The 'Alice Comedies'

Special Exhibit Articles
The "Alice Comedies"
Excerpted from "Walt in Wonderland"
by Russell Merritt and J.B. Kaufman
With permission from Le Giornate del Cinema Muto

The "Alice Comedies," Walt Disney's first full-fledged series of films, ran for three and a half years and marked a major turning point in Disney's career. In that time he graduated from ambitious beginner to experienced producer, with a studio and staff capable of producing animated films that rivaled the best in the business. Speaking of his studio in later years, Disney was fond of saying that "it all started with a mouse"—but in fact the foundation was laid in 1924 by a little girl.

It makes a good story—as reported by a magazine writer in 1934, and repeated in nearly every published account since then—that the new series was called "Alice in Cartoonland." It would have been an imaginative title, and a fitting one. But all the evidence indicates that no one thought of it at the time. Title cards of the surviving films, production papers, trade reviews, copyright records, publicity materials, all confirm that the series was never identified by any group title but "Alice Comedies" or, simply, "Alice."

At first, Walt and Roy Disney were operating with a bare minimum of resources. The new company was christened the "Disney Brothers Studio," and its first two films were, indeed, produced by the two brothers alone. Walt in particular was carrying a heavy burden, for he was the studio's only artist. Whereas the animation and backgrounds of "Alice's Wonderland," produced in Kansas City, had been the combined work of seven artists, Walt Disney wrote, designed and animated "Alice's Day at Sea" single-handed. Along with the artwork, Walt directed the live-action scenes, while Roy, the business manager, doubled as company cameraman, photographing both the animation and the live action. Live-action scenes, being much easier and less time-consuming to produce than animation, were highly important to the early "Alices." The casts, aside from Virginia Davis, were recruited from the ranks of neighborhood children; the Disneys would devise framing stories for them to act out.

The Disney brothers did receive some much-needed relief as their staff began to expand. An important addition was Rollin C. "Ham" Hamilton, who signed on in February 1924 to assist Walt with the animation. He would remain a prominent part of the studio's animation staff throughout most of the silent period, and continued his career elsewhere in later years. But Disney knew just the man he wanted to effect a major improvement in the animation: Ub Iwerks. Iwerks was still in Kansas City, but early in the year Disney began corresponding with him, appealing to him to move to California and join the staff of the new studio. Ultimately Disney's persistence paid off, and Iwerks agreed to the move. He arrived late in July 1924, and immediately there was a dramatic improvement in the animation of the Alice films. Throughout the rest of the silent years, no matter how many animators were added to Disney's animation department, Iwerks would remain the strong foundation on which the studio depended. The animators who would join him, during the course of the Alice series, included Hugh Harman, Rudy Ising, and other acquaintances from Kansas City.

To supplement their tiny studio space, the Disneys rented a vacant lot at Hollywood Boulevard and Rodney Drive in January 1924. This served as an open-air stage for the shooting of the live-action scenes. A large white canvas drop was put up behind a billboard that faced the Boulevard, and used for Virginia Davis' scenes which were to be combined with animation. (Wrinkles in the drop are sometimes discernible in the early "Alices.")

The black cat who appears in nearly all the "Alices" invariably reminds viewers of Felix, and this seeming plagiarism has sometimes been seen as an unfortunate reflection on Disney. In fact, however, more than one witness has confirmed that the idea for such a character actually came from Margaret Winkler herself, who distributed both the "Alice" and the "Felix" films. (Through hindsight, it seems quite likely that she saw it as a form of leverage to help keep the recalcitrant Pat Sullivan, producer of the "Felix" series, in check.) The cartoon cat in "Alice's Spooky Adventure" can easily be justified as a dream manifestation of the black cat Alice encounters in the abandoned house. The next film, "Alice's Wild West Show," has no such justification—and when a sidekick for Alice does materialize (more than halfway through the film), he is not a black cat but a white dog! When Winkler saw this film, she quickly wrote to Disney: "I might suggest that in your cartoon stuff you use a cat wherever possible and don't be afraid to let him do ridiculous things." In the next film, "Alice's Fishy Story," the cat obediently reappeared, but Disney remained uneasy about the character's resemblance to Felix. It was not until late in 1924 that Disney's cat evolved into the familiar figure of Julius who was to dominate the balance of the series.

