Happy 100th the Alice Comedies

 

You may have heard today referred to as the 100th anniversary of Disney. The reason for this is that this is the day, Walt Disney's first widely released film made it to movie theaters. This film was the short Alice's Wonderland (1923). As well as the importance of this being Walt's first major film, it was also the start of a series of short films that would last for 57 films. This series was called the Alice Comedies. The series would star a live action little girl named Alice (over the course of the series she had been played by Virginia Davis, Margie Gay, Dawn O'Day and Lois Hardwick), who would enter an animated cartoon world. Walt himself admitted that this was a simple reversal of Max Fleischer's Out of the Inkwell shorts, which featured an animated Koko the Clown entering a live action world. I personally have a strong fondness for this series. So instead of looking at all the amazing feature length movies the Disney studio has released (which I am sure most movie blogs are doing), I am going to share some of my favorite Alice Comedies with you and I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. 

Alice's Wild West Show (1924). This film is much more of a live action comedy short than a cartoon. Fans of the silent era Our Gang (or Little Rascals) shorts will find that this film very much resembles those classic comedies. Since I have a fondness for those comedies, it should come as no surprise that I love this short. Those who may be expecting a cartoon may be disappointed by the focus on live action here but, for me, this is a very delightful and fun little comedy that always puts a smile on my face. 

Alice's Day at Sea (1924) Another short that is part live action comedy and part cartoon. This is another fast paced and fun film that is full of clever and inventive gags. 

Alice Gets in Dutch (1924) I love this short because it makes me think of myself as a kid. I had a very active imagination in the same way that Alice does and if I got in trouble there is no doubt that I imagined something similar to what Alice does. To me this film perfectly captures that aspect of childhood, and this makes it a pure delight. 

Alice Solves the Puzzle (1925) This film is much more of a pure cartoon than the previous shorts listed. However it is a delightful cartoon with a lot of really fun gags and a clever ending. This film also introduces a Disney character that is still being used today, Mickey's nemesis Pete, still a few years before there would even be a Mickey. 

Alice Gets Stung (1925) This is another film that is pretty much a pure cartoon. Being a hunting cartoon, this film is full of lots of fun clever and well put together gags (I especially love Julis the cat removing his face). This is pure silly cartoon fun. 

Alice's Orphan (1926) With how much Disney cartoons are talked about being too sentimental for some cartoon fans, I love a cartoon like this. This is the type of story, where you would expect a lot of sentimentality but you find none at all. I admit that this is not one of the series' funniest entries but that doesn't stop me from having a real fondness for it. 

Alice's Spooky Adventure (1924) This is another early entry that is just as much a live action comedy as it is a cartoon. Once again it is very remenisicant of Hal Roach's Our Gang shorts in the best of ways. This one is especially memorable due to a surprising and funny ending. 

I hope you enjoyed these films as much as I do. If you have any favorite Alice Comedies that I did not list here, please let me know what they are.

Also credit where credit is due, I got the idea to do a post on the Alice Comedies today after reading this post by blogger Pete Hale.