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Alice Comedies

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Alice Comedies
Alice Comedies poster
Directed byWalt Disney
Produced byMargaret J. Winkler
StarringAlice
  • Virginia Davis
    (October 16, 1923 – February 1, 1925, December 15, 1925)
  • Margie Gay
    (February 15, 1925 – April 4, 1927)
  • Dawn O'Day
    (Alice's Egg Plant, May 30, 1925)
  • Lois Hardwick
    (April 18, 1927 – August 22, 1927)
Animation byUb Iwerks
Rollin Hamilton
Hugh Harman
Friz Freleng
Color processBlack-and-white
Production
companies
Release date
1923–1927
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish (with intertitles)

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

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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.[1]

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

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Poster for the 1926 film Alice the Lumber Jack. Margie Gay plays Alice.

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[2] 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.[3] Disney convinced Davis's family to bring her from Missouri to Los Angeles to star in the series.[4]

Shorts and subsequent releases

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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.[a] 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.[5]

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.

# Short film Date Actress Status or DVD release Short if available
1 Alice's Wonderland October 16, 1923[6] Virginia Davis Walt Disney Treasures: Disney Rarities: Celebrated Shorts, 1920s–1960s and Special "Un-Anniversary" Edition of Alice in Wonderland
2 Alice's Day at Sea March 1, 1924 Virginia Davis N/A
3 Alice's Spooky Adventure April 1, 1924 Virginia Davis N/A
4 Alice's Wild West Show May 1, 1924 Virginia Davis Walt Disney Treasures: Disney Rarities: Celebrated Shorts, 1920s–1960s
5 Alice's Fishy Story June 1, 1924 Virginia Davis Unknown [1]
6 Alice and the Dog Catcher July 1, 1924 Virginia Davis
7 Alice the Peacemaker August 1, 1924 Virginia Davis Unknown
8 Alice Gets in Dutch November 1, 1924 Virginia Davis Walt Disney Treasures: Disney Rarities: Celebrated Shorts, 1920s–1960s
9 Alice Hunting in Africa November 15, 1924 Virginia Davis Unknown
10 Alice and the Three Bears December 1, 1924 Virginia Davis
11 Alice the Piper December 15, 1924 Virginia Davis Unknown
12 Alice Cans the Cannibals January 1, 1925 Virginia Davis A copy of the short with added music was uploaded to the Cult Cinema Classics Youtube channel April 14, 2024

The full short can be watched Here

13 Alice the Toreador January 15, 1925 Virginia Davis Alice in Cartoonland – The Original Alice Comedies by Walt Disney
14 Alice Gets Stung February 1, 1925 Virginia Davis Walt Disney Treasures: The Adventures of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit
15 Alice Solves the Puzzle February 15, 1925 Margie Gay Alice in Cartoonland – The Original Alice Comedies by Walt Disney

The first appearance of what would become Pete.

16 Alice's Egg Plant May 30, 1925 Dawn O'Day Walt Disney Treasures: Disney Rarities: Celebrated Shorts, 1920s–1960s
17 Alice Loses Out June 15, 1925 Margie Gay Unknown
18 Alice Gets Stage Struck June 30, 1925 Margie Gay Alice in Cartoonland – The Original Alice Comedies by Walt Disney [2]
19 Alice Wins the Derby July 15, 1925 Margie Gay Alice in Cartoonland – The Original Alice Comedies by Walt Disney
20 Alice Picks the Champ July 30, 1925 Margie Gay Formerly lost
21 Alice's Tin Pony August 15, 1925 Margie Gay Alice in Cartoonland – 35 mm Collector's Set
22 Alice Chops the Suey August 30, 1925 Margie Gay Alice in Cartoonland – 35 mm Collector's Set
23 Alice the Jail Bird September 15, 1925 Margie Gay Alice in Cartoonland – 35 mm Collector's Set
24 Alice Plays Cupid October 15, 1925 Margie Gay Unknown
25 Alice Rattled by Rats November 15, 1925 Margie Gay Alice in Cartoonland – The Original Alice Comedies by Walt Disneyand

