Alice’s Little Parade struts with Restoration and New ... · Alice’s Little Parade struts with...

Alice’sLittleParadestrutswithRestorationandNewMusicScore

ByDaveBossert

(ThetitlecardforALICE’SLITTLEPARADE)Alice’sLittleParadewasfirstreleasedonFebruary1,1926,andwaspartoftheAliceComedies

seriesdirectedbyWaltDisney.Theseries,whichconsistsof57silentshortsmadebetween

1923and1927,wascreatedbyWaltandanimatorUbIwerks.ThefilmstarsMargieDavis,the

secondofthefourgirlswhoplayedAlicethroughouttheseries,alongsideherfaithfulanimated

catpalJulius,wholookssuspiciouslylikeFelixtheCattowardstheendoftheseries.Ashas

beenthecasewithanumberofsilenteracartoonsandshorts,thistitlewasscarceandtoget

ascompleteaprintaspossiblerequiredusingmultiplefilmcopies.

(MargieDavis,thesecondoffouractressesthatplayedAlicewithheranimatedpalJulius)

Inthiscase,Alice’sLittleParadewassourcedfromsurviving16mmand35mmprints

courtesyofTommyJoseStathers.Digitalscansweredoneofbothprintsandthe‘bestof’

portionswereeditedtogethercreatingthemostcompleteprintknowntoexist.Thiswas

followedbyastunningdigitalrestorationcompletedbySteveStanchfieldandhisteamat

ThunderbeanAnimation.Aswithallrestorationefforts,choiceshavetobemadeforthesakeof

theentirefilmandalevelofcleanupappropriatesothatthefilmcontinuestofeelofthetime

periodinwhichitwasmade.Thisbecomesasubjectiveendeavorwiththeinputofmorethan

oneindividualknowledgeablewiththematerial.It’snotperfect,nothingeveris,butitisthe

bestthatcanbeaccomplishedwiththeresourcesavailableandnodoubtcanbeimproved

uponshouldadditionalprintssurfacethatareevenmorecomplete.

Thereconstructionanddigitalcleanupofthisfilmwereonlypartoftheprocessinthe

restorationandpreservationofAlice’sLittleParade.Musicalsoneededtobeaddedsincethisis

asilentfilmandhadnosoundtrack.Whenfirstreleased,beforefilmshadsynchronizedsound,

theonlyaudioavailablewhenviewingamoviewasprovidedbyatheaterorganistorpianist

whoaccompaniedthefilmwithmusic.Typically,therewasnoscorereleasedwiththeseshorts

andthetheaterkeyboardistimprovisedtothefilmusingmostlypublicdomainmusic.Inthe

early1920s,thereweresheetmusicandmusiccompilationbookspublishedfilledwithmusicin

thepublicdomainthatwascategorizedundertopicssuchas“chatter,birds,children,dances,

doll,festival,firefighting,funeral,gruesome”andmanymore.Undereachoftheseheadings

therecouldbeseveralmusicalselectionsthatthekeyboardistcouldusetoconveythe

appropriatefeelingtohelpsupportthescreenactionofthefilm.

(Asimilargaginwhichthecanonballstopsinmid-airandhasafacialreactionalsoappearedintheOswaldshortGREATGUNS.)

Themusicactsasasupportingcharacterforsilentfilmsbuildingtensionwhereneeded,

accentingtheactionandoftenenhancingvisualgagsandcomedy.Itwasthetraininggrounds

forwhatevolvedintocartoonmusicandwhatbecameknownattheDisneyStudiosand

elsewhereintheindustryas“MickeyMousing,”wherethemusicfollowedandaccentedthe

screenaction.WaltDisneyenjoyeditwhenmusicwould“hit”thespecificaction,thoughthis

canneverappeartobeforced.Thatphilosophyisthebedrockofcartoonmusictoday.

