Animation Design

After Steamboat Willie was released, Disney had gained huge dominance in the animation field by using sound in his future cartoons as well. During the early 1930s, animation seemed to be divided into two factions: Walt Disney and "everyone else". Mickey Mouse's popularity put the animated character into the ranks of the most popular screen personalities in the world and for a while it seemed that everything Disney touched was successful.
Merchandising based on Disney cartoons rescued a number of companies from bankruptcy during the depths of the Depression, and Disney took advantage of this popularity to move forward with further innovations in animation. He worked with the Technicolor company to implement their new full-color three-strip process, first used in the Disney short Flowers and Trees (1932). After the success of this cartoon, Disney negotiated a two-year exclusive deal with Technicolor for use of the three-strip process in animated films; the deal was later extended three extra years. Disney also developed the idea of lifelike realism in animation to a degree that has rarely been surpassed since his time.
Continuing emphasis on story development and characterization resulted in yet another smash hit for Disney: Three Little Pigs (1933), which is seen as the first cartoon in which multiple characters displayed unique, individual personalities; the cartoon is still considered to be the most successful animated short of all time, and also featured the hit song that became the anthem in fighting the Great Depression "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf". In 1937, Disney was the first to use advanced multi-plane camera shots in his Silly Symphony cartoon The Old Mill. Much of Disney's work was heavily influenced by European stories and myths, and the work of illustrators such as Doré and Busch. By 1934, Mickey was also making 600,000.00 a year in merchandise and cartoons.
Disney had competitors, though none were able to topple his studio from the throne of animation until the 1940s. Disney's greatest competitor during the silent era, the Pat Sullivan studio, faced its downfall after an uninspired attempt at bringing Felix the Cat into the sound medium; Sullivan put sound into Felix cartoons that had already been drawn. Without another star power competitor for Mickey, this downfall was a big break for Disney, as Mickey's popularity would afterwards skyrocket throughout the early 1930s. In addition, Disney was able to make Mickey more appealing among theater audiences by colorizing and partially redesigning him in 1935. Mickey was later redesigned again when the production of the Sorcerer's Apprentice segment for Fantasia began in 1938, and was regarded as Mickey's most appealing design.