Post by The Ultimate Nullifier on Oct 14, 2016 21:16:18 GMT -6
variety.com/2016/film/news/lumiere-festival-walt-disneys-alice-comedies-being-distributed-by-frances-malavida-1201888990/
Lumière Festival: Walt Disney’s ‘Alice Comedies’ Being Restored, Distributed by France’s Malavida
LYON, France — Walt Disney’s “Alice Comedies,” a series of cartoons made before Disney went to Hollywood, have been freshly restored and re-packaged for global distribution by France’s Malavida Films, one of the specialty cinema companies announcing their 2017 lineups at Lyon’s Lumière festival vintage cinema market.
Disney made the silent shorts starting in 1923 when he was still a struggling cartoon filmmaker in Kansas City. They feature a young girl named Alice, originally played by Virginia Davis, who interacts with animated characters. Local company Laugh-O-gram Films produced them and subsequently went bust. Now they are in the public domain.
“These are the only films in the Disney catalogue that are not copyrighted,” said Malavida co-chief Lionel Ithurralde.
Malavida is a niche vintage arthouse movies outfit whose upcoming French releases include several works by British director Derek Jarman, including his 1976 drama “Sebastiane,” the first film ever shot in Latin.
Malavida tracked down the “Alice Comedies” reels in Amsterdam at the Eye film museum, the only institution in The Netherlands that buys film collections. They are also specialised in restoration. Malavida and Eye collaborated on the digital restoration of the Disney shorts with prominent Paris-based Titra Film labs.
“It was a quite complicated technical feat because the original material is 18 frames per second; but for restoration work you need 25 frames per second,” Ithurralde said.
Malavida have added music which they co-produced with French orchestra Orchestre de Chamber d’Hote. The orchestra composed the score which can also be performed for a live “cine-concert.”
The eight-to-twelve minute comedies, each of which used to be on one reel, include “Alice’s Wild West Show,” “Alice’s Spooky Adventure,” and “Alice’s Day at Sea,” all starring Virginia Davis.
Malavida are distributing them in France and selling them globally.