MarkWattersisveteranfilmcomposerandhadscoredanumberoftherecentlyfound

andrestoredOswaldtheLuckyRabbitcartoons.Astudentofcinemamusic,hehasasensibility

towardsthesilentfilmeraandadeepknowledgeofhowscoreswereconstructedduringthat

period.Watters’workontheOswaldcartoonstookitscuesfromtheearliestMickeyMouse

shorts,whichactedasaroadmaptohowCarlStallingscoredthoseshorts.Stallingwasthefirst

musicdirectorattheDisneyStudios.AfriendofWalt’sfromKansasCity,hecuthismusical

chopsasatheaterorganistandwaswellversedinusingfamiliarpublicdomainmusicto

enhancethescreenactionofsilentfilms.WattershadasimilarapproachinscoringtheOswald

shortsHungryHoboes,AfricaBeforeDarkandPoorPapa,witheachusingmusicthatresonated

withtheaudience.Forinstance,inPoorPapaWattersused‘ThisIstheWayWeWashOur

Clothes,’‘Rock-a-byeBaby,’andthewell-known‘Brahms’Lullaby’andWagner’s‘Rideofthe

Valkyrie,’whichservedastheclimacticfinish.ForAfricaBeforeDark,hechosetousethe

familiartune,‘A-HuntingWeWillGo,’butmodifieditandothermelodiestocapturethatsame

“junglestyle”ofthecartoon.

InthediscussingthemusicforAlice’sLittleParade,WattersandItalkedabouttheidea

oftryingtobreakawayfromwritingascorethatreliedheavilyontheuseofmusicinthepublic

domain.Obviously,there’sasensibilitytoitthatevokesanothererabuttherewasreallyno

reasonwhythemusichadtosoundnostalgic.Hewantedtowriteanoriginalscorewith

minimalquotingofpublicdomainmusic.Theuseofmusicinthepublicdomainwasprevalent

inanimationduringthelate‘20sandthroughoutthe‘30sandbeyondforthemerefactthatit

didn’tcostanything—noroyaltiesorlicensingfees,itwasfree.So,forWatters,therewasno

reasonforhimtohavetoussuchmusicwhenhecouldcomposeanoriginalworkthathadthe

flavorofthetimeperiod.Yet,therewasoneinstanceinthisnewscorewherehedidchooseto

useafamiliarthemeandthatwascalled‘HereWeGo-RoundtheMulberryBush,’whichwas

writteninthe1830s.Thetunehadvarioustitlesanddifferentlyricsovertheyearsbutmost

peopleknowthesongfromchildhood—“…herewego-roundthemulberrybush,themulberry

bush...”Heusedthatthemebecauseitwasappropriatetothescreenactioninonepartof

Alice’sLittleParade.“Thelyricsofthissongare,inasense,asetofinstructionssowhentwo

miceareexplainingtoadonkeyhowtheyplantolaunchcannonballswiththehelpofhishind

legs,Ithoughtitwasmostappropriatetousethistune,”saidWatters.

(‘HereWeGo-RoundtheMulberryBush’wasusedinthissectionasanappropriatethemeforthescreenaction.)

SincetheAliceComediespredatetheOswaldshorts,onewouldthinkthatusingmore

musicinthepublicdomainwouldbeappropriate.But,ontheOswaldshorts,Watterssaid,“I

thinkitwasmoreofmewantingtoimaginewiththeOswaldshortsthatIwasthinkingalotof

whatwouldWaltwant,ifWaltwerealive,andheweredirectingmeonwhattowritefor

those—whatwouldIwanttogivehim.”OnAlice’sLittleParade,“Isupposeafterdoingthree

Oswald’sIkindoffeelconfidentinthinkingthatIdon’tnecessarilyhavetodothat,Icanwrite

somethingthatwouldsoundalittlemorecontemporaryinplacesyetstillhavecertainnostalgic

qualities.”ThatdoesnotmeanhewouldhavewrittenaRockorHip-Hopscore,butrathera

scorethathadavintagequalitywithoutitnecessarilybeingfromthe1920s.

