Alice In Wonderland (1951)

Alice In Wonderland - 1951

Our next film is Disney's classic film "Alice In Wonderland" first released in 1951.  A young girl named Alice grows tired of her lessons and slips off to follow a white rabbit.  She enters the weird and wacky world of Wonderland, and she now must find a way to escape the madness and get home.

The film's voice cast includes Kathryn Beaumont, Ed Wynn, Richard Haydn, Sterling Holloway, Jerry Colonna, Verna Felton, Bill Thompson, and Dink Trout.

Alice is spending the afternoon listening to her sister read about the Norman Conquests.  She's not thrilled and is looking for any excuse to slip away.

Her cat Dinah alerts her to a White Rabbit who is "late for a very important date!"  Extremely curious, Alice follows it.

She goes down the rabbit hole and finds herself in a freefall.  She calmly waves goodbye to Dinah as she descends into the darkness.

She enters into the strange world called Wonderland.  She first meets Tweedledum and Tweedledee, who tell her the story of "The Walrus And The Carpenter".  "The time has come my little friends to talk of other things.  Of shoes and ships and ceiling wax.  Of cabbages and kings.  And why the sea is boiling hot and whether pigs have wings.  Calloo, Callay, come run away with cabbages and kings," says the walrus.  (I've always said that if I right my autobiography, this will be the quote I use to open the book.)

Alice finds herself in a garden filled with bread and butter flies, rocking horse flies, and flowers that sing about a "Golden Afternoon".

There's also a poetry reciting caterpillar who smokes a hookah while continuously asking Alice "Who are you?".

Of course, we have the Cheshire Cat.  When Alice asks him for suggestions on getting home, he suggests seeing the Mad Hatter.  "I don't want to go among mad people," says Alice.  "We're all mad here," says the Cheshire Cat with his famous grin.

With no one else to help, Alice does indeed go see the Mad Hatter, who is having a tea party with the March Hare.  They are celebrating "unbirthdays".

Poor Alice just wants to escape the madness and go home.  She starts to become a little depressed.

She comes to the domain of the Queen of Hearts.  Alice catches up with that White Rabbit when she finds him introducing the queen.  "Her Imperial Highness, Her Grace, Her Excellency, Her Royal Majesty, the Queen of Hearts!...and the King," he announces.

The Queen is not a very patient person and her larger than life personality really bowls Alice over.  "I warn you, dear child.  If I lose my temper, you lose your head.  Understand?" she cautions Alice.

She invites Alice to play a game of croquet, which Alice finds a little bit ridiculous and one-sided.

The situation isn't helped when the Cheshire Cat appears and decides to play a trick on the Queen.

Needless to say, the Queen is furious!  "Someone's head is going to roll for this!" she decrees.  The irate queen begins a trial that will ultimately lead to Alice's beheading.

During the trial, the Queen is given a gift for her "unbirthday".  Naturally, she's delighted.  It's a gag gift, though, and the Cheshire Cat makes another appearance.

Blaming Alice for all that's happened, the Queen gives chase and runs after Alice, threatening her all the way.

Luckily for Alice, all of this was just a bad dream.  Her sister wakes her up and takes her home for a nice cup of tea.

Cast rundown:

   Kathryn Beaumont..................................Alice

   Ed Wynn................................................The Mad Hatter

   Richard Haydn........................................Caterpillar

   Sterling Holloway.....................................Cheshire Cat

   Jerry Colonna..........................................March Hare

   Verna Felton............................................Queen of Hearts

   Bill Thompson.........................................White Rabbit

   Dink Trout...............................................King of Hearts

And that's it for Alice In Wonderland.  During the voice recording, Kathryn Beaumont dressed as Alice to get herself in character.  When he was interviewed by Hedda Hopper, Walt Disney said that the depiction of the Queen of Hearts was loosely based on Hopper's rival Louella Parsons, who was apparently ill-tempered and wore her hair in a tight bun.

As always, if you wish to leave a comment, please remember our posting rules.