The ''Alice Comedies'' are a series of

live-action animated Live-action animation is a film genre that combines live-action filmmaking with animation. Projects that are both live-action and computer animation tend to have fictional characters or figures represented and characterized by cast members through ...

shorts created by

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...

in the 1920s, in which a live action little girl named Alice (originally played by

Virginia Davis Virginia Davis (December 31, 1918 – August 15, 2009) was an American child actress in films. She is best known for working with Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks on the animated short series ''Alice Comedies'', in which she portrayed the protagonist ...

) and an animated cat named

Julius Julius may refer to: People * Julius (name), a masculine given name and surname (includes a list of people with the name) * Julius (nomen), the name of a Roman family (includes a list of Ancient Romans with the name) ** Julius Caesar (100– ...

have adventures in an animated landscape. The shorts were the first work by what ultimately became

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...

''Alice's Wonderland''

Disney,

Ub Iwerks Ubbe Ert "Ub" Iwerks ( ; March 24, 1901 – July 7, 1971), was an American animator, cartoonist, character designer, Invention, inventor, and special effects technician, known for his work with Walt Disney Animation Studios in general, and f ...

, and their staff made the first ''Alice Comedy'', a one-

reel A reel is a tool used to store elongated and flexible objects (e.g. yarns/ cords, ribbons, cables, hoses, etc.) by wrapping the material around a cylindrical core known as a '' spool''. Many reels also have flanges (known as the ''rims'') arou ...

(ten-minute) 1923

short subject A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film or ...

titled ''

Alice's Wonderland ''Alice's Wonderland'' is a 1923 Walt Disney short silent film, produced in Kansas City, Missouri by Laugh-O-Gram Studio. The black-and-white short was the first in a series of Walt Disney's famous ''Alice Comedies'' and had a working title of ...

'', while still heading the failing

Laugh-O-Gram Studio The Laugh-O-Gram Studio (also called Laugh-O-Gram Studios) was an animation studio located on the second floor of the McConahay Building at 1127 East 31st in Kansas City, Missouri, that operated from June 28, 1921, to October 16, 1923. In Animati ...

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

. ''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 Roy or Roi is a masculine given name and a family surname with varied origins. France In France, this family name originated from the Normans, the descendants of Norse Vikings who migrated to Amigny, a commune in Manche, Normandy.. The deriva ...

. 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 Margaret J. Winkler Mintz (Winkler; April 22, 1895 – June 21, 1990) was a film studio executive, producer, distributor, and animator who was a major figure in silent animation history, having a crucial role in the histories of Max and Dave Fl ...

and her fiancé,

Charles Mintz Charles Bear Mintz (November 5, 1889 – December 30, 1939)''Social Security Death Index, 1935–2014''. Social Security Administration. was an American film producer and distributor who assumed control over Margaret J. Winkler's Winkler Pict ...

. Because of a recent falling out with Pat Sullivan, the studio needed a quick replacement for their centerpiece

Felix the Cat Felix the Cat is a cartoon character created in 1919 by Otto Messmer and Pat Sullivan (film producer), Pat Sullivan during the silent film era. An anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic young black cat with white eyes, a black body, and a giant grin, ...

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:

(15), Margie Gay (31),

Dawn O'Day Anne Shirley (born Dawn Evelyn Paris; April 17, 1918 – July 4, 1993) was an American actress. Beginning her career as a child actress under the stage name Dawn O'Day, she adopted the stage name of Anne Shirley after playing the titular charact ...

(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 Works are in the public domain if they are not covered by the intellectual property right known as copyright, or if the intellectual property rights to the works have expired. Works automatically enter the public domain when their copyright has ...

. 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 Walt Disney Treasures is a series of two-disc DVD collections of Disney cartoons, television episodes and other material. They cover material from the studio's earliest days to its more recent work. There were nine waves, each containing two ...

'' 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 Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (also known as Oswald the Rabbit, Oswald Rabbit, and Ozzie) is an animated series, animated cartoon character created in 1927 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks for Universal Pictures. He starred in several animated short film ...

'', 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.

References

External links

*
The ''Alice Comedies''
at

Don Markstein's Toonopedia Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...

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

''Alice's Wonderland''

The ''Alice Comedies'' series begins

Shorts and subsequent releases

See also

References

External links