Alice in Wonderland (1951)

Alice in Wonderland is the thirteenth animated feature in the Disney animated features canon. It was produced by Walt Disney Productions and originally reed to theaters on July 28, 1951 by RKO Radio Pictures. Lewis Carroll's books Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass have been frequently adapted for film; this adaptation solved the problems of the setting by using animation. The film features the voices of Kathryn Beaumont as Alice and Ed Wynn as the Mad Hatter. Made under the supervision of Walt Disney himself, this film and its animation are often regarded as some of the finest work in Disney studio history, despite the lackluster, even hostile, reviews it originally received, especially in the UK.

Production
Walt Disney had been interested in the Alice novels and had tried adapting the first book during the late 1930s and early 1940s; unfortunately, World War II caused the project to be shelved. After the war, Disney decided to take characters from both of the Alice novels and use them in the planned movie. Disney also thought of making Alice In Wonderland as a mix of live action and animation (as in Disney's early Alice shorts, which featured a live-action Alice in an animated setting, as well as the feature Song of the South), with Luana Patten as Alice, until this idea eventually grew into a fully animated musical. In fact, in the course of the production, some 30 to 40 songs (many of which with lyrics copied directly from Carroll's text) were thought up for the movie and then 2/3 of them were placed on the cutting room floor (including one that did eventually show up as part of Peter Pan). Oliver Wallace and Frank Churchill were called on to help with the compositions of some of the songs, but Walt still needed help with the creations of "novelty songs". Consequently, he called on the same Tin Pan Alley songwriters he asked to compose the songs for Cinderella.

Kathryn Beaumont is the voice actress who played Alice in the film. It was said that animators were so impressed with her curly haired and proper appearance that she was used as an additional inspiration while designing the character of Alice. She also voices on the dark ride version at Disneyland.

Release: Reactions & criticisms
Upon its release, the film was panned by critics and failed miserably at the box office. Disney later said he despised the film, claiming that, unlike Cinderella, Alice had a lack of "heart" and that compared to the sympathetic Cinderella (whom most people felt for), most people did not care about Alice. (It seems that Disney proposed the movie to be 75 minutes, mainly because he did not want the movie to be too long for people to watch.) As a result, it was not re-issued theatrically like most of the other Disney films until 23 years later. It was, however, the first Disney animated feature to be shown on television, as an episode of Disneyland, where it was edited severely to run within a running time of an hour.

Re-release schedule, home video, & beyond
The surreal elements in the film sparked a revival of the film in the psychedelic generation, which led to theatrical reissues on March 15, 1974 and April 3, 1981 and reruns on network television. The psychedelic association was furthered by synchronization enthusiasts who found similarities in run time and themes between the film and the Pink Floyd album The Wall. The film was released on video in 1981 and 1986 (though it was mastered for tape in 1985), staying in general release ever since, with a 40th Anniversary video release in 1991 (this and the 1986 video release were in Disney's Classics Collection), and again in 1994 1997 and 1999 (these two were in Disney's Masterpiece Collection.) It was released on DVD in Region 2 in 1999 and in Region 1 in 2000 (under the Gold Classic Collection DVD series), and on a fully restored two disc edition in 2004. A video game version of the film was released on Game Boy Color by Nintendo of America on October 4, 2000 in North America. Additionally, Disney's take on Wonderland also appeared as one of the first worlds in Disney and Square Enix's Kingdom Hearts. Alice is also one of the fabled "Princesses of Heart" needed to open the Keyhole to Hollow Bastion.

Today, the film has a devout cult following and is considered to be one of Disney's classic animation movies.

Worldwide release dates

 * U.K.: July 26, 1951
 * Argentina: August 17, 1951
 * Italy: December 6, 1951
 * Finland: December 21, 1951
 * France: December 21, 1951
 * Denmark: December 26, 1951
 * Norway: December 26, 1951
 * Sweden: December 26, 1951
 * Mexico: January 1, 1952
 * Philippines: July 22, 1952 (Davao)
 * West Germany: December 17, 1952
 * Japan: August 19, 1953
 * Austria: December 14, 1953
 * Spain: April 17, 1954

Trivia

 * This Disney animated feature was the first one in which the voice talent is credited on-screen with the characters they each play. This would not occur again until The Mickey Mouse Club.
 * In "The Walrus and the Carpenter" sequence, the "R" in the word "March" on the mother oyster's calendar flashes. This alludes to the old adage about only eating oysters in a month with an R in its name. That is because the months without an R are the summer months (May through August), when oysters would not keep due to the heat in the days before refrigeration.
 * The fish watching the Walrus lure the oysters away look like exactly the same fish (albeit recolored)
 * The movie also has some elements of another Lewis Caroll poem, Rainforest. In particular, Alice seeing mome raths and walking through the tulgey wood.
 * Due to the popularity of the previous Disney Movie, Cinderella, it is speculated that the Cheshire Cat was modelled after Lucifer.

