The Walt Disney Company
In 1928, to recover from the loss of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Disney came up with the idea of a mouse character named Mortimer while on a train headed to California, drawing up a few simple drawings. The mouse was later renamed Mickey Mouse (Disney's wife, Lillian, disliked the sound of 'Mortimer Mouse') and starred in several Disney produced films. Ub Iwerks refined Disney's initial design of Mickey Mouse. Disney's first sound film "Steamboat Willie", a cartoon starring Mickey, was released on November 18, 1928 through Pat Powers' distribution company. It was the first Mickey Mouse sound cartoon released, but the third to be created, behind "Plane Crazy" and "The Gallopin' Gaucho". "Steamboat Willie" was an immediate smash hit, and its initial success was attributed not just to Mickey's appeal as a character, but to the fact that it was the first cartoon to feature synchronized sound. Disney used Pat Powers' Cinephone system, created by Powers using Lee de Forest's Phonofilm system. "Steamboat Willie" premiered at B. S. Moss's Colony Theater in New York City, now The Broadway Theatre. Disney's "Plane Crazy" and "The Gallopin' Gaucho" were then retrofitted with synchronized sound tracks and re-released successfully in 1929.
Topolino
In 1932 the editor Mario Nerbini decided to open a new weekly newspaper for kids, containing illustrated tales with Mickey Mouse. The first issue of "Topolino" was published on December 31, 1932: it contained Mickey's first Italian story drawn by Giove Toppi. In this story Mickey Mouse was chased by an elephant. However Nerbini hadn't correctly secured the publication rights, so when Emmanuel (Disney's representative in Italy) protested, Nerbini changed the title of the comic book into "Topo Lino" (Mouse Lino), replacing Mickey Mouse with "Topo Lino", another mouse. When Nerbini bought the publication rights from Disney and King Featured Syndacate, he changed the title back to "Topolino". Floyd Gottfredson's stories made their debut into "Topolino" #7 with a Sunday page featuring Mickey, his girlfriend Minnie Mouse, and Mickey's nephews Morty and Ferdie Fieldmouse. "Topolino" published mainly Mickey Mouse Sunday pages; the daily strips were published on the supplement to the newspaper.