Alice Comedies

The ''Alice Comedies'' are a series of live-action animated shorts created by Walt Disney in the 1920s, in which a live action little girl named Alice (originally played by Virginia Davis) and an animated cat named Julius have adventures in an animated landscape. The shorts were the first work by what ultimately became The Walt Disney Company.

''Alice's Wonderland''

Disney, Ub Iwerks, and their staff made the first ''Alice Comedy'', a one- reel (ten-minute) 1923 short subject titled '' Alice's Wonderland'', while still heading the failing Laugh-O-Gram Studio in Kansas City, Missouri.

''Alice's Wonderland'' begins with Alice entering a cartoon studio to witness cartoons being created. Alice is amazed by what she sees: the cartoon characters come to life and play around. After heading to bed that night, she dreams of being in the cartoon world, welcomed by all of the characters. Alice plays with them until a group of lions break free from a cage and chase her. Though never released, this short helped set the stage for what was to come in the later ''Alice Comedies'', as it established the world as a playful dream and also introduced the elements which would soon define the series. The idea of setting a real-world girl in an animated world was at this point in film history still unique. The design and voice of the later series were all set by this original film.

The ''Alice Comedies'' series begins

After completing the film, the studio went bankrupt and was forced to shut down. After raising money by working as a freelance photographer, Disney bought a one-way train ticket to Los Angeles, California to live with his uncle Robert and his brother Roy. In California, Disney continued to send out proposals for the ''Alice'' series, in hopes of obtaining a distribution agreement. A deal was finally arranged through Winkler Pictures, run by Margaret Winkler and her fiancé, Charles Mintz. Because of a recent falling out with Pat Sullivan, the studio needed a quick replacement for their centerpiece Felix the Cat animated series. Disney convinced Davis's family to bring her from Missouri to Los Angeles to star in the series.

Shorts and subsequent releases

Walt Disney both directed and produced all 57 films in this series. Animation was done by Walt Disney, sometimes assisted by Rollin "Ham" Hamilton. Over the course of the series, four actresses played Alice: Virginia Davis (15), Margie Gay (31), Dawn O'Day (1) and Lois Hardwick (10). The film ''Alice in the Jungle'' contains only archival footage of Virginia Davis.

The shorts in this series are now all in the public domain in the United States. In 2000, Inkwell Images released ''Alice in Cartoonland – The Original Alice Comedies by Walt Disney'' in VHS, and in 2007 in DVD as part of the ''Golden Classics'' series with ten of the films as well as a documentary, poster gallery, and DVD ROM. In 2007, Kit Parker Films released another DVD called ''Alice in Cartoonland: The 35mm Collector's Set''. In 2005 and again in 2007, ten shorts in the series were released as part of the '' Walt Disney Treasures'' series. Seven were part of the ''Disney Rarities'' that was released in 2005, while three more were released as part of ''The Adventures of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit'', released in 2007.

In 2016, ''Alice'' shorts held by the EYE Film Institute in Amsterdam were restored for global re-release.

A total of 16 ''Alice Comedies'' shorts are thought to be lost, and 1 ''Alice Comedies'' short (''Alice's Auto Race'') has been partially found.

See also

* Animation in the United States during the silent era
* Oswald the Lucky Rabbit

References

External links

*

The ''Alice Comedies''
at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
Archived
from the original on April 4, 2012.
* Alice in Cartoonland - The Original Alice Comedies by Walt Disne

{{Pete (Disney) in animation

Alice Comedies,
1920s Disney animated short films
American silent short films
American animated black-and-white films
Film series introduced in 1923
Works by Walt Disney
1920s comedy films
Disney-related lists
Lost silent American films
Disney short film series
1920s American films
American films with live action and animation
Articles containing video clips