Virginia Davis Trailers
Alice Comedies TrailerWalt Disney Treasures: The Adventures of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit TrailerFrom Kansas City to Hollywood Trailer
Virginia Davis (December 31, 1918 - August 15, 2009) was born in Kansas City, Missouri. Her father was a traveling furniture salesman and spent much time away from home. With her husband gone for weeks at a time, Margaret Davis, a housewife, focused all her attention on her daughter; she began taking Virginia to dancing lessons and modeling auditions when she was 2. A striking child with long curls, Virginia was soon appearing in advertisements that played between films in local theaters. She also entered Georgie Brown's Dramatic School in Kansas City, where she studied drama and dance.
In the summer of 1923, 22-year-old Walt Disney, a struggling but ambitious director, saw Virginia in an advertisement in a Kansas City theater and immediately decided to hire her. He quickly contacted Margaret Davis, who was eager to advance her Virginia's career. Alice's Wonderland (1923), the first short film of the Alice series, was filmed at the Davis home in Kansas City; both Margaret Davis and Walt Disney made brief appearances (which marked Disney's first live appearance in one of his own cartoons).
After filming, Disney returned to Hollywood and began to build his movie empire with only forty dollars and one short film starring little Virginia Davis. The Davis family soon followed Disney to Hollywood, although their daughter's career was not the only reason for the move; Virginia had suffered pneumonia and other health problems, and her doctor told her parents that she would be healthier in a drier, warmer climate.
Virginia signed her first contract with Disney for a salary of $100 a month, and she began filming the Alice shorts in Walt Disney's first studio, his uncle's garage. His brother Roy O. Disney was the cameraman, and the Disney family dog Peggy appeared in many of the films. The Alice shorts became very popular, providing Disney with his first national success. But as the series progressed, Disney became more interested in the animation aspect, which minimized Virginia's live-action role; she only made about thirteen of the Alice shorts before her contract was severed. She later auditioned for the role of voice of Snow White in Disney's film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), but she didn't get the role because her mother refused to accept the frugal salary.
Virginia had some small roles in full-length films, including The Harvey Girls (1946), before she left acting to earn a degree from the New York School of Interior Design. She later became an editor for the 1950s magazine "Living for Young Homemakers", and in the 1960s she began working for real estate agents in Connecticut and later California.
In 1992, interest was renewed in the Alice series. Living in retirement in Montana, Virginia was suddenly overwhelmed by the number of fans seeking to honor her and the remarkable role she played in the birth of Walt Disney Studios. She was the guest of honor at the Pordonone Silent Film Festival in Italy in 1992, and she was inducted as a Disney Legend in 1998. Virginia also became very active in silent film festivals and events at Disneyland and Walt Disney World.
Most Popular Virginia Davis Trailers
Total trailers found: 30
08 October 1999
There's not a person in the world who wouldn't recognize Mickey Mouse. But until now, not many knew the man who originally gave shape, movement and personality to the world's most beloved icon.
29 October 1932
Although Vivian Revere is seemingly the most successful of a trio of reunited schoolmates, she throws it away by descending into a life of debauchery and drugs.
04 January 1928
Film which tells the story of immigrants coming to the United States.
01 February 1925
Julius goes rabbit hunting while Alice goes bear hunting. Alice and her cat learn at their own expense that one shouldn't bother animals, whether those be rabbits or bears.
06 December 2005
This featurette is available on the 'Walt Disney Treasures: Disney Rarities' DVD.
04 November 1941
A pair of nightclub owners run a string of escort bureaus where men pay for the "companionship" of young women.
19 December 1936
College students rally to save a struggling hotel from closing. Comedy.
15 December 1925
Alice and Julius the cat are riding an elephant through the jungle. Julius falls and is nearly eaten by crocodiles but manages to escape nevertheless.
18 May 1934
Shortly before the curtain goes up the first time at the latest performance of Earl Carroll's Vanities, someone is attempting to injure the leading lady Ann Ware, who wants to marry leading man Eric Lander.
06 December 2005
This featurette is available on the 'Walt Disney Treasures: Disney Rarities' DVD.
01 January 1925
Alice and her cat are driving along the coast when they accidentally ride off a cliff and into the ocean.
15 November 1924
Alice and Julius go on a safari in Africa to hunt wild game, but they get very different results.
31 July 1924
Alice tries to make two rival newsboys friends by telling them a story of a cat and a mouse whose constant battlings lead to being hunted by the police, when they learned to cooperate.
11 December 2007
Before Mickey there was Oswald, the floppy-eared star of Walt Disney's first cartoon series, THE ADVENTURES OF OSWALD THE LUCKY RABBIT.
01 March 1924
Alice's trip to the sea inspires her to dream of a visit to an animated underwater world.
19 June 1941
Wild Bill Hickock and Cannonball help two young people in love and bring the murderer of Cannonball's father to justice.
02 May 1926
A story of Vienna following World War I, in which the butchers became millionaires and the aristocrats became beggars, told against a background of mother-love and sacrifice.
01 June 1924
Alice wants desperately to get out of practicing her piano so she can go have fun with her friends. She tricks her mother into thinking she's still playing by getting her dog to play for her, and then she and the gang hitch a ride to the local pond where they spend their time fishing.
01 May 1924
Alice and her friends put on a show.
05 September 1931
The setting is a city block during a sweltering summer, where the residents serve as representatives of the not-very-idealized American melting pot.
13 December 1925
In the days of the California Gold Rush of '49, Sandy is at odds with his partner, Falloner, over the latter's heavy drinking.
01 November 1924
Alice misbehaves in school and is forced to sit in the corner. She falls asleep and dreams, but schoolwork intrudes even into her dreams.
15 December 1924
The rats are out of control in Hamlin; they've taken over the kitchen, but when they take over the King's bedroom, that's the last straw.
15 January 1925
Alice is in a bullfight where she thinks she will win since she is matched against a peaceful bull. But the tables are turned when her bull is switched with one with a worse temper.
01 April 1924
When a ball is accidentally knocked through the window of a neighbourhood haunted house, Alice is the only one brave enough to go inside to retrieve it.
01 July 1924
Alice presides over a secret club which proposes to rid the town of dog catchers and free the dogs!
11 December 1924
The Three Bears are busy cooking when Baby Bear realises his recipe requires hops. Naturally his first inclination is to go find some frogs to provide for him his hops, so he runs off and pursues a frog at the local pond.
07 December 2016
4 original gems from Walt Disney
01 January 1923
Instead of Wonderland, Alice visits the Walt Disney animation room.
13 March 1942
With his sidekick Rusty, Jeff Harper sails to paradisiacal tropical isle Ahmi-Oni to bargain on behalf of his cattle baron father for land owned by transplanted Irishman Dennis O'Brien.
