Alice Comedies

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 theatrically, this short pioneered live-action animated films with its contemporary, Bray Productions' Out of the Inkwell series.

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]

Walt Disney directed all 57 films in this series. 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.

Non-theatrical distribution of Alice's Wonderland was handled by the New York branch of Pictorial Clubs Inc. through an arrangement with Pathé Exchange,^[5][6] who copyrighted the short as Alice in Slumberland on September 29, 1926.^{[7]: 76, 127} In May 1926, it was announced that Film Booking Offices of America would release what would ultimately be the last 26 shorts in the series.^[8] The copyrights to the FBO-released shorts were assigned to R-C Pictures, while the copyrights to Alice Solves the Puzzle and Alice Wins the Derby were assigned to M. J. Winkler.^[7]: 79 In March 1930, Raytone Pictures (later known as Syndicate Pictures) announced it was re-releasing 18 Alice Comedies shorts with music and sound recorded by Brunswick.^[9] They were released between September 1, 1930 and May 15, 1931.^[10][11]

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.^[12]

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.

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