Alice and the Dog Catcher

An Alice Comedy

Release Date : July 1, 1924

Running Time : 12:26

Synopsis

Alice presides over a secret club which proposes to rid the town of dog catchers and free the dogs!

Characters

Alice and Julius

Credits

Director
Walt Disney
Animation
Walt Disney
Rollin "Ham" Hamilton
Camera
Harry Forbes
Live Action Actor
Virginia Davis
Leon Holmes
Tommy Hicks
Joe Allen
Peggy the Dog

DVD

United States
Disney's Alice Comedies : Volume 1

Technical Specification

Color Type: Black & White
Animation Type: Combination live-action and standard animation
Sound Mix: Silent
Aspect Ratio: 1.37 : 1
Negative Format: 35mm
Print Format: 35mm
Cinematographic Process: Spherical
Original Language: English

Released by M. J. Winkler Productions

Comments

From Ryan Kilpatrick at The Disney Film Project : Stop me if I sound like a broken record, but the live action sequences in Alice and the Dog Catcher are the highlight of what is otherwise a very uninspired short. This is perhaps part of a larger discussion about the first series of the Alice Comedies, but it seems as though at this point in his career, Walt’s focus was on what was the best for the bottom line of his fledgling company rather than what made the best film.

I know, that’s heresy to some out there who believe that Walt always went for quality no matter the cost. But that’s simply not true. It’s part of the Disney legend, but the more you read about the man and what he actually did, it seems that Walt Disney was more the great compromiser than the quality first person that the legend makes him out to be.

More on that to come, but first to discuss this short, Alice and the Dog Catcher. The story is probably the simplest of the shorts so far, but that’s not a bad thing. The story opens with Alice leading a meeting of the Klik Klak Klub, a grouping of the usual gang from the previous shorts. It’s an unfortunate name in light of the later associations for KKK, but that only comes to mind for current viewers.

That image in your mind is not helped by the fact that all the kids are wearing bags over their heads, reminiscent of hoods. Or by the fact that the one African-American kid is included almost as a servant of the other kids. It’s amazing the difference that time makes. This short would likely never be released on DVD by Disney today, simply because of these concerns. Of course, nothing was meant by it then, but it’s a great study in how tastes and morals change through the years.

Regardless, our buddy Tubby comes into the clubhouse and tells them that the dog catcher is out and about, which apparently is a cause for alarm. Again, it’s interesting how this stuff is viewed differently as time moves on. Today, I don’t imagine that anyone would be all that concerned by seeing a dog catcher out catching strays, but in this short and several of the Mickey/Pluto shorts in the future, Walt Disney often portrays the dog catcher as a villain.

That plays into a larger theme that has played out over the first few shorts that most critics say reverses itself with the later films. In these early silent shorts, the authority figures are the villains, like the dog catcher, the cops in the earlier Alice shorts, and even the king in Puss In Boots. This version of Walt Disney seems much more subversive than he seems to be in the future.

So, Alice tells a story to the gang about how she once foiled a dog catcher, which is where the animation begins. The animated sequence has a little better quality, but again, is very weak. Our dog friend from the earlier shorts gets multiplied here, and several of them are picked up by an animated dog catcher. Alice runs into the one dog that got away, and starts trying to come up with ways to free the dogs.

She tries to charm her way into the dog pound, but the guard isn’t falling for it. Instead, she finds a conveniently located pile of TNT nearby, tosses a bomb into the pound and it literally starts raining dogs. That’s the basics of the animated sequence, and we switch back to live action.

The gang runs out and frees the dogs from the dog catcher’s car, then one half of the gang runs off and is chased, while Alice and Tubby steal the car for some unknown reason. This leads to some amusing chase scenes through the streets of LA, which is great for fans of the city like myself. Finally, though, the dog catchers catch up with the car, as Alice and Tubby abandon it. The dog catchers climb on board, and they end up going over a grassy cliff as the gang laughs.

The one thing that really stands out from this short is the cruelty. Throwing TNT into the dog pound, Tubby nearly driving the car into a guy on the street, and the kids laughing at the car going over a cliff are all good examples. You see this often in the silent short films from Walt, which again contrasts heavily with the carefully cultivated image of Disney that the company puts out.

This is why I am doing this project, though, is to discover more about the man through his works. The man that produced this film is obviously concerned with time and money, as the live action parts that are cheaper to produce are the bulk of the film. This is also a man who has strong feelings about kids, dogs and their relation to authority. Sure, it’s cute to have the kids upend the dog catchers, but there’s a theme here. Alice tends to meet authority often, and she is always on the other side. Something to keep an eye on as we move forward.

From Jerry Edwards : LA equals Live Action. A equals Animation. LA: Alice and her gang go thru their rituals in their secret club. At the start, they were grocery bags over their heads. One jarring note - the black member wears a bag with a black face on it. One member arrives and tells everyone the dog catchers are catching the neighborhood dogs. Alice imagines a dog being turned into sausages. A: Dog catcher uses music to lure young dogs to his truck. He mallets each and throws them into the truck. He chases one dog who dives into a rabbit hole. The dog catcher finally tricks the dog and throws him into the truck. The parent dogs are shown worried about their sons - the dad pacing back and forth and the mom crying. LA: The gang are crying as Alice continues to tell the story. A: Alice tells the parent dogs that she'll rescue their sons. She tries to sweet talk the "prison guard" to let her into the dog pound. The guard bayonets her, causing her to fall into a cactus. She sees a pile of bombs marked TNT and throws a bomb at the prison. The building explodes, with the sky full of "raining" dogs, the guard, and pieces of the building. Among the dogs is a string of sausages. The mom welcomes her sons home. The "sausage dog" is welcomed by "Oscar!! My darling!!" LA: Alice tells the gang they're going to rescue the dogs from the dog catchers. A dog from the club house opens the cage of the truck and lets the dogs out. While the two dog catchers are chasing most of the gang, Alice and two of the gang try to destroy the truck. They start the truck and it starts rolling out of control down the hilly street. The truck destroys a fruit peddler's cart and chases the fruit peddler. The dog catchers try to catch the truck and manage to jump on just as the truck goes down a steep hillside and crashes. The gang looks down and laughs at them.

An enjoyable story and well done for its time. I can imagine kids in particular getting a great deal of enjoyment from the short.

From Kai Tooie : I give it a 10 rating first on it being a true vintage classic, and also because I did not know that it was possible at that time to mix film and cartoon. The shots with Anna super-imposed upon the cartoon really surprised me.

The chase scene is great too, particularly with the camera on the back of the car as the kids are trying to avoid (or were they really trying to run down) the fruit vendor and his cart. The hill shots were good also, actually gave me the feeling I was going downhill with them at one point.

By the way, those hill shots look as if they were made on Telegraph Hill in San Francisco.

And Anna looked like a very young Mary Pickford.

The gang of kids reminded me very much of the American serial "Spanky and Our Gang." Don't know which one came first though.

On the downside, I did not understand the purpose of the opening about the Klu Klux Klan. Everything else about the movie was clear without being able to read the subtitles.

Only negative comments I have are that the action was slow in points and the plot was very predictable, but those two issues are more than made up for by the quality of the movie when one considers the era in which it was produced.

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