animator ub iwerks. the "steamboat willie" cartoon with mickey mouse was the first cartoon ever to have synchronized sound. but that's not all it had. one of mickey's early animators was ward kimball. >> i think mickey succeeded because of walt's genius at making a little story. most of the films at that time, in the late '20s, they just had gags one after another. but he always insisted on a story for mickey. >> reporter: 60 years ago, mickey was kind of crude. and for that matter, somewhat undernourished. >> like everybody, i've changed a bit over the years. at first i was kind of scrawny. but as my pictures caught on, i put on a little weight, got kind of rounder. >> reporter: mickey's pictures began to catch on in a very big way in the 1930s. 87 movies in that decade alone. 119 overall. they've been seen virtually