Of all of Walt Disney's earliest films, this is the coolest one I have seen. That's because unlike most of these shorts, you actually get to see Walt and his staff--including such famous animation folks as Ub Iwerks, Rudolph Ising and Hugh Harmon--all three of which went off on their own later to found cartoon studios. It's also amazingly charming and well worth seeing--even if the last few seconds of the cartoon are missing.
This is the first 'Alice' cartoon which starred the adorable Virginia Davis. It begins with young Virginia going to the studio and getting a tour led by Walt himself. I loved this portion because instead of a stuffy tour, lots of animated characters were running about--as if they were real! The integration of them into the real world was very stunning for 1923--and something we might take for granted today. Later that night, Alice dreams that she goes into the land of animated characters--highlighted by her being chased by lions! It's all very cute and exciting and actually holds up very well today. While I have seen some other Alice cartoons, this is the best I've seen so far and can't imagine them being much better.
By the way, Iwerks is billed as 'Ubbe Iwwerks'--and it's one of the few times his correctly spelled birth name is used. spelling for his name was used) Harmon and Ising
This is the first 'Alice' cartoon which starred the adorable Virginia Davis. It begins with young Virginia going to the studio and getting a tour led by Walt himself. I loved this portion because instead of a stuffy tour, lots of animated characters were running about--as if they were real! The integration of them into the real world was very stunning for 1923--and something we might take for granted today. Later that night, Alice dreams that she goes into the land of animated characters--highlighted by her being chased by lions! It's all very cute and exciting and actually holds up very well today. While I have seen some other Alice cartoons, this is the best I've seen so far and can't imagine them being much better.
By the way, Iwerks is billed as 'Ubbe Iwwerks'--and it's one of the few times his correctly spelled birth name is used. spelling for his name was used) Harmon and Ising