Alice Comedies

The Alice Comedies are a series of animated cartoons 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.

Alice Comedies
Alice Comedies Poster
First appearance	Alice's Wonderland 1923
Created by	Walt Disney
Developed by	Walt Disney Ub Iwerks
Animators	Ub Iwerks Rollin Hamilton Hugh Harmon Friz Freleng
Alice	Virginia Davis (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)

On January 1, 2019, the earliest Alice Comedies became the first Disney properties to enter the public domain in the United States.

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.[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

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 fianceé, 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

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.[5] 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 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 October 2016 it was announced that the Alice shorts held by the EYE Film Institute in Amsterdam had been restored for global re-release.[6]

#	Short film	Date	Actress	DVD release	Notes
1	Alice's Wonderland	1923	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
3	Alice's Spooky Adventure	April 1, 1924	Virginia Davis
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
6	Alice and the Dog Catcher	July 1, 1924	Virginia Davis
7	Alice the Peacemaker	August 1, 1924	Virginia Davis
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
10	Alice and the Three Bears	December 1, 1924	Virginia Davis
11	Alice the Piper	December 15, 1924	Virginia Davis
12	Alice Cans the Cannibals	January 1, 1925	Virginia Davis
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	Alice in Cartoonland – 35 mm Collector's Set [The first appearance of Disney's Pete.]
16	Alice's Egg Plant	May 30, 1925	Dawn O'Day	Walt Disney Treasures: Disney Rarities: Celebrated Shorts, 1920s–1960s	Alice in Cartoonland – The Original Alice Comedies by Walt Disney and Alice in Cartoonland – 35 mm Collector's Set
17	Alice Loses Out	June 15, 1925	Margie Gay
18	Alice Gets Stage Struck	June 30, 1925	Margie Gay	Alice in Cartoonland – The Original Alice Comedies by Walt Disney
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
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
25	Alice Rattled by Rats	November 15, 1925	Margie Gay	Alice in Cartoonland – The Original Alice Comedies by Walt Disney	Alice in Cartoonland – 35 mm Collector's Set
26	Alice in the Jungle	December 15, 1925	Virginia Davis	Walt Disney Treasures: Disney Rarities: Celebrated Shorts, 1920s–1960s	Alice in Cartoonland – The Original Alice Comedies by Walt Disney and Alice in Cartoonland – 35 mm Collector's Set
27	Alice on the Farm	January 1, 1926	Margie Gay	Alice in Cartoonland – The Original Alice Comedies by Walt Disney
28	Alice's Balloon Race	January 15, 1926	Margie Gay	Walt Disney Treasures: The Adventures of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit	Alice in Cartoonland – 35 mm Collector's Set
29	Alice's Orphan	January 15, 1926	Margie Gay	Alice in Cartoonland – The Original Alice Comedies by Walt Disney	Alice in Cartoonland – 35 mm Collector's Set
30	Alice's Little Parade	February 1, 1926	Margie Gay
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
36	Alice Cuts the Ice	November 1, 1926	Margie Gay	(Lost cartoon)
37	Alice Helps the Romance	November 15, 1926	Margie Gay
38	Alice's Spanish Guitar	November 29, 1926	Margie Gay
39	Alice's Brown Derby	December 13, 1926	Margie Gay
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
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
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	Alice in Cartoonland – The Original Alice Comedies by Walt Disney and Alice in Cartoonland – 35 mm Collector's Set
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		Last Alice Comedies short to be distributed by the Film Booking Offices of America.

See also

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

References

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. 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. "Popeye and the Alice Comedies in the Public Domain". Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 28, 2015.
6. "Lumière Festival: Walt Disney's 'Alice Comedies' Being Restored, Distributed by France's Malavida". Variety. Retrieved October 17, 2016.

External links

• Alice Comedies on IMDb
• 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 Disney