Mickey Mouse (film series)
The name "Mickey Mouse" was first used in the films' title sequences to refer specifically to the character, but was used from 1935 to 1953 to refer to the series itself as in "Walt Disney presents a Mickey Mouse." In this sense "a Mickey Mouse" was a shortened form of "a Mickey Mouse sound cartoon" which was used in the earliest films. Films from 1929 to 1935 which were re-released during this time also used this naming convention, but it was not used for the three shorts released between 1983 and 1995 ("Mickey's Christmas Carol", "The Prince and the Pauper", and "Runaway Brain"). Mickey's name was also used occasionally to market other films which were formally part of other series. Examples of this include several "Silly Symphonies", "Don Donald" (1937), and "Goofy and Wilbur" (1939).
"Mickey Mouse" began production in April 1928 after the Disney studio lost the license to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. The first two films, "Plane Crazy" and "The Gallopin' Gaucho", were previewed in theaters but failed to pick up a distributor. For the third film, Disney added synchronized sound, a technology that was still in its early stages at the time. "Steamboat Willie" debuted in New York in November 1928 and was an instant success. The revenues from the film provided the studio with much needed resources, and the studio quickly began to produce new cartoons as well as releasing sound versions of the first two.
Donald Duck
Donald Duck rose to fame with his comedic roles in animated cartoons. Donald's first appearance was in 1934 in "The Wise Little Hen", but it was his second appearance in "Orphan's Benefit" which introduced him as a temperamental comic foil to Mickey Mouse. Throughout the next two decades, Donald appeared in over 150 theatrical films, several of which were recognized at the Academy Awards. In the 1930s, he typically appeared as part of a comic trio with Mickey and Goofy and was given his own film series in 1937 starting with "Don Donald". These films introduced Donald's love interest Daisy Duck and often included his three nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie. After the 1956 film "Chips Ahoy", Donald appeared primarily in educational films before eventually returning to theatrical animation in "Mickey's Christmas Carol" (1983). His most recent appearance in a theatrical film was 1999's "Fantasia 2000". Donald has also appeared in direct-to-video features such as "" (2004), television series such as "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" (2006–2016), and video games such as "QuackShot" (1991).