Alice in Wonderland

July 2, 2008 | By Doug In Planters |

Alice in Wonderland
Imaginatively rendered but slightly chilly, this 1951 Disney adaptation of the Lewis Carroll classic is also appropriately surreal. Alice (voiced by Kathryn Beaumont) has all the anticipated experiences: shrinking and growing, meeting the White Rabbit, having tea with the Mad Hatter, etc. Characterization is very strong, and the Disney team worked hard to bring screen personality to Carroll’s eccentric creations. For a Disney film, however, it seems more the self-satisfied sum of its inventiveness than a truly engaging experience. –Tom Keogh

Customer Review: DISNEY ON DRUGS: “ALICE” IS AN ENTERTAINING, BUT NEVER COHESIVE, MIXED BAG
The two DVD set of “Alice In Wonderland” (1951) comes fully loaded with diverting “extras.” Yet nothing can disguise the fact that Walt Disney was clueless in terms of the story, and how to successfully adapt it to the animated film medium. Disney’s most offbeat cartoon feature is a disconnected hodgepodge of episodes from Lewis Carroll’s original book and its sequel “Through The Looking-Glass.” It’s all very, and strangely, entertaining, but it is never cohesive. Paramount’s 1933 live-action B&W “Alice In Wonderland” (unavailable) also combines episodes from both books, but is much more faithful to Carroll. What went wrong here? Perhaps the story is just too odd and cold– and not nearly as warm or inviting or emotionally involving as MGM’s 1939 Classic “The Wizard Of Oz.” But I think it has more to do with the fact that every Disney animated film,– from “Snow White” to “Cinderella”, to “Alice In Wonderland” to “Peter Pan” and beyond– forces the original story to undergo a process I’ve come to call “Disneyfication.” With “Alice”, critics seriously grumbled for the first time, but certainly not the last time, that Disney was violating classic literature. The same charge was also brought against the “Disneyfication” of “Peter Pan”– although “Peter Pan” is a slightly more successful adaptation.

As for the DVD Extras: Two vintage TV programs show Kathryn Beaumont, the excellent voice and model for Alice, in full costume and character, and a deleted song details the close connection between “Alice” and “Peter Pan.” Beaumont was also the voice and model for Wendy in “Peter Pan.” Forget the kids; there are kicks galore for adults here. The overall DVD package is a loopy mixed bag filled with not-so-subtextual drug references. A lot of others– Lewis Carroll, Disney and his Staff– obviously ate and drank strange stuff along with Alice.

Customer Review: Alice in Wonderland special edition
I just loved watching this special edition for it was in perfect condition. This brought back memories of watching such a classic