Walt Disney Treasures – Disney Rarities – Celebrated Shorts, 1920s – 1960s (1953)

Disney Rarities lives up to its title: It’s been impossible to see many of these shorts for decades. Walt Disney bankrupted his fledgling Laugh-O-Gram studio making “Alice’s Wonderland,” but the short earned Disney his first national distribution contract. Films featuring animated characters in live-action settings were common during the silent era; Disney reversed the situation, placing a live actress (Virginia Davis) in a cartoon world. The “Alice” series ran from 1923-1926, and several girls played the title role. These silent films have been handsomely restored and given upbeat musical tracks by Alex Rannie. The Oscar-winners “Ferdinand the Bull” (1938) and “Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom” (1953) rank as genuine classics, and have been unavailable for far too long. The wartime cautionary tale “Chicken Little” (1943) displays more imagination than the 2005 feature adaptation of the same story. “The Truth About Mother Goose” (1957) reflects the influence of Sleeping Beaut (more…)