Alice in Wonderland (1951)

Directors:

Clyde Geronimi
Wilfred Jackson
(more)

Writers:

Lewis Carroll (novels)
Winston Hibler (story) ...
(more)

Release Date:

28 July 1951 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Adventure | Family | Fantasy | Musical

Tagline:

A world of wonders in One Great Picture

Plot:

Alice stumbles into the world of Wonderland. Will she get home? Not if the Queen of Hearts has her way.

Plot Keywords:

Rabbit | Queen | Card | Whimsical | Reality

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Kathryn Beaumont	...	Alice (voice)
Ed Wynn	...	Mad Hatter (voice)
Richard Haydn	...	Caterpillar (voice)
Sterling Holloway	...	Cheshire Cat (voice)
Jerry Colonna	...	March Hare (voice)
Verna Felton	...	Queen of Hearts (voice)
J. Pat O'Malley	...	Tweedledee / Tweedledum / The Walrus / The Carpenter (voice) (as Pat O'Malley)
Bill Thompson	...	White Rabbit / Dodo (voice)
Heather Angel	...	Alice's sister (voice)
Joseph Kearns	...	Doorknob (voice)
Larry Grey	...	Bill (voice)
Queenie Leonard	...	Bird in the Tree (voice)
Dink Trout	...	King of Hearts (voice)
Doris Lloyd	...	The Rose (voice)
James MacDonald	...	Dormouse (voice)
Bill Lee	...	Card Painter (voice) (as The Mellomen)
Thurl Ravenscroft	...	Card Painter (voice) (as The Mellomen)
Max Smith	...	Card Painter (voice) (as The Mellomen)
Bob Hamlin	...	Card Painter (voice) (as The Mellomen)
Don Barclay	...	Card (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Stan Freberg	...	(voice) (uncredited)

Directed by
Clyde Geronimi
Wilfred Jackson
Hamilton Luske

Writing credits
Lewis Carroll		(novels "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass") (as Lewis Carrol)
Winston Hibler		(story) &
Ted Sears		(story) &
Bill Peet		(story) &
Erdman Penner		(story) &
Joe Rinaldi		(story) &
Milt Banta		(story) &
William Cottrell		(story) (as Bill Cottrell) &
Dick Kelsey		(story) &
Joe Grant		(story) &
Dick Huemer		(story) &
Del Connell		(story) &
Tom Oreb		(story) &
John Walbridge		(story)
Aldous Huxley		uncredited

Produced by
Walt Disney	....	producer

Original Music by
Oliver Wallace

Film Editing by
Lloyd L. Richardson		(as Lloyd Richardson)

Production Management
Ben Sharpsteen	....	production supervisor

Sound Department
Robert O. Cook	....	sound recordist
C.O. Slyfield	....	sound director
Harold J. Steck	....	sound recordist

Visual Effects by
Blaine Gibson	....	effects animator
Ub Iwerks	....	special processes
Dan MacManus	....	effects animator (as Dan Macmanus)
Joshua Meador	....	effects animator (as Josh Meador)
George Rowley	....	effects animator

Animation Department
Hal Ambro	....	character animator
Ken Anderson	....	color and styling
Dick Anthony	....	background artist
Mary Blair	....	color and styling
Bob Carlson	....	character animator
Les Clark	....	directing animator
Claude Coats	....	color and styling
Tom Codrick	....	layout artist
Don DaGradi	....	color and styling (as Don Da Gradi)
Marc Davis	....	directing animator
Phil Duncan	....	character animator
Norman Ferguson	....	directing animator (as Norm Ferguson)
Hugh Fraser	....	character animator
Don Griffith	....	layout artist
John Hench	....	color and styling
Hugh Hennesy	....	layout artist
Ray Huffine	....	background artist
Ralph Hulett	....	background artist
Ollie Johnston	....	directing animator
Bill Justice	....	character animator
Milt Kahl	....	directing animator
Ward Kimball	....	directing animator
Hal King	....	character animator
Eric Larson	....	directing animator
John Lounsbery	....	directing animator
Don Lusk	....	character animator
Brice Mack	....	background artist
Fred Moore	....	character animator
Charles A. Nichols	....	character animator (as Charles Nichols)
Lance Nolley	....	layout artist
Cliff Nordberg	....	character animator
Kendall O'Connor	....	layout artist (as A. Kendall O'Connor)
Charles Philippi	....	layout artist
Thor Putnam	....	layout artist
Wolfgang Reitherman	....	directing animator
Art Riley	....	background artist
McLaren Stewart	....	layout artist (as Mac Stewart)
Frank Thomas	....	directing animator: "Doorknob"
Harvey Toombs	....	character animator
Judge Whitaker	....	character animator
Thelma Witmer	....	background artist
Marvin Woodward	....	character animator

