140 Character Movie Review – #140RVW
I was surprised to read that this picture wasn’t successful critically or commercially, since I’ve always loved it & held it in high regard.
Spoiler-free Movie Review of Alice in Wonderland:
Lewis Carroll’s Alice stories are of endless fascination to audiences worldwide and so it is no surprise that they have been so often adapted for the stage and screen. Walt Disney of course adapted seemingly every known story in existence, and this very nearly became the first Disney animated feature after he had produced some Alice shorts in the late 1920’s. It was actually to have been a blend of live-action and animation, but rival studio Paramount rushed an Alice picture to market and Disney shelved the project. (It would not be the last time that the movie sat on the shelf…)
The movie took a long time to make and was Disney’s most expensive production to date. Reportedly it’s kind of a mess and an unsuccessful attempt to mix the work of multiple directors over a difficult adaptation. This is news to me, since I love the movie.
Disney’s 1951 Alice in Wonderland is my favorite version of the tale (yes, including the book). That doesn’t mean it’s the best, of course, just that it’s the one I grew up with and most closely associate with Lewis Carroll’s tale. In fact, it certainly isn’t the greatest version, as it’s more of an abridgement than an adaptation. I’m sure Carroll scholars detest Disney’s treatment of this most wonderful work, but honestly I’ve never had my hair blown back by his style of “literary nonsense” and all the hidden theological and political meanings in his writing.
So it isn’t an insightful understanding of the complexities of Carroll’s work. Guess we’ll just have to settle for it being a really fun kids movie. Maybe the picture only gets a corner of the nonsense, whimsy and absurdity of the source novel – that’s still a healthy dose for an animated movie in 1951.
At 75 minutes, it’s a short picture, typical of the time. It’s a pretty packed film for such a short runtime. Alice in Wonderland contains more songs than any other Disney picture, something you don’t really notice because many of them are very brief. The picture also includes a number of elements from the second Alice novel, Through the Looking-Glass, including one of the highlights of the picture, “The Walrus and the Carpenter”.
The film certainly was the product of many cooks, with three directors, ten directing animators, and thirteen screenwriters, not including the early draft by Aldous Huxley! Lots of stuff got left in draft form or cut, leading you to believe that the movie could have easily been twice as long. If it was a success, maybe they would have adapted the sequel.
Alas, the film fared uncharacteristically poorly for a classic Disney feature. It wasn’t a flop but if it made back its budget it could only be on paper when you consider the true costs of the lengthy development time. Unlike other Disney pictures which were re-released every 6 or 7 years, Alice wasn’t put out again by the company until 1974, although an abbreviated version of the film was shown on tv periodically. Unofficially the film was screened at universities in the late 1960’s for reasons that should be immediately apparent, causing the company to actually recall some of the existing prints from.
I love the picture – I’ve always loved it. Not all of the music works and Walt was right – Alice herself isn’t a very likeable character. But it’s the right amount of madcap fun for kids. The art direction is marvelous, making for a gorgeous film with wonderful voice acting. Possibly tame now, it’s pretty subversive for 1951, and I’ve never met anyone who didn’t enjoy it.
Poster:
Trailer:
Bechdel Test:
Pass
The Representation Test Score: C (6 pts)
(http://therepresentationproject.org/grading-hollywood-the-representation-test/)
| Main Cast | Kathryn Beaumont Alice (voice), Ed Wynn Mad Hatter (voice), Richard Haydn Caterpillar (voice), Sterling Holloway Cheshire Cat (voice) |
| Rating | G |
| Release Date | Thu 26 Jul 1951 UTC |
| Director | Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson |
| Genres | Animation, Adventure, Family, Fantasy, Musical |
| Plot | Alice stumbles into the world of Wonderland. Will she get home? Not if the Queen of Hearts has her way. |
| Poster |  |
| Runtime | 75 |
| Tagline | A world of wonders in One Great Picture |
| Writers | Lewis Carroll (as Lewis Carrol) (adaptation), Winston Hibler (story) … |
| Year | 1951 |
