Studio: Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, for Winkler Pictures
Distributor: Winkler Pictures (M. J. Winkler)
Short Synopsis
Alice and Julius the cat go hunting. Their quarry is a wily rabbit who makes fools of them both, and in pursuit of it they come across a succession of other animals, ending with a bear. Alice levels her gun at the bear, but the hunt reverses: the bear chases the two of them until they hide inside a barrel, and the bear, rather than reach in after them, knocks a beehive into the barrel on top of them. The title is the punchline. The film survives, was reissued with a soundtrack in 1930, and has been released on DVD, so its gags are on record; the rabbit's tricks and the bear's revenge are the two set pieces.
Why It Matters
- The hunt is an early version of a pattern Disney cartoons would repeat for thirty years, the hunter undone by the cleverer animal, and the rabbit's tormenting of Alice and Julius has flashes of the later Oswald and even of Bugs Bunny. The beehive finish is cruel, quick and well timed.
- This was Virginia Davis's last film as Alice: her parents and Disney could not agree terms, and from the next film the part went to Margie Gay. Davis, who had been the face of the series since the Kansas City pilot, lived to ninety and became a popular guest at Disney events; the film closes the first chapter of the studio's history.
Notes and Trivia
- A sound version was released on 15 October 1930, one of several Alice films given soundtracks for reissue.
- Davis returned for one more Alice film, Alice in the Jungle (1925), but only through the reuse of footage shot earlier.
- See also: Alice the Toreador (1925), Alice Solves the Puzzle (1925).