In 1922, she signed a contract with Pat Sullivan Productions to produce Felix the Cat cartoons. This established her reputation as the top distributor in the cartoon world. It was a good thing, because at the end of the same year the Fleischer brothers, flush with success as a result of Winkler's work, left her to form their own distribution company, Red Seal Pictures. However much Sullivan helped Winkler's business, he and Winkler were constantly fighting. In September 1923, the renewal of his contract came up, and his unrealistic demands meant Winkler Pictures might have to survive for a while without its biggest star. Winkler viewed a pilot reel, called "Alice's Wonderland", submitted by then neophyte animator Walt Disney, the first entry in the "Alice Comedies" series. Winkler was intrigued with the idea of a live-action girl in a cartoon world, and signed Disney to a year-long contract despite the fact that the studio that made the cartoon was now bankrupt.