Alice In Wonderland

ALICE IN WONDERLAND (U)

D: Clyde Geronimi, Hamilton Luske & Wilfred Jackson

Walt Disney (Walt Disney)

USA 🇺🇸 1951

75 mins

Animated/Fantasy

W: Winston Hibler, Bill Peet, Joe Rinaldi, William Cottrell, Joe Grant, Del Connell, Ted Sears, Erdman Penner, Milt Banta, Dick Kelsey, Dick Huemer, Tom Oreb & John Walbridge [based on the stories by Lewis Carroll]

Mus: Oliver Wallace

voices of: Kathryn Beaumont (Alice), Ed Wynn (Mad Hatter), Richard Haydn (Caterpillar), Sterling Holloway (Cheshire Cat), Jerry Colonna (March Hare), Verna Felton (Queen of Hearts), Bill Thompson (White Rabbit/The Dodo)

While nowhere near as dark as Lewis Carroll's original text and characters, Disney does a good job adaptating this as an animated film for a family-friendly audience, although it's quite rudely been uprooted from Victorian England to 1950's America in the non-Wonderland opening scenes, which certainly robs it of some of its charm.

Some scenes may be a little too trippy for really young children, but good entertainment for everyone else. Certainly better than most of the live action versions which released both before and afterwards.

6/10

Did You Know:

The Doorknob was the only character in the film that did not appear in Lewis Carroll's books.

Award Wins & Nominations:

MILSTEAD MOVIE AWARDS:

Wins: 1 (Best Animated Film)

Nominations: 3 (Best Original Musical or Comedy Score; Best Original Song (x2))

OSCARS:

Wins: none

Nominations: 1 (Best Original Score)

BAFTAS

Wins: none

Nominations: none

OTHER WINS:

none

ALICE IN WONDERLAND (PG)

D: Tim Burton

Walt Disney/Roth Films/The Zanuck Company/Team Todd (Joe Roth, Richard D. Zanuck, Suzanne Todd & Jennifer Todd)

USA 🇺🇸 2010

108 mins

Fantasy

W: Linda Woolverton [based on characters from the books 'Alice's Adventures In Wonderland' and 'Alice Through The Looking Glass' by Lewis Carroll]

DP: Dariusz Wolski

Ed: Chris Lebenzon

Mus: Danny Elfman

PD: Robert Stromberg

Cos: Colleen Atwood

Mia Wasikowska (Alice), Johnny Depp (Mad Hatter), Helena Bonham-Carter (Red Queen), Anne Hathaway (White Queen), Crispin Glover (Stayne / Knave of Hearts), Matt