December 15, 1925 – The Alice Comedy Alice in the Jungle Premieres
On December 15, 1925, the Alice Comedy Alice in the Jungle premiered in theaters. As of now, it one of the few comedies released on DVD for the public, although the Alice Comedies are now in the public domain. The short was directed and produced by Walt Disney, and stars Virginia Davis as Alice.
The short begins with Alice riding on the back of an elephant, holding a shotgun. Her friend Julius spies something and whistles for a bird, who carries him around to spy on the land from above. The bird becomes annoyed with Julius’ antics and kicks him off right over a pool filled with alligators. Luckily, Julius manages to remain uneaten, but is soon attacked by another alligator on shore, who eats his tail. He does manage to retrieve his tail before heading back to Alice.
The barber thanks Julius profusely for his help in reacquiring a barber pole
Two elephants are running around the jungle, dancing and skipping, before they pull the swimsuits out of their “trunks,” and go for a swim in a nearby pool. One of the two climbs a tree to go for a dive, with the other one draining the pool of its water, so as to play a mean prank on their friend. The scene then moves over to the jungle barber shop, with a hippo eating the barber’s striped pole, thinking it to be a candy cane. The barber breaks down in tears before Julius happens to stumble on the situation. The barber explains to Julius what happened, and Julius, spying a nearby tiger, has a plan. He covers the tiger’s tail in starch and wakes it up. The tiger runs away startles, accidentally knocking off its own tail. The barber is overjoyed when he sees the replacement pole.
Alice is then seen chasing a bear, who keeps hitting her with his slingshot. She follows him into a dark cave, but is soon chased out by a lion. She screams for help, and her cry finds Julius, who comes to her rescue. Although he saves her from one lion, a whole herd of them begin to chase Alice and Julius, with the two making their escape on the back of their elephant.
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