Alice Comedies

FDJune 211925 — An ad for *Alice Comedies* from the June 21, 1925 issue of *Film Daily*.

Blog The Film Daily May 1924 Winkler settles and Alice

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 and an animated cat named Julius have adventures in an animated landscape. Four actresses played Alice throughout the series starting with Virginia Davis in 1923. The other three actresses were Dawn O'Day, Margie Gay, and Lois Hardwick.

Alice's Wonderland

Disney, Ub Iwerks, and their staff made the first Alice Comedy, a one-reel (ten-minute) short subject titled Alice's Wonderland, while still heading the failing Laugh-O-Gram Studio in Kansas City, Missouri. 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 a distribution deal, which was finally arranged through Winkler Pictures, run by Margaret J. Winkler and her fianceé, Charles Mintz.

As for what Alice's Wonderland is about, it starts off with Alice entering a cartoon studio so she can watch cartoons being created. The cartoons come to life and play around, and Alice is amazed by what she sees. After heading to bed that night, Alice dreams that she is in the cartoon world, being welcomed by all the creations. Alice plays around with the cartoons until danger approaches: a group of lions break free from a cage and chase her. 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.

Content

Although seen as cute and funny in their time, the Alice Comedies contain content that might be considered surprising and somewhat harsh today. Although Alice is a little girl, she spends much of her time avoiding danger, and even getting kidnapped by the cartoon villains, threatened with such perils as being tied to a log in a sawmill. Although all of Alice's threats are cartoon drawings, some might find the imagery a bit disturbing due to the character's young age, and the fact that she is a real person, or they might find it simply light-hearted and fun, due to the portrayal.

One cartoon created in 1925 was called Alice's Egg plant, which was anti-union propaganda towards the IWW. Furthermore, some illegal activities such as bootlegging are portrayed, with Alice herself in ownership of "home brew".

List of episodes by release date

Alice's Wonderland (never theatrically released, but made in 1923; Available in the Disney Rarities: Celebrated Shorts: 1920s–1960s and Alice in Wonderland DVD sets)

1924

Alice's Day at the Sea (March 1)^[1]
Alice's Spooky Adventure (April 1)^[2]
Alice's Wild West Show (May 1; Available in the Disney Rarities: Celebrated Shorts: 1920s–1960s DVD set)
Alice's Fishy Story (June 1)
Alice and the Dog Catcher (July 1)
Alice the Peacemaker (August 1)
Alice Gets in Dutch (November 1; Available in the Disney Rarities: Celebrated Shorts: 1920s–1960s DVD set)
Alice Hunting in Africa (November 15)
Alice and the Three Bears (December 1)
Alice the Piper (December 15)

1925

Alice Cans the Cannibals (January 1)^[3]
Alice the Toreador (January 15)
Alice Gets Stung (February 1; Available in The Adventures of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit DVD set)
Alice Solves the Puzzle (February 15; Available in the Alice in Cartoon Land DVD set)
Alice's Egg Plant (May 30; Available in the Disney Rarities: Celebrated Shorts: 1920s–1960s DVD set)
Alice Loses Out (June 15)
Alice Gets Stage Struck (June 30)
Alice Wins the Derby (July 15)
Alice Picks the Champ (July 30)
Alice's Tin Pony (August 15; Available in the Alice in Cartoon Land DVD set)
Alice Chops the Suey (August 30; Available in the Alice in Cartoon Land DVD set)
Alice the Jail Bird (September 15; Available in the Alice in Cartoon Land DVD set)
Alice Plays Cupid (October 15)
Alice Rattled by Rats (November 15; Available in the Cartoon Rarities of the 1920s DVD set)
Alice in the Jungle (December 15; Available in the Disney Rarities: Celebrated Shorts: 1920s–1960s DVD set)