The book compared to the film
Not in the film


 * The Mouse
 * The Duck, the Lory and the Eaglet
 * The Puppy
 * The Duchess, the Cook, the Baby and the Footmen (Frog & Fish) (Frog's in the sequel, and all of them were going to be in the flim at one point)
 * The Gryphon and the Mock Turtle
 * The Knave of Hearts (he's in the sequel)
 * Alice’s Sister (her final thoughts)
 * Jabberwock (was in the sequel and some of the merchandise, though)

Added to the film


 * (FLOWERS) The Tiger-lily, the Rose and the Daisies
 * (INSECTS) Rocking-Horsefly and the Bread & butter fly
 * Tweedledum & Tweedledee: The Walrus and the Carpenter… plus the poem is slightly different
 * The Talking Door

Different in the film than in the book


 * GETTING THOUGH THE SMALL DOOR: The door does not talk and she doesn’t fall into the bottle.


 * GETTING DRY: The Duck, the Lory, and the Eaglet, have a Caucus Race to get dry, and Alice gives prizes, and the Dodo gives Alice her own items back to her as a prize…


 * THE CATERPILLAR: different poem, should have been “Old Father William” instead.


 * THE PIGEON: Alice’s neck gets really long, like a serpent.


 * THE MAD HATTER & THE MARCH HARE: The idea/topic of un-birthdays is not in “Alice In Wonderland” but instead in “Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There."


 * THE PLAYING CARDS TWO, FIVE, & SEVEN: Alice hides them so they won’t get caught, but in the book they get their heads chopped off.


 * THE TRIAL: The trial is about the Knave of Hearts and about him stealing the Queen of Heart’s tarts.


 * THE END OF THE TRIAL: Alice doesn’t get smaller again, and all the weird things in the film aren’t in the book.

Voice cast

 * Kathryn Beaumont - Alice
 * Ed Wynn - Mad Hatter
 * Richard Haydn - Caterpillar
 * Sterling Holloway - Cheshire Cat
 * Jerry Colonna - March Hare
 * Verna Felton - Queen of Hearts
 * J. Pat O'Malley - Tweedledee; Tweedledum; Walrus; Carpenter
 * Bill Thompson - White Rabbit; Dodo
 * Heather Angel - Alice's sister
 * Joseph Kearns - Doorknob
 * Larry Grey - Bill the Lizard
 * Queenie Leonard - Bird In Tree
 * Dink Trout - King of Hearts
 * Doris Lloyd - Rose
 * James MacDonald - Dormouse
 * The Mellomen - Cards
 * Don Barclay - Card

Directing Animators
Marc Davis (Alice)

Ward Kimball (Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee, The Cheshire Cat, The Mad Hatter)

Frank Thomas (The Doorknob, The Queen of Hearts)

Ollie Johnston (The King of Hearts)

Milt Kahl (Dodo, Alice in croquet game)

Eric Larson (Caterpillar, Dinah, Alice) Wolfgang Reitherman (White Rabbit) Les Clark (Alice)

Norm Ferguson (Walrus and the Carpenter)

John Lounsbery (Chesire Cat, Mad Hatter and March Hare)

Songs
Songs in Film
 * "Alice in Wonderland" - The Jud Conlon Chorus
 * "In A World of My Own" - Alice
 * "I'm Late" - The White Rabbit
 * "The Sailor's Hornpipe" - The Dodo
 * "How Do You Do and Shake Hands" - Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum
 * "The Walrus and the Carpenter" - Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum
 * "Old Father William" - Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum
 * "Smoke the Blighter Out" - The Dodo and The White Rabbit
 * "AEIOU" - The Caterpillar
 * "Twas Brillig" - The Cheshire Cat
 * "The Unbirthday Song" - The Mad Hatter, The March Hare, and Alice
 * "Very Good Advice" - Alice
 * "Painting the Roses Red" - The Playing Cards and Alice
 * "Who's Been Painting My Roses Red?" - The Queen of Hearts and The Playing Cards
 * "The Unbirthday Song" (Reprise) - The Mad Hatter, The March Hare, The Queen of Hearts, and The Playing Cards
 * "The Caucus Race" (Reprise) - The Entire Cast Minus Alice
 * "Alice in Wonderland" (Reprise) - The Jud Conlon Chorus

Songs written for film but not used
 * "Beyond the Laughing Sky" - Alice (replaced by "In A World of My Own," melody later became "The Second Star to the Right" from Peter Pan
 * "Dream Caravan" - The Caterpillar (replaced by "AEIOU")
 * "I'm Odd" - The Cheshire Cat (replaced by "Twas Brillig")
 * "So They Say" - Alice
 * "Everything Has A Useness" - Unclear who this was intended for and in what context