Music Department
Jud Conlon	....	music arranger: vocal arrangements
Joseph Dubin	....	orchestrator
Al Teeter	....	music editor

Other crew
Walt Disney	....	presenter
Charles Palmer	....	story editor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Walt Disney Productions

Distributors

• RKO Radio Pictures (1951) (USA) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1954) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• RKO (1953) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Buena Vista Home Entertainment (BVHE) (2004) (worldwide) (DVD)
• Buena Vista Home Entertainment (2005) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Buena Vista Home Entertainment (Brazil) (VHS)
• Gativideo (Argentina) (video)
• Walt Disney Home Video (worldwide) (VHS)

Also Known As:

Alicia en el país de las maravillas (USA: Spanish title)

Runtime:

75 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Denmark:A (DVD rating) | Portugal:M/6 | South Korea:All | Germany:o.Al. | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Canada:G | Chile:TE | Finland:S | Iceland:L | Peru:PT | Sweden:Btl | UK:U | USA:G (1973) | Brazil:Livre

Company:

Walt Disney Productions

Trivia:

This movie contained Dink Trout's final role.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the Caterpillar changes, he loses his arms and legs. During the chase scene at the end of the movie, when Alice swims up to him on his floating mushroom, his arms and legs are back.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Alice's sister: [reading from a history book] "... leaders, and had been of late much accustomed to usurpation and conquest. Edwin and Morcar, the earls of Mercia and Northumbria, declared for him: and even Stigand..." Alice.
[camera zooms out to show Alice sitting in a tree, playing with Dinah and some daisies]
Alice: Hmm? Oh, I'm listening.
Alice's sister: "And even Stigand, the archbishop of Canterbury, agreed to meet with William and offer him the crown. William's conduct at first was moderate."
[Alice laughs as her daisies fall on her sister's face]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in You Can Fly!: The Making of Walt Disney's Masterpiece 'Peter Pan' (1997) (V)

Soundtrack:

The Walrus and the Carpenter

Timeless magic of warped genius.

Most films age over time. In 20 years will Titanic still be as amazing as it was in 1998? Will Jurassic Park still have people gawping open mouthed at the cinema screen? I think not. Its a rarity, but sometimes, just sometimes, there comes a movie that is timeless, magical and eternal, one such film is Alice in Wonderland.

It seems to me, when watching most Disney films, that Walt Disney had an evil masterplan to mess with the minds of children, young and old. Dumbo is a film about an outsider, Pinocchio is a film about a freak child who cannot stop lying. Walt only made these films family viewing through constantly having a moral ending. Dumbo can fly and Pinocchio is rewarded for risking his life to save another, however, these moral endings do not disguise the fact that, at times, Disney films were quite peculiar.

Alice in Wonderland on the surface is a dreamlike fantasy about a child nodding off and visiting a wonderful wonderland where flowers sing, caterpillars smoke and rabbits talk. However, similarly to Blue Velvet, this film is not about the surface values, its is about the dark, seedy undertones that exist beneath the aesthetic surface.

Below its surface lies a wealth of wholly unlikeable and unhelpful creatures. Aside from the King (Hooray) of Hearts, each character only serves to hinder Alice in her attempts to come to terms with her warped dream. The Cheshire Cat is responsible for putting Alice in court, the White Rabbit wants to have Alice destroyed when he finds her at his home, the flowers shun Alice when they incorrectly perceive her to be a common garden weed, the Mad Hatter and the March Hare also shun Alice for no reason whatsoever, this list is as long as the tunnel that leads Alice into her Wonderland.

To look back at the film nowadays, one could surmount that the ending is nothing more than a cop-out (these thoughts were true for Lynch's Boxing Helena). She dreamt it all along is nothing more than saying, here, we'll give you licence to create a magical world, no boundaries because it all exists inside a young girls mind.

I'll admit this review might seem overly critical of the film, but it is for these warped reasons and the context of what the film represents or least what it should represent that I absolutely adore it. Walt Disney might have had a masterplan to screw with the minds of his children, but I say, good luck to him. A subtle undertone to the magical shell of the movie shows that the yolk is in fact sour. I daren't but will compare this movie to Adrian Lyne's Jacob's Ladder, another film about a false surface level and the warped undertones of life and death.

Sleep is only a state of mind, it's what happens in this state of mind that really matters. Or at least, what mattered to Walt.

Classic.