''Alice's Wonderland'' is a 1923
Walt Disney
Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...
short silent film
A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...
, produced in
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...
by
Laugh-O-Gram Studio
The Laugh-O-Gram Studio (also called Laugh-O-Gram Studios) was an animation studio located on the second floor of the McConahay Building at 1127 East 31st in Kansas City, Missouri, that operated from June 28, 1921, to October 16, 1923.
In Animati ...
. The
black-and-white
Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white to produce a range of achromatic brightnesses of grey. It is also known as greyscale in technical settings.
Media
The history of various visual media began with black and white, ...
short was the first in a series of Walt Disney's famous ''
Alice Comedies
The ''Alice Comedies'' are a series of Live-action animated film, live-action animated shorts 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 Ju ...
'' and had a working title of ''Alice in Slumberland''. The film was never shown theatrically, but was instead shown to prospective film distributors.
Plot
Alice (
Virginia Davis) visits the
Laugh-O-Gram Studio
The Laugh-O-Gram Studio (also called Laugh-O-Gram Studios) was an animation studio located on the second floor of the McConahay Building at 1127 East 31st in Kansas City, Missouri, that operated from June 28, 1921, to October 16, 1923.
In Animati ...
, where the animators (including
Walt Disney
Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...
) show her various scenes on their drawing boards. A few of them: a cat dancing to a cat band; a mouse poking at a cat until it moves; a couple of mice boxing, while the animators crowd around cheering and acting as corner-men. That night, she dreams of taking a train to cartoon-land, where a red carpet reception awaits. She appears in live action. They have a welcoming parade, with Alice riding on an elephant. The cartoons dance for her, and she dances for them. Meanwhile, lions break out of the zoo. The lions chase her into a hollow tree, then into a cave and down a rabbit hole. They corner her at a cliffside and she jumps off. Alice is then woken up by her mother, and begins telling her about the dream.
In popular culture
The eighth episode of the 2014
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...
miniseries ''
Over the Garden Wall'', entitled "Babes in the Wood", contains several direct visual references to ''Alice's Wonderland'', including the Reception Committee scene.
Home media
The short was released on December 6, 2005, on ''
Walt Disney Treasures: Disney Rarities - Celebrated Shorts: 1920s–1960s''.
It was also included as a bonus feature in the Special "Un-Anniversary Edition" of
''Alice in Wonderland''.
References
External links
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''Alice's Wonderland''a
The Encyclopedia of Disney Animated Shorts
1923 films
1923 animated short films
1920s Disney animated short films
American silent short films
Films directed by Walt Disney
Films produced by Walt Disney
Films set in Kansas City, Missouri
Films set in studio lots
Alice Comedies
Articles containing video clips
Laugh-O-Gram Studio films
1923 comedy films
Animated films without speech
Surviving American silent films
1920s American films
American animated black-and-white films
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