TheotherconsiderationthatWatterswasconscienceofwaswhetherornothewould

haveaclicktrack.Theclicktrackisexactlythat,soundclicksthatactasametronomefor

keepingthetempoofthemusic.Theconductorandthemusicianshearthoseclicksthrough

headphones.Forprojectsinthepast,therewasabudgettocreateaclicktrackforthescore

butonAlice’sLittleParade,well,let’sjustsaythatwehadaveryleanbudgetthatcouldnot

accommodatetheclicktrack.Instead,Wattersusedwhatareknownasstreamerswhichare

visualcuesthattheconductorandmusicianscanseeonstrategicallyplacedmonitorsduring

therecordingsessionorliveperformance.Itisjustadifferentwayofleadingtheorchestraand

accomplishingthesamegoalastheclicktrack,whichiskeepingthemusicinsyncwiththe

picture.“Iwasdelightedthere’sonlytwotemposinthewholepieceandIwasalsodelightedat

howfortunateIwaswithhowthingslanded,”Watterssaid,“Becauseit’spureluckofthedraw

thatyouknowthingsaregoingtolandonabeatorinthemiddleofthebeatsothatyoucanhit

anactionmusically.But,forthisshort,itworkedoutreallywell.”

Musicisanimportantpartofcomplimentingandhighlightingthescreenactioninany

film—itisasupportingcharacter—especiallyinsilentfilmslikeAlice’sLittleParade.Without

music,thegagsandsituationsarelessimpactfulanddiminishtheviewingexperienceasa

whole.Filmpuristsmaywanttowatchsilentcartoonswithnosound,butthatisnothowthey

wereintendedtobeviewed.Beforesynchronizedsound,thefilmmakersreliedonthetheatres

toaddthemusicwithinhousemusiciansandsometimesevensuppliedscoreslikeCharlie

Chaplindidforsomeofhisfilms.Iprefertoviewanimatedfilmsfromthesilenterawitha

robustmusicscorethatiscomposedexpresslyforeachindividualcartoonsothatIcanbefully

absorbedinthecartoonexperience.Ifyouhavenothadtheopportunitytoseesilentfilmswith

livemusicalaccompaniment,Iurgeyoutojumpatthenextopportunity.Seeingthesefilmsina

vintagetheaterwithatwenty-eight-pieceorchestraisacompletelyimmersiveeventandthe

bestwaytoexperiencethesecartoonsasfarasI’mconcerned.

ThenewscoreforAlice’sLittleParade,writtenbyMarkWatters,premieredonFebruary

10,2018,toarobustcrowdinaprogramtitledAnimatusEventus(CartoonSuite),presentedby

theRiversidePhilharmonicattheRiversideMunicipalAuditoriuminRiverside,California.The

musicwasconductedunderthebatonofMaestroWatters.Alice’sLittleParadewillbescreened

atothereventsandfestivalsinthecomingyear.

TheentireprojectbudgetwasraisedthroughthePatreonplatformthatallowedfor

crowdfundingthesupportnecessarytocompletetherestorationandpreservationofthisfilm.

ThoseattheExecutiveProducerandProducersupportlevelsreceivedcreditattheendofthe

film.Ifyouwouldliketobecomeasupporterofrestoringandpreservingscarceandlost

cartoons,pleasevisitwww.patreon.com/davidbossert.

AbouttheAuthorDavidA.Bossertisanartist,filmmaker,andauthor.Heisa32-yearveteranofTheWaltDisneyCompanyandisanindependentproducer,creativedirector,andwriter.BossertisconsideredanauthorityandexpertonDisneyanimationhistory.HeisamemberoftheCalArtsBoardofTrusteesandisavisitingscholaratCarnegieMellonUniversity’sEntertainmentTechnologyCenter(ETC)inPittsburgh.Bossertco-authoredDisneyAnimated,whichwasnamediPadAppof2013byAppleandwonaprestigiousBritishAcademyofFilmandTelevisionArts(BAFTA)award.Heisalsotheauthoroftheseveralbooksincludinghislatest;OswaldtheLuckyRabbit:TheSearchfortheLostDisneyCartoons,andTheArtofTennesseeLoveless:TheMickeyMouseTENxTENxTENContemporaryPopArtSeriespublishedbyDisneyEditions.Learnmoreatwww.davidbossert.com