Alice In Wonderland (1951)
Tis brillig!
Starring: Kathryn Beaumont, Ed Wynn, Richard Haydn, Sterling Holloway, Jerry Colonna, Verna Felton, J. Pat O'Malley, Bill Thompson, Heather Angel, Joseph Kearns, Larry Grey, Queenie Leonard, Dink Trout, Doris Lloyd, James MacDonald
Director: Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson & Hamilton Luske
Running Time: 75 minutes
US MPAA rating: N/AUK BBFC rating: U
Animation, Drama, Family, Fantasy, Musical
On DVD Remember when Disney used to start and end each of their feature-length toons with bizarre operatic-style singing involving the use of words you could never quite make out? Well, if that's the sort of warbling you enjoy, 'Alice In Wonderland' will be right up your alley. Probably.
The follow-up to 1950's 'Cinderella', this was Disney's 13th animated big screen release. Unlucky for some, and most notably ol' Walt himself, as this turned out to be a bit of a flop in theatres. But, love it or hate it, it's a tough film to forget. Certainly one of Disney's stranger productions, it merges elements from Lewis Carroll's two novels 'The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland' and 'Through the Looking Glass' with some outright fabrications on the part of the animators. Suffice to say, some of it works and some of it doesn't.
Kathryn Beaumont (she's in her 60s now, but incredibly Disney STILL drag her out when they've got a gig for Alice) provides the voice for the super-posh kiddy who gets into all sorts of scrapes after following a clock-watching rabbit down it's burrow (something most of us make a point of never doing). From then on in there's no particular storyline to speak of. Instead, we see her meeting and greeting a series of barmy characters including tubby twins Tweedle-Dum and Tweedle-Dee, a perma-grinning Cheshire cat, and a decapitation-daft Queen. A personal favourite of mine is the Dodo, with his attempts to keep a team of critters dry by having them run incessantly round in circles.
Unfortunately, the enforced wackiness of it all starts to grow tiresome by about halfway through, and it generally goes downhill from the Mad Hatter's tea party onwards. It's not at all surprising to hear it often suggested that the entire film is a metaphor for various sorts of drug use. I certainly won't dispute that, but I can't help but think there are some people who seem intent on finding drug references in practically EVERY film. If that's what you want to see in it, then you probably will - but it's highly unlikely the kids in the target audience will either realise or care.
DVD Extras: Nothing on this one - honestly, I know we're in Region 2, but does that have to make us second-class citizens as well? Why can't we get the same features that are on the Region 1 version?
It's Got: Cabbages and kings.
It Needs: Alice to work on that singing voice.
Alternatives: Fantasia, Peter Pan, Beauty and the Beast, The Matrix (honestly!)
Summary: Visually this flick is a real treat, but it has to be said that, even after over 50 years, the jury is still out on the content. Not everyone's cup of tea, but worth seeing.
Review by Gary Panton
Review Date: 21th November 2003
Image Gallery
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External Links
Alice In Wonderland at the IMDB
Comments14 Comments |
| It's a very very very BORING movie. I was forced to see it and i HATED it!!!! |
| Comment by:- | | 11 October 2004 | ip: logged |
| You people suck. Alice Rocks. Nuff said. |
| Comment by:- | | 13 October 2004 | ip: logged |
| Alice is a pretty good movie but try reading the book, or reading the book in another state of mind. |
| Comment by:- | | 15 October 2004 | ip: logged |
| i think its a great movie.... maybe you people should go back to being a kid for a while. it would do you good |
| Comment by:- | | 15 October 2004 | ip: logged |
| i like this movie, its pretty good while tripping. |
| Comment by:- | | 18 October 2004 | ip: logged |
| I love this film!! it rocks |
| Comment by:- | | 19 October 2004 | ip: logged |
| Oh man. Nothing even touches this movie. Excluding perhaps Willy Wonka with Gene Wilder. The man is brilliant. |
| Comment by:- | | 19 October 2004 | ip: logged |
| the movie sucks ass |
| Comment by:- | | 22 October 2004 | ip: logged |
| I luv this movie maybe you guys just dont have an imagination!!! You suck!!! |
| Comment by:- | | 28 October 2004 | ip: logged |
| It was (very)boring, to LONG, after 1 hour, children get tired watching it, including myself. From 1-10, I rate this movie at 3! |
| Comment by:- | | 31 October 2004 | ip: logged |
| I love alice in wonderland. Maybe its because I'm called alice or maybe its because its just a brilliant book and they've done a good job of the film too. :) |
| Comment by:- | | 07 November 2004 | ip: logged |
| trippy |
| Comment by:- | | 07 November 2004 | ip: logged |
| this is a crazy movie...but so so good |
| Comment by:- | | 13 December 2004 | ip: logged |
| I LOVE this movie. If you have any imagination whatsoever you should like this movie. Not only is it trippy but it just goes outside of the box. I think ppl just don't like it cuz they don't get it. If you just like movies that are realistic and nothing else then you probably won't like this movie. |
| Comment by:- | | 20 May 2005 | ip: logged |
