In 1929, Powers sold
Walt Disney a Cinephone system so that he could make sound cartoons such as
Mickey Mouse's
Steamboat Willie (
1928). Unable to find a distributor for the sound cartoons, Disney began releasing his cartoons through Powers' company
Celebrity Pictures.
After one year of successful
Mickey Mouse and
Silly Symphonies cartoons, Walt Disney confronted Powers in 1930 about money due to Disney from the distribution deal. Powers responded by signing Disney's head animator
Ub Iwerks to an exclusive deal to create his own animations.