Disney the Silent Years

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While working for the Kansas City Film Ad Company in 1920, where he made commercials based on cutout animations, Disney became interested in animation, and decided to become an animator. The owner of the Ad Company, A.V. Cauger, allowed him to borrow a camera from work to experiment with at home. After reading the Edwin G. Lutz book Animated Cartoons: How They Are Made, Their Origin and Development, Disney considered cel animation to be much more promising than the cutout animation he was doing for Cauger.

Walt eventually decided to open his own animation business, and recruited a fellow co-worker at the Kansas City Film Ad Company, Fred Harman, as his first employee. Walt and Harman then secured a deal with local theater owner Frank L. Newman, arguably the most popular "showman" in the Kansas City area at the time, to screen their cartoons at his local theater, which they titled Laugh-O-Grams.

Presented as "Newman Laugh-O-Grams", Disney's cartoons became widely popular in the Kansas City area and through their success, he was able to acquire his own studio, also called Laugh-O-Gram, for which he hired a vast number of additional animators, including Fred Harman's brother Hugh Harman, Rudolf Ising, and his close friend Ubbe Iwerks. Unfortunately, studio profits were insufficient to cover the high salaries paid to employees. Unable to successfully manage money, Disney's studio became loaded with debt and wound up bankrupt whereupon he decided to set up a studio in the movie industry's capital city, Hollywood, California.

Here is the cartoon that started it all for Walt Disney, "Newman Laugh-O-Grams" (1921)

~ Greetings, Animation Fans!

Of the original seven Laugh-O-Grams fairy tales, four were long known to have survived, and have been restored for DVD: Little Red Riding Hood (1922), The Four Musicians of Bremen (1922), Puss in Boots (1922), and Cinderella (1922). These shorts later became available on Blu-ray Disc as bonus features for Disney's Beauty and the Beast. Tommy Tucker's Tooth (1922), and Alice's Wonderland (1923) are also available on DVD, and Alice's Wonderland eventually became a bonus feature for the 60th Anniversary Blu-ray Edition of Alice in Wonderland. The original piece of filming/animation known as Newman Laugh-O-Grams (originally released theatrically on March 20, 1921) is available on some DVDs too. Due to their date of publication, all 10 shorts produced by the studio have fallen in the public domain.

The missing fairy tale cartoons were Jack and the Beanstalk, Jack the Giant Killer, and Goldie Locks and the Three Bears (all 1922). On October 14, 2010, animation historian David Gerstein announced that copies of all three had been found. For many years the two Jack cartoons were believed to be one, until researcher John Kenworthy located old studio assets sheets confirming that they were separate shorts.

~ Howdy, Folks!

The second fairy tale cartoon that Disney filmed was "The Four Musicians of Bremen" (1922).
Featuring Julius the Cat, here unnamed. Later reissued with synchronized sound in 1929/30 as a "Whoopee Sketches" (USA) and "Peter the Puss" (UK) cartoon, retitled "The Four Jazz Boys."

~ Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho!
Here is the fourth entry in the Laugh-O-Gram fairy tale series, "Jack the Giant Killer" (1922). Featuring Jack, Susie, and Julius the Cat, here unnamed. Later reissued with synchronized sound in 1929/30 as a "Whoopee Sketches" (USA) and "Peter the Puss" (UK) cartoon, retitled "The K-O Kid."

Jack and the Beanstalk, Jack the Giant Killer, and Goldie Locks and the Three Bears (all 1922), were for years considered lost films. On October 14, 2010, animation historian David Gerstein announced that copies of all three had been found. For many years the two Jack cartoons were believed to be one, until researcher John Kenworthy located old studio assets sheets confirming that they were separate shorts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zhu0eoB_PXw

~ Howdy, Folks!

The sixth cartoon in the Laugh-O-Gram fairy tale series was "Puss in Boots" (1922). Photographed by "Red" Lyon and cartooned by Walt Disney himself.

Featuring Jack, Susie, and Julius the Cat, here unnamed. The king in the cartoon also made a cameo in the 1922 Laugh-O-Gram Cinderella. Later reissued with synchronized sound in 1929/30 as a "Whoopee Sketches" (USA) and "Peter the Puss" (UK) cartoon, retitled "The Cat's Whiskers."

~ Hey, Animation Gang!

The seventh entry in the Laugh-O-Gram series of fairy tale cartoons was "Cinderella" (1922) released in December of that year. The animation quality of Disney's films was slowly improving although it is not clear from existing records how much Walt was contributing to the animation himself.

Featuring Susie (as Cinderella), Jack (as the Prince), and Julius the Cat, here unnamed. Later reissued with synchronized sound in 1929/30 as a "Whoopee Sketches" (USA) and "Peter the Puss" (UK) cartoon, retitled "The Slipper-y Kid."

~ Howdy, Animation Aficianados!

"Alice's Wonderland" released in early 1923 was the last Laugh-O-Gram film in the fairy tale series and also the pilot film for the proposed Alice Comedies films.

Credits list Walt Disney as Director, Photography by Ubbe Iwwerks and Rudolph Ising, and Technical Direction by Hugh Harman and Carmen Maxwell.