Upon signing with Winkler for a second series of "Alices," the Disney brothers were enjoined to keep their expenses down. This led to the departure of Virginia Davis and the search for a new Alice. The first candidate was a six-year-old actress who was already a veteran. Her name was Dawn Paris, and under the professional pseudonym Dawn O'Day she had been working in motion pictures for years. After appearing in a single Disney film, "Alice's Egg Plant," she moved on, later to become a successful adult actress known as Anne Shirley. Her replacement at the Disney studio was a vivacious four-year-old moppet named Margie Gay, who would become a fixture in the vast majority of the Alice films. Her image represented something of a turning point for the series. Virginia Davis' long curls had been reminiscent of Mary Pickford, and in Dawn O'Day's single appearance she had been cast in the same general mold. Margie, with her stylish bob, rather resembled a tiny Colleen Moore.

While these changes were taking place on the live-action front, the animated portions of the films were undergoing an evolution of their own. In particular, the black cat whose early appearances had been so tentative was now christened Julius, and was developing into a full-fledged personality. If he inevitably suggested Felix, he also seems to have anticipated Mickey Mouse; the "clever idea" that saves Alice and Julius from their latest scrape was usually, by this time, Julius' inspiration. With the passage of time, as Disney's interest turned increasingly away from live action and toward animation, Julius would assume more and more of the action. Even before the end of the 1925 series, Alice herself, the nominal focal point of the pictures, would be reduced to brief ritual appearances at the beginning and end of each film, while Julius carried the bulk of the action.

And Julius was not the only animated character to become a "regular" in the "Alice" series. One of the fascinating discoveries of these years is that the concept of the "gang," which would result in a whole gallery of familiar ongoing characters in Disney's films of the 1930s, actually began much earlier in his work. One major character makes his debut in "Alice Solves the Puzzle." The "Bootleg Pete" who appears in this film is none other than the stock villain who will evolve into "Peg Leg Pete" long before the end of the silent period. Watching him develop into that familiar form is one of the pleasures of the Disney silents. For example, he appears in "Alice Solves the Puzzle" as a brute, somewhat similar to his 1930s image—but in subsequent appearances his personality changes subtly. In "Alice Stage Struck," for example, he emerges as a polished, oily villain, and his personality continues to alter as needed throughout the "Alices" and "Oswalds." Sometimes he and Julius (or Oswald) are merely friendly rivals, at other times they are outright enemies, and sometimes Pete appears as the heroine's father! The wooden leg, too, vanishes and reappears from one film to the next, just as in the later Mickey Mouse films. Pete's appearance at this early date makes him, of all the famous Disney characters of later years, the one with the deepest roots.

In the summer of 1925, the Disneys took what would prove to be one of their most momentous steps of the year. On the sixth of July they paid a deposit for a vacant lot at 2719 Hyperion Avenue in Hollywood, and soon construction was in progress for a new studio. Thus was born the fabled Hyperion studio, the scene of so many Disney triumphs. Over the next dozen years, with countless additions and renovations, this studio would see the birth of Oswald the Rabbit, Mickey Mouse and the "Silly Symphonies," and the production of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." In time, "all" of Disney's classic early features would be conceived at the Hyperion studio. It is important to remember that this studio, unlike previous locations, was not a converted office, but was planned and built specifically as an animation studio. Important, too, that this legendary site was brought into being by the "Alice Comedies."

The end of 1926 brought with it an important change: a fourth girl in the role of Alice. Her first appearance came in "Alice's Circus Daze," which was completed and shipped in January 1927. Who was the new girl, and why was she brought in? Much of this incident is shrouded in mystery. Our first clue to the girl's identity was a letter which Disney received in 1941, from a lady who claimed to have played Alice in the series, and who signed herself "Lois Hardwick." A telltale monogram "L" that appeared on the young girl's hat during a test photo session seemed to verify the identification. But only as we went to press did we discover confirming evidence. On 14 April 1928, "Universal Weekly" carried the following items on page 20:

Little Lois Hardwick, popular child screen star, has been engaged by the Stern Brothers ... She has been seen in many pictures, including a number of "Alice Comedies," and in such feature productions as "Seventh Heaven," "The Enemy," "The Crowd, " "Lilac Time," and others.

By 1927, the demise of the "Alice" series was imminent. Disney was feeling increasingly restricted by the format of the "Alices." The combination of little Alice and his animated characters had seemed, in 1923, "something new and clever in animated cartoons!" Now, four dozen films and nearly four years later, it was merely a burdensome obligation. By now it was abundantly clear that Disney's heart was in animation, and he longed to be free of the restrictions of the Alice format. Accordingly, it was agreed that the current Alice series would be the last, and would be followed by an all-animated series.

All in all, however, Disney could well afford to be proud of the "Alice" films. During the course of their production, he had proven himself as a producer, and had built up an animation studio that was the equal of any in the business.