Technicolor Dreams - And Black & White Nightmares

26 Alice in the Jungle December 15, 1925 Virginia Davis Walt Disney Treasures: Disney Rarities: Celebrated Shorts, 1920s–1960s
27 Alice on the Farm January 1, 1926 Margie Gay Alice in Cartoonland – The Original Alice Comedies by Walt Disney [3]
28 Alice's Balloon Race January 15, 1926 Margie Gay Walt Disney Treasures: The Adventures of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit
29 Alice's Orphan January 15, 1926 Margie Gay Alice in Cartoonland – The Original Alice Comedies by Walt Disney
30 Alice's Little Parade February 1, 1926 Margie Gay Unknown [4]
31 Alice's Mysterious Mystery February 15, 1926 Margie Gay Walt Disney Treasures: Disney Rarities: Celebrated Shorts, 1920s–1960s
32 Alice Charms the Fish September 6, 1926 Margie Gay Lost cartoon

First Alice Comedies short to be distributed by the Film Booking Offices of America.

33 Alice's Monkey Business September 20, 1926 Margie Gay Lost cartoon
34 Alice in the Wooly West October 4, 1926 Margie Gay Walt Disney Treasures: The Adventures of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit
35 Alice the Fire Fighter October 18, 1926 Margie Gay Unknown [5]
36 Alice Cuts the Ice November 1, 1926 Margie Gay Lost cartoon
37 Alice Helps the Romance November 15, 1926 Margie Gay A Dutch copy of the short with added music was uploaded to the Cult Cinema Classics YouTube channel May 12, 2024

The full short can be watched here

38 Alice's Spanish Guitar November 29, 1926 Margie Gay Unknown
39 Alice's Brown Derby December 13, 1926 Margie Gay Unknown
40 Alice the LumberJack December 27, 1926 Margie Gay Lost cartoon
41 Alice the Golf Bug January 10, 1927 Margie Gay Lost cartoon
42 Alice Foils the Pirates January 24, 1927 Margie Gay Lost cartoon
43 Alice at the Carnival February 10, 1927 Margie Gay Lost cartoon
44 Alice at the Rodeo February 21, 1927 Margie Gay Unknown
45 Alice the Collegiate March 7, 1927 Margie Gay Lost cartoon
46 Alice in the Alps March 21, 1927 Margie Gay Lost cartoon
47 Alice's Auto Race April 4, 1927 Margie Gay Partially lost cartoon
48 Alice's Circus Daze April 18, 1927 Lois Hardwick A copy was uploaded to the Cult Cinema Classics YouTube channel August 4, 2024 The full short can be watched here
49 Alice's Knaughty Knight May 2, 1927 Lois Hardwick Lost cartoon
50 Alice's Three Bad Eggs May 16, 1927 Lois Hardwick Lost cartoon
51 Alice's Picnic May 30, 1927 Lois Hardwick Lost cartoon
52 Alice's Channel Swim June 13, 1927 Lois Hardwick Lost cartoon
53 Alice in the Klondike June 27, 1927 Lois Hardwick Lost cartoon

Last appearance of Pete in the Alice Comedies.

54 Alice's Medicine Show July 11, 1927 Lois Hardwick Lost cartoon
55 Alice the Whaler July 25, 1927 Lois Hardwick Walt Disney Treasures: Disney Rarities: Celebrated Shorts, 1920s–1960s
56 Alice the Beach Nut August 8, 1927 Lois Hardwick Lost cartoon Last appearance of Julius the Cat.
57 Alice in the Big League August 22, 1927 Lois Hardwick Unknown Last Alice Comedies short to be distributed by the Film Booking Offices of America.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 20–21. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
  2. ^ Austin, Daryl (December 21, 2019). "The story of the Hungarian immigrant who funded Walt Disney". Newsweek. Archived from the original on December 21, 2019. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  3. ^ "M. J. Winkler Productions". Big Cartoon DataBase. Archived from the original on May 8, 2016. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
  4. ^ The Hand Behind the Mouse: The Ub Iwerks Story, Leslie Iwerks, Walt Disney Pictures, 1999
  5. ^ "Lumière Festival: Walt Disney's 'Alice Comedies' Being Restored, Distributed by France's Malavida". Variety. Archived from the original on July 13, 2017. Retrieved October 17, 2016.
  6. ^ "Alice's Wonderland (1923) - Release Info". IMDb. Archived from the original on January 29, 2022. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
  1. ^ All works in this series were published by 1927. As of 2023, all published works from 1927 and before are in the public domain in the United States.
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