In 1928, Walt Disney made film history whenhis studio released Steamboat Willie, the first animated talkie and the first cartoon to feature Mickey Mouse. Although Disney proved to be forward-thinking with regard to sound and later groundbreaking cinematic technologies, his greatest influence was rooted firmly in the past: Charlie Chaplin, the master of the silent era. In 1964, by which time Chaplin’s Tramp and. Disney’s Mouse had become two of the most recognizable icons of the filmmaking industry, Frank Rasky wrote in the Toronto Star Weekly that ‘‘[Walt] Disney and Charlie Chaplin are the only two authentic geniuses that Hollywood ever spawned’’ (10). By understanding the connections between these two filmmakers and their works, one can better grasp how Chaplin influenced Disney and how they both reflected and affected American culture and audience sensibilities in the twentieth century.
[…]
