Alice in Wonderland (1951) Movie Review

 Hey everyone! How were your weekends? Mine was fantastic. I've got lots of posts for you this week my friends. First up is this movie review on Walt Disney's 1951 animated classic, Alice in Wonderland. And since it's a 71 year old movie at this point, I'm gonna be talking spoilers, so if you haven't seen this movie yet, it's on you and I refuse to take responsibility for that. Especially since the movie is on Disney+. So let's get into it.

While I didn't own the movie on VHS or DVD when I was growing up, I had to have seen it on TV numerous times because it's one of the few animated movies produced by Walt Disney himself that got so much replay on TV and so many home video releases. I also probably watched it on VHS at the hospital a few times too. But because we didn't own a copy during my childhood, especially in the early '90s, I didn't watch it as often as I watched Peter Pan or The Jungle Book or 101 Dalmatians or Pinocchio. Yet, it's one of my favourite Disney movies of all time. And I think that's because it's so silly and ridiculous that I can't help but love it. 

Walt's fascination with making a film adaptation of Lewis Carroll's Alice stories (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass) began as early as 1923 when he began producing the short subject series, the Alice Comedies, for Winkler Pictures. However it wouldn't be until 1932 that he considered making it his first feature length animated film, though that idea was scrapped in favour of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs when Paramount Pictures's live action adaptation was released in 1933. After the success of Snow White in 1938, Alice in Wonderland is one of the films, along with Pinocchio, Fantasia, Bambi, Cinderella, Peter Pan, and Lady and the Tramp, that Walt put into development. Alice went as far as getting storyboards by David S. Hall before World War II, and the box office failures of Pinocchio and Fantasia led to Walt switching to cheaper animated films like Dumbo and the package films Saludos Amigos, The Three Caballeros, Make Mine Music, Fun and Fancy Free, Melody Time, and The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, before putting Alice back into development in 1945. It finally was released into theatres on September 14th, 1951.

My favourite scene in this entire movie always has been, and always will be, the mad tea party scene with the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, and the Dormouse. I mean putting "The Unbirthday Song" aside for a moment, the sheer lunacy of this scene is fantastic. Throw in "The Unbirthday Song" and the stellar vocal performances by Kathryn Beaumont as Alice, Bill Thompson as the White Rabbit, Ed Wynn as the Mad Hatter, Jerry Colonna as the March Hare, and Jimmy MacDonald as the Dormouse you have a fantastically rich scene. You can see Alice's frustration with her situation mounting as she goes through this insane tea party with these people. And you feel for her, because she's truly alone in this bizarre place.

It's also kind of funny because at the beginning of the movie Alice tells her cat Dinah that if she had a world of her own it would be nothing but nonsense, and nothing would be as it seems. Which is exactly what she got with Wonderland in the rest of the movie.

A scene that I actually gained more appreciation for upon my viewing of the film that I did yesterday for this review, is the final act with the Queen of Hearts and Alice's trial where the only supposed witnesses were the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, and the Dormouse, and was caused by the Cheshire Cat, who was voiced by future Winnie the Pooh voice actor, Sterling Holloway, who is one of my favourite Disney voice actors from the classic era as he also voiced the stork in Dumbo and had several other voice roles at Disney during the '40s, '50s, '60s, and '70s before retiring. The trial itself is so insane that it's extremely entertaining. 

Of course the movie's animation style, taken from the concept art done by Mary Blair, one of the most prolific artists at the Disney studios in the '40s and '50s, as well as the only high ranking female artists on the Disney staff back in the day. Her art style had an influence on Disney movies well into the '70s and even later with concept art for the 2009 Pixar film, Up, taking influence from Mary Blair. It's so colourful and so dynamic and yet so simple at the same time. It's not busy and it doesn't detract from the story or the characters. 

Overall this is such an amazing film. I'm really glad I own it on VHS because it is a fun film to watch when you're eating lunch on a Sunday afternoon or in the evening before bed even. It's whimsical, funny, and the music is fantastic. As I said earlier it's on Disney+ so if you somehow have never seen it, I highly recommend watching it. You'll have fun.

Alright my friends that is going to be it for me for today. I will be back tomorrow for a post from the VHS Corner, and then other posts coming out throughout the week, so stay tuned. Until then have a wonderful rest of your day and I will talk to you all later. Take care.