~ Greetings, Animation Students!

Tommy Tucker's Tooth is an animated short film from 1922. It was produced and directed by Walt Disney at his short-lived Laugh-O-Grams studio in Kansas City. The format was black and white, and without sound.

The film was one of two commissioned by Kansas City Dentist Thomas B. McCrumb. It extols the virtue of regular tooth brushing through the story of two boys: Tommy Tucker and Jimmie Jones. Tommy cares for his teeth, while Jimmie does not.

The film ends with advice on proper tooth-brushing technique.

~ Howdy, Folks!

Disney, Ub Iwerks, and their staff made the first Alice Comedy, a one-reel (ten-minute) short subject titled Alice's Wonderland, while still heading the failing Laugh-O-Gram Studio in Kansas City, Missouri. Alice's Wonderland begins with Alice entering a cartoon studio to witness cartoons being created. Alice is amazed by what she sees: The cartoon characters come to life and play around. After heading to bed that night, she dreams of being in the cartoon world, welcomed by all of the characters. Alice plays with them until a group of lions break free from a cage and chase her.

This short helped set the stage for what was to come in the later Alice Comedies, as it established the world as a playful dream and also introduced the elements which would soon define the series.

After completing the film, the studio went bankrupt and was forced to shut down. After raising money by working as a freelance photographer, Disney bought a one-way train ticket to Los Angeles, California to live with his uncle Robert and his brother Roy. In California, Disney continued to send out proposals for the Alice series, in hopes of obtaining a distribution deal, which was finally arranged through Winkler Pictures, run by Margaret Winkler and her fianceé, Charles Mintz, on the basis of Alice's Wonderland. Disney convinced Davis' family to bring her from Missouri to Los Angeles to star in the series.

Here's "Alice's Wild West Show" released May 1, 1924.

Greetings, Domo Animato!

"Alice's Day at Sea", released March 1, 1924, was the second Alice Comedies cartoon and the first made in the new Hollywood Studio.
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the poster for this film was sold for $36,534 at Christies auction, the most valuable cartoon poster of all time.

Howdy, Gang!

The third entry in the Alice series was "Alices Spooky Adventure", released on April 1, 1924.

When a ball is accidentally knocked through the window of a neighborhood haunted house, Alice is the only one brave enough to go inside to retrieve it. While she is in there she falls and bumps her head, sending her to a cartoon dreamworld in which she rescues a cat and battles some spirits in a ghost town. When she awakens, she retrieves the ball, only to find out that police have investigated the scene. The police chase Alice, believing her to be responsible for the scene, and arrest her.

~ Greetings, Animation Students!

Released January 25, 1925, "Alice the Toreador" already shows improvement in Disney's staff animation.

Alice and Julius play bullfighters, selecting a peaceful old steer as their "bull". However, when Terrible Tom swaps the steer with a legitimate bull, Alice is forced to run for her life. Alice and Julius trap the bull in a pen, and Julius takes on the role of the bull. However, their ruse is soon revealed when a dog pulls the bull skin off of Julius, and the crowd reacts angrily to the deception.

~ Howdy, Folks!

"Alice Gets Stung" was realeased on February 1, 1925. It was Virginia Davis' last performance as Alice.

Julius the Cat and Alice are hunting a wily rabbit, when they come across a bear, among other animals. Alice attempts to shoot the bear, but the bear ends up chasing them into a barrel. The bear then knocks a bee hive into the barrel (thus the "gets stung" from the title).

~ Howdy, Gang!

A girl named Alice is stuck while solving a difficult crossword puzzle when her cat Julius tells her they should go to the beach. They swim in the ocean for a while then dry off and Alice continues her puzzle. Just as she begins, Pete (a collector of rare crossword puzzles who discovers that it is the one he is missing) demands she gives him her puzzle. Alice refuses and smacks him in the face. She then runs into a light house and locks the door. Pete breaks down the door and chases Alice around the light house. Alice screams for help and Julius hears her. He climbs to the top and a fight breaks out. Julius wins the fight by knocking Pete off the light house. Alice then discovers the last phrase in her puzzle, "The End."

Enjoy Alice in "Alice Solves the Puzzle" (1925) the first in the series to feature Peg-Leg Pete, a one-legged bear in this short.

~ Hey, Animation Fans!

Released on May 30, 1925, here is "Alice 's Egg Plant".

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Here is the second Alice short with Margie Gay as the new "Alice". Released on June 15, 1925, "Alice Loses Out".

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"Alice Gets Stage Struck" was released on June 30, 1925. This short features a recreation of Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin".

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"Alice Picks the Champ" was the 20th Alice cartoon released on July 30, 1925. For years only a fragment of this cartoon was known to exist. This substandard print represents the complete cartoon.

Howdy, Students of Animation!

Here is a link to "Alice's Tin Pony", released on August 15, 1925. I had a print of this cartoon when I was 12 years old issued by Castle Films who retitled it, "Alice's Railroad".

~ Greetings, Animation Fans!

Here's a good print of "Alice Chops the Suey", released on August 30, 1925.