Alice in Wonderland (1951)

Lewis Carroll’s 1865 novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and its 1871 sequel Through the Looking Glass, is quite possibly one of the best-known works of English literature, having received a number of adaptations and reinterpretations in the centuries to follow. Perhaps one of the better-known versions of the story is the animated 1951 Alice in Wonderland film from Walt Disney Productions, likely being one of the first things people might think of if they haven’t read the books, if not two live-action films from the same company. While the movie was critically-panned upon release, it has since been regarded as a Disney classic, and is one of my personal favorites from the Animated Canon. After revisiting it again in light of other, more recent reinterpretations of Alice in Wonderland, including two from Disney themselves, I would say that the film still holds up and is well deserving of its “classic” status.

While her sister (Heather Angel) reads her a history lesson under a park tree in England, Alice (Kathryn Beaumont) doesn’t give the lesson her full attention, wishing instead to be in a world of nonsense while playing with her cat Dinah. Just then, Alice sees a well-dressed White Rabbit (Bill Thompson) with a pocket watch run into a rabbit hole because he is late for something. Curious where he is going, Alice chases after him and ends up falling down the rabbit hole herself, landing in a strange world.

One thing that can be said about the plot is that it does not follow the traditional three-act structure, being more like a series of events that happen to Alice as she explores Wonderland in her pursuit of the White Rabbit. Looking back on it, however, this approach arguably gives the story more of a dream-like quality, making the revelation that it really is a dream make some sense since dreams have a tendency to be unstructured. Despite this, there is a clear through-line with Alice trying to chase the White Rabbit, with some minor foreshadowing in what could be considered the second act leading up to her encounter with the Queen of Hearts (Verna Felton) in the third act.

On her journey, Alice runs into a very memorable cast of characters, whose casual running with nonsense logic leads to some humorous situations. One particularly memorable sequence, and one of my favorites from the movie, is the Mad Tea Party, which embodies the logic Wonderland runs on and is a fantastic example of the possibilities of animation, held together by the personalities and funny dialogue of the Mad Hatter (Ed Wynn) and March Hare (Jerry Colonna). Other memorable characters include the Cheshire Cat (Sterling Holloway), the Dodo (Bill Thompson) and the Queen of Hearts for their personalities, not to mention Tweedledee and Tweedledum (Pat O’Malley) for their telling of the short story “The Walrus and the Carpenter” in addition to their antics.

The Mad Tea Party is one of the best sequences in the film.
(From left: Mad Hatter (Ed Wynn), Alice (Kathryn Beaumont),
March Hare (Jeremy Colonna)))

While the movie does work on its own merits, it’s natural to wonder how it compares with the book(s). Having read both books, I can confirm that the film isn’t exactly a 1:1 adaptation, but it does capture the spirit of Lewis Carroll’s writing, or at least as much as it can in 75 minutes. Whereas the first book followed a playing card theme and the second book a chess theme, this film sticks more closely with the former, even managing to not mix up the Queen of Hearts with the Red Queen from the second book like some adaptations do. Naturally, a lot of characters are either excised (ex. the Duchess, Gryphon, Mock Turtle) or reworked a little to fit the new narrative (ex. the Queen of Hearts, Cheshire Cat), so book purists may feel some disappointment there.

The movie is based largely on Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, though it does work in some elements of Through the Looking Glass, and having read both made it easier to spot which elements were taken from the latter. The Tweedles and their story are one such example, and while the Mad Tea Party sequence was in the first book, the Unbirthday concept was actually taken from the second book, and there it was discussed by Humpty Dumpty rather than the other Wonderland residents. The Cheshire Cat can also be heard reciting the first stanza of the “Jabberwocky” poem whenever he appears, especially the fourth line.

While it can be said that a number of classic Disney films have very high-quality animation that still holds up to today, with Alice in Wonderland being one of them, it can also be argued that animation is the perfect medium in which to properly capture the spirit of Lewis Carroll’s original story, something which the Disney film takes full advantage of. The aforementioned Mad Tea Party sequence is a testament to this, as the Mad Hatter and March Hare interact with unusual tea pots and tea cups in ways that would otherwise be nigh impossible to capture in live-action. Other bits of Wonderland nonsense are also perfectly captured through this medium, such as Alice’s first encounter with the impassable door and the sequence where the Dodo tries to smoke a giant Alice out of the White Rabbit’s house, leading to a lot of clever transitions between different sequences that contribute to the dream-like depiction of the narrative. Zoom-ins and mood lighting are also used to great effect to depict the intensity of a scene, which especially comes into play during the Mad Tea Party and Queen of Hearts sequences.

The Queen of Hearts (Verna Felton, right) leaves a lasting impression.
(Left: White Rabbit (Bill Thompson))

If you have not read the book, there’s a chance you may be familiar with some of John Tenniel’s original illustrations. While they are certainly iconic in their own right, translating them effectively to animation would not be feasible, at least in the 1950s, without sacrificing some of the detail in the artwork. As such, the Disney film uses original designs that feel familiar with Tenniel’s designs while also being more animation-friendly, with said designs going on to be iconic in themselves.

In addition to the animation, the voice acting is also high quality, becoming some of the most iconic voices associated with Lewis Carroll’s characters. The most iconic of these would be Kathryn Beaumont’s performance as Alice, along with Verna Felton’s take on the Queen of Hearts. Ed Wynn and Jerry Colonna provide the perfect amount of manic energy for the Mad Hatter and March Hare respectively, making the Mad Tea Party sequence stand out even more. Among the other voice actors, Pat O’Malley shows incredible range, providing the voices of the Tweedles and all the characters in “The Walrus and the Carpenter” to great effect, plus it’s a nice touch that the Tweedles sometimes speak with one voice when talking simultaneously. The songs are also worked in very organically and highly memorable, with special mention to “The Walrus and the Carpenter”, “The Unbirthday Song” and “Painting the Roses Red”.

Younger viewers may also recognize Alice in Wonderland through its representation in the long-running Kingdom Hearts series, with its characters and world having appeared across several games. In addition to the two live-action films starring Johnny Depp, each serving as new adaptations of the books, Disney has contributed their own reimaginings of Alice in Wonderland, largely inspired by the animated film. Among these were two live-action series, Adventures in Wonderland for younger audiences in 1992 and the Once Upon a Time spin-off Once Upon a Time in Wonderland for older audiences in 2013, both of which can be viewed on Disney+.

Most recently, as of this writing, Disney began airing a new Disney Junior series based on the film called Alice’s Wonderland Bakery, which follows the distant descendant of Alice from the film running the titular bakery after inheriting a magical cookbook. Having watched it out of curiosity, I can say this is a decent option for younger fans seeking more out of the Disney version, and can be viewed through Disney Junior, Disney+ and DisneyNOW.

Something for younger fans...

Beginning in 2015, Disney has been publishing a series of novels under the A Twisted Tale brand, which explores “what if?” scenarios for various Disney animated films. One of these, Unbirthday, asks the question “What if Wonderland was in peril and Alice was very, very late?” and is written narratively as a sequel to the original animated film rather than an alternate timeline. That said, it’s the only one that grabbed my personal interest and is written in a way that also incorporates elements from the original books, in addition to having a darker tone, and is a great way for older audiences to get more out of Disney’s interpretation of the story.

...and something for older fans.

Over 60 years later, Alice in Wonderland has managed to stand the test of time as a Disney animated classic, thanks to some splendid animation and great voice acting. For those who haven’t read the book, this film may serve as an effective introduction into their world and a gateway into reading said books, while those who have read the books and are interested in seeing alternate takes on the story will want to consider giving this film a watch.