Directed by Clyde Geromini, Wilfred Jackson and Hamilton Luske from the novel by Lewis Carroll
Written by Winston Hibler, Ted Sears et al
1951/USA
Walt Disney Studios
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental
White Rabbit: [singing] I’m late / I’m late / For a very important date. / No time to say “Hello, Goodbye”. / I’m late, I’m late, I’m late.
This is perhaps lesser known than some of the other classic Disney cartoons but I like it because it is so silly, just like the Alice books.
Alice falls off to sleep while her governess is reading from a dull history book. She dreams a white rabbit comes running by and follows him down his rabbit hole. There she encounters the characters in both Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass.
Everything seems to be upside down in this world and Alice can’t seem to stay the same size for long. None of the inhabitants have heard of such a creature as a “little girl”. Finally, the Red Queen puts Alice on trial for talking back but Alice wakes up before she can be beheaded. With Ed Wynne as the voice of the Mad Hatter, Richard Hayden as the voice of the Caterpillar, and Sterling Holloway as the voice of the Cheshire Cat.
Well this is 75 minutes of pure fun. The songs are pretty catchy too. The Mad Tea Party (spinning teacups) has been a fixture at Disneyland since opening day and an Alice in Wonderland dark ride opened there in 1958. Both were fixtures of my childhood. We lived close enough to the park that we went there every time relatives visited.
Alice in Wonderland was nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture.
Clip – The Unbirthday Song
ALICE is fun. The great voices of Wynne, Hayden, and Holloway are memorable. I recall that my first ride through Alice’s Wonderland at Disneyland (c. 1960) was pretty creepy. Of course, I loved the tea cups.
I found all the “dark rides” creepy as a little kid – Alice, Peter Pan, Snow White, etc. – all in Fantasyland. I can remember the witch sort of jumping out at you in the Snow White ride.
Yes, the witch jumped at you. I think the Snow White ride was creepier than Alice. I loved the Peter Pan ride because you were flying and Mr. Toad’s Wide Ride because you were driving!