classes as a boy and took a job as a commercial illustrator at the age of 18. He moved to California in the early 1920s and set up the Disney Brothers Studio (now the Walt Disney Company) with his brother Roy. With Ub Iwerks, he developed the character Mickey Mouse in 1928, his first highly popular success; he also provided the voice for his creation in the early years. As the studio grew, he became more adventurous, introducing synchronized sound, full-color three-strip Technicolor, feature-length cartoons and technical developments in cameras. The results, seen in features such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Pinocchio, Fantasia (both 1940), Dumbo (1941), and Bambi (1942), furthered the development of animated film. New animated and live-action films followed after World War II, including Cinderella (1950), Sleeping Beauty (1959), and Mary Poppins (1964), the last of which received five Academy Awards.

Steamboat Willie is a 1928 American animated short film directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. It was produced in black-and-white by the Walt Disney Studio and was released by Pat Powers, under the name of Celebrity Productions. The cartoon is considered the public debut of Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse, although both appeared months earlier in a test screening of Plane Crazy and the then unreleased The Gallopin' Gaucho. Steamboat Willie is the third of Mickey's films to have been produced, but it is the first to have been distributed, because Disney had seen The Jazz Singer (1927) and became determined to produce one of the first fully synchronized sound cartoons.

Steamboat Willie is one of the first cartoons with synchronized sound, and one of the first cartoons to feature a fully post-produced soundtrack, which distinguished it from earlier sound cartoons, such as Inkwell Studios's Song Car-Tunes (1924–1926), My Old Kentucky Home (1926), and Van Beuren Studios's Dinner Time (1928). Disney believed that synchronized sound was the future of film.

Pete (also named Peg Leg Pete, Bad Pete, and Black Pete, among other names) is a cartoon character created by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks of The Walt Disney Company. Pete is traditionally depicted as the villainous arch-nemesis of Mickey Mouse, and was made notorious for his repeated attempts to kidnap Minnie Mouse. Pete is the oldest continuing Disney character, having debuted in the cartoon Alice Solves the Puzzle in 1925. He originally bore the appearance of an anthropomorphic bear, but with the advent of Mickey in 1928, he was defined as a cat.

Pete appeared in 67 animated short films between 1925 and 1954, having been featured in the Alice Comedies and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoons, and later in the Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy cartoons. During World War II, he played the long-suffering sergeant trying to make a soldier out of Donald Duck in a series of animated shorts.

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, also known as Oswald the Rabbit, Oswald Rabbit, and Ozzie, is an animated cartoon character created in 1927 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks for Universal Pictures. He starred in several animated short films released to theaters from 1927 to 1938. Twenty-seven animated Oswald shorts were produced at the Walt Disney Studio. After Universal took control of Oswald's character in 1928, Disney created Mickey Mouse as a replacement to Oswald.

In 2003, Buena Vista Games pitched a concept for an Oswald-themed video game to then-Disney President and future-CEO Bob Iger, who became committed to acquiring the rights to Oswald. In 2006, The Walt Disney Company acquired the trademark of Oswald (with NBCUniversal effectively trading Oswald for the services of Al Michaels as play-by-play announcer on NBC Sunday Night Football).

Plane Crazy is a 1928 American animated short film directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The cartoon, released by Walt Disney Animation Studios, is the first finished project to feature appearances of Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse, and was originally a silent film. It was given a test screening to a theater audience and potential distributors on May 15, 1928. An executive from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer saw the film, but the film failed to pick up a distributor. Later that year, Disney released Mickey's first sound cartoon, Steamboat Willie, which was an enormous success; Plane Crazy was officially released as a sound cartoon on March 17, 1929. It was the fourth Mickey film to be given a wide release after Steamboat Willie, as well as The Gallopin' Gaucho and The Barn Dance (1929).