1926

Alice on the Farm (January 1)
Alice's Balloon Race (January 15; Available in The Adventures of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit DVD set)
Alice's Orphan (January 15; Available in the Alice in Cartoon Land DVD set)
Alice's Little Parade (February 1)
Alice's Mysterious Mystery (February 15; Available in the Disney Rarities: Celebrated Shorts: 1920s–1960s DVD set)^[4]
Alice Charms the Fish (September 6)^[5]
Alice's Monkey Business (September 20)
Alice in the Wooly West (October 4; Available in The Adventures of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit DVD set)
Alice the Fire Fighter (October 18)
Alice Cuts the Ice (November 1)
Alice Helps the Romance (November 15)
Alice's Spanish Guitar (November 29)
Alice's Brown Derby (December 13)
Alice the Lumberjack (December 27)

1927

Alice the Golf Bug (January 10)
Alice Foils the Pirates (January 24)
Alice at the Carnival (February 10)
Alice at the Rodeo (February 21)
Alice the Collegiate (March 7)
Alice in the Alps (March 21)
Alice's Auto Race (April 4)
Alice's Circus Daze (April 18)
Alice's Knaughty Knight (May 2)
Alice's Three Bad Eggs (May 16)
Alice's Picnic (May 30)
Alice's Channel Swim (June 13)
Alice in the Klondike (June 27)
Alice's Medicine Show (July 11)
Alice the Whaler (July 25; Available in the Disney Rarities: Celebrated Shorts: 1920s–1960s DVD set)
Alice the Beach Nut (August 8)
Alice in the Big League (August 22)^[6]

Copyright details

The copyright for Alice in Slumberland was assigned to Pathe while the rest were assigned to R-C Pictures. None of them were renewed.

#	Title	Reg. title	Reg. date	Reg. #
0	Alice's Wonderland	Alice in Slumberland	September 29, 1926	M3592
31	Alice Charms the Fish	Alice charms the fish	June 28, 1926	L28845
32	Alice's Monkey Business	Alice's monkey business	September 18, 1926	L23198
33	Alice in the Wooly West	Alice in the wooly west	October 4, 1926	L23197
34	Alice the Fire Fighter	Alice, the fire fighter	October 18, 1926	L23310
35	Alice Cuts the Ice	Alice cuts the ice	November 1, 1926	L23308
36	Alice Helps the Romance	Alice helps the romance	November 15, 1926	L23512
37	Alice's Spanish Guitar	Alice's Spanish guitar	November 29, 1926	L23614
38	Alice's Brown Derby	Alice's brown derby	December 13, 1926	L23655
39	Alice the Lumberjack	Alice the lumber jack	December 27, 1926	L23616
40	Alice the Golf Bug	Alice the golf bug	January 10, 1927	L23592
41	Alice Foils the Pirates	Alice foils the pirates	January 24, 1927	L23877
42	Alice at the Carnival	Alice at the carnival	February 7, 1927	L23901
43	Alice at the Rodeo	Alice's rodeo	February 21, 1927	L23873
44	Alice the Collegiate	Alice the collegiate	March 7, 1927	L23881
45	Alice in the Alps	Alice in the Alps	March 21, 1927	L24213
46	Alice's Auto Race	Alice's auto race	April 4, 1927	L24363
47	Alice's Circus Daze	Alice's circus daze	April 18, 1927	L24214
48	Alice's Knaughty Knight	Alice's knaughty knight	May 2, 1927	L24419
49	Alice's Three Bad Eggs	Alice's three bad eggs	May 16, 1927	L24555
50	Alice's Picnic	Alice's picnic	May 30, 1927	L24580
51	Alice's Channel Swim	Alice's channel swim	June 13, 1927	L24394
52	Alice in the Klondike	Alice in the Klondike	June 27, 1927	L24239
53	Alice's Medicine Show	Alice's medicine show	July 11, 1927	L24395
54	Alice the Whaler	Alice the whaler	July 25, 1927	L24383
55	Alice the Beach Nut	Alice the beach nut	August 8, 1927	L24590
56	Alice in the Big League	Alice in the big league	August 22, 1927	L24553