Mickey Mouse universe
In "Plane Crazy" (1929), the first produced Mickey Mouse story, Mickey is seen at a farm. In all of his early films Mickey is in a rural setting, but most commonly at a farm. This setting was succinctly presented in the first sentences of one of Mickey's first storybooks:
Carl W. Stalling
Disney eventually left Kansas City and moved to California in order to open a new studio. Stalling and Disney kept in touch through correspondence, and considered each other friends. In 1928, Disney was on a journey from California to New York City in order to record the sound and make the preview of "Steamboat Willie", Disney's first released sound short. During the journey he stopped at Kansas City to hire Stalling to compose film scores for two other animated shorts. Stalling composed several early cartoon scores for Walt Disney, including "Plane Crazy" and "The Gallopin' Gaucho" in 1928 (but not "Steamboat Willie", Disney's first released sound short). "Plane Crazy" and "The Gallopin' Gaucho" were originally silent films and were the first two Mickey Mouse animated short films in production.