Yesterday I saw a few of Disney’s earliest silent films at the Paramount Theatre. The movies were accompanied by a large organ played by Jim Riggs, with Paul Hansen making the special
sound effects. We watched three shorts, “Alice in Wonderland”, “Alice Gets in
Dutch”, and “Alice’s Day at Sea”.
“Alice in Wonderland” was not actually about Wonderland, as
you might think. It was more like “Alice in Cartoonland”. Alice, who was played
by Virginia Davis, ran around and explored Cartoonland, meeting a few friends
along the way. I liked the animation effects – they were spectacular.
“Alice Gets in Dutch” was actually my favorite cartoon. A boy
in Alice’s class blew up a balloon and put some ink in it, while the teacher
wasn’t looking. He told Alice to hold it, and blow it more. It ballooned
outwards, and then the teacher saw the balloon. She demonstrated: “This is what
will happen to all balloons that I find in my classroom.” And she popped the
balloon. Ink covered her face, clothes, and most of everything else near her. I
liked the cartoon part of it best.
“Alice’s Day at Sea” was my least favorite. It wasn’t very
exciting, and all Alice did was dream she got shipwrecked and then wake up
tangled in a net. I guess the part where the shark tried to eat her was okay.
To sum up, Walt Disney’s earliest films were pretty good!
Great details!
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