Alice's Wonderland
A young girl, Alice, wants to know how animated films are made. She gets the tour of the Disney studios, with the animators horsing around as their creations take on a life of their own, on their drawing boards. That night, Alice dreams she has gone to cartoon land...
| Virginia Davis | ... Alice |
| Walt Disney | ... Himself |
| Hugh Harman | ... Himself |
| Ub Iwerks | ... Himself |
| Rudolf Ising | ... Himself |
| Margaret Davis | ... Alice's Mother |
Made months before Disney formed his own company, this was the first of the 'Alice' shorts, shot in Virginia Davis' mother's house. Although it was the first short, it was not the first released.
In some ways, the series was in response to Fleischer Studios, who had included animated characters in live settings. Disney used a live character against an animated background.
Virginia Davis, who played Alice, went on to make around 15 Alice films, until Disney's distributors imposed harsher financial restraints. Davis' mother refused the new payment arrangements and Alice passed to another actress, eventually clocking up around 50 shorts. Virginia later successfully audtioned for the voice of Snow White, but again her mother refused it because of the frugal payment.
Walt Disney was 21 years old when this film was produced. Virginia Davis at the time of writing (2006) is still alive.
The first live appearance of Disney in one of his own cartoons.







