On this day in 1926, Julius the cat drives his car and screams “War declared!” in the silent film Alice’s Little Parade. Unlike the earlier Alice cartoons, the title character is hardly in this film at all. At Julius’ urging, all the townspeople—or animals—immediately run to the recruiting station to sign up. There, we briefly see General Alice, portrayed by young Margie Gay—the only live-action character in this otherwise all-animated world. Soon, it’s an all-out battle between Julius and his allies and his enemies—mice. When Julius is blown apart in one scene, he is reassembled at the hospital, which, fortunately, has enough spare parts (including heads, legs, and tails) to put him back together. In the end, Julius attracts the mouse enemies using the scent of strong cheese as bait, clobbering each of them on the head as they walk toward the cheese. Amongst the victory cheers, we once again see Alice joining in the festivities.
