Alice Comedies

{{Infobox film

| name = Alice Comedies

| image = Alice Comedies Poster.jpg

| caption = Alice Comedies poster

| director = Walt Disney

| producer = Margaret J. Winkler

| animator = Ub Iwerks
Rollin Hamilton
Hugh Harman
Friz Freleng

| starring = Alice {{Plainlist|

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)}}

| color_process = Black-and-white

| studio = Laugh-O-Gram Studio
Walt Disney Studio

| released =

| country = United States

| language = English (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''

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.{{cite book |last1=Lenburg |first1=Jeff |title=The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons |date=1999 |publisher=Checkmark Books |isbn=0-8160-3831-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780816038312/page/20/mode/2up |access-date=16 May 2020 |pages=20–21}}

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

File:Alice the Lumberjack poster.jpg

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{{Cite news|url=https://www.newsweek.com/disney-origins-walt-margaret-winkler-hungarian-immigrant-1478670|title=The story of the Hungarian immigrant who funded Walt Disney|last=Austin|first=Daryl|date=2019-12-21|work=Newsweek|language=en|access-date=2019-12-21|archive-date=December 21, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191221201451/https://www.newsweek.com/disney-origins-walt-margaret-winkler-hungarian-immigrant-1478670|url-status=live}} 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.{{cite web|url=https://www.bcdb.com/cartoons/Other_Studios/W/M._J._Winkler_Productions/|title=M. J. Winkler Productions|publisher=Big Cartoon DataBase|access-date=December 20, 2015|archive-url=https://archive.today/20160508134123/http://www.bcdb.com/cartoons/Other_Studios/W/M._J._Winkler_Productions/|archive-date=May 8, 2016|url-status=dead}} Disney convinced Davis's family to bring her from Missouri to Los Angeles to star in the series.The Hand Behind the Mouse: The Ub Iwerks Story, Leslie Iwerks, Walt Disney Pictures, 1999

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.{{efn|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.}} 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.{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2016/film/news/lumiere-festival-walt-disneys-alice-comedies-being-distributed-by-frances-malavida-1201888990/|title=Lumière Festival: Walt Disney's 'Alice Comedies' Being Restored, Distributed by France's Malavida|work=Variety|access-date=October 17, 2016|archive-date=July 13, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170713121722/http://variety.com/2016/film/news/lumiere-festival-walt-disneys-alice-comedies-being-distributed-by-frances-malavida-1201888990/|url-status=live}}

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.

class="sortable wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto"
# ! Title ! Release date ! Actress ! Status or DVD release(s) ! Notes ! Short if available
1 \| Alice's Wonderland \| October 16, 1923{{cite web\|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0013823/releaseinfo?ref_=tt_dt_rdat\|title=Alice's Wonderland (1923) - Release Info\|work=IMDb\|access-date=January 29, 2022\|archive-date=January 29, 2022\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220129163241/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0013823/releaseinfo?ref_=tt_dt_rdat\|url-status=live}} \|Virginia Davis \| Walt Disney Treasures: Disney Rarities: Celebrated Shorts, 1920s–1960s Special "Un-Anniversary" Edition of Alice in Wonderland \| \|frameless
2 \| Alice's Day at Sea \| March 1, 1924 \| Virginia Davis \| \| \|frameless
3 \| Alice's Spooky Adventure \| April 1, 1924 \| Virginia Davis \| \| \|frameless
4 \| Alice's Wild West Show \| May 1, 1924 \| Virginia Davis \| Walt Disney Treasures: Disney Rarities: Celebrated Shorts, 1920s–1960s \| \|frameless
5 \| Alice's Fishy Story \| June 1, 1924 \| Virginia Davis \| Unknown \| \| [https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7ruka1]
6 \| Alice and the Dog Catcher \| July 1, 1924 \| Virginia Davis \| \| \|frameless
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 \| \|frameless
9 \| Alice Hunting in Africa \| November 15, 1924 \| Virginia Davis \| Unknown \| \|
10 \| Alice and the Three Bears \| December 1, 1924 \| Virginia Davis \| \| \|frameless
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 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cC8mYfFKeGE Here]
13 \| Alice the Toreador \| January 15, 1925 \| Virginia Davis \| Alice in Cartoonland – The Original Alice Comedies by Walt Disney \| \|frameless
14 \| Alice Gets Stung \| February 1, 1925 \| Virginia Davis \| Walt Disney Treasures: The Adventures of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit \| \|frameless
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. \|frameless
16 \| Alice's Egg Plant \| May 30, 1925 \| Dawn O'Day \| Walt Disney Treasures: Disney Rarities: Celebrated Shorts, 1920s–1960s \| \|frameless
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 \| \|[https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6lq4mx]
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 \| \|frameless
21 \| Alice's Tin Pony \| August 15, 1925 \| Margie Gay \| Alice in Cartoonland – 35 mm Collector's Set \| \|frameless
22 \| Alice Chops the Suey \| August 30, 1925 \| Margie Gay \| Alice in Cartoonland – 35 mm Collector's Set \| \|frameless
23 \| Alice the Jail Bird \| September 15, 1925 \| Margie Gay \| Alice in Cartoonland – 35 mm Collector's Set \| \|frameless
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 Disney Technicolor Dreams - And Black & White Nightmares \| \|frameless
26 \| Alice in the Jungle \| December 15, 1925 \| Virginia Davis \| Walt Disney Treasures: Disney Rarities: Celebrated Shorts, 1920s–1960s \| \|frameless
27 \| Alice on the Farm \| January 1, 1926 \| Margie Gay \| Alice in Cartoonland – The Original Alice Comedies by Walt Disney \| \| [https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6oqooh]
28 \| Alice's Balloon Race \| January 15, 1926 \| Margie Gay \| Walt Disney Treasures: The Adventures of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit \| \|frameless
29 \| Alice's Orphan \| January 15, 1926 \| Margie Gay \|Alice in Cartoonland – The Original Alice Comedies by Walt Disney \| \|frameless
30 \| Alice's Little Parade \| February 1, 1926 \| Margie Gay \| Unknown \| \| [https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7rlbf3]
31 \| Alice's Mysterious Mystery \| February 15, 1926 \| Margie Gay \| Walt Disney Treasures: Disney Rarities: Celebrated Shorts, 1920s–1960s \| \|frameless
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 \| \|frameless
35 \| Alice the Fire Fighter \| October 18, 1926 \| Margie Gay \| Unknown \| \| [https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7s069j]
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 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sL2Qx887UfI 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 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiveysjOfkU 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 \| \|
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 \| \|frameless
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 appearance of Pete in the Alice Comedies. Last Alice Comedies short to be distributed by the Film Booking Offices of America. \|

class="sortable wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto"

! Title

! Release date

! Actress

! Status or DVD release(s)

! Notes

! Short if available

| Alice's Wonderland

| October 16, 1923{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0013823/releaseinfo?ref_=tt_dt_rdat|title=Alice's Wonderland (1923) - Release Info|work=IMDb|access-date=January 29, 2022|archive-date=January 29, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220129163241/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0013823/releaseinfo?ref_=tt_dt_rdat|url-status=live}}

|Virginia Davis

Walt Disney Treasures: Disney Rarities: Celebrated Shorts, 1920s–1960s
Special "Un-Anniversary" Edition of Alice in Wonderland

Alice Comedies

''Alice's Wonderland''

The ''Alice Comedies'' series begins

Shorts and subsequent releases

See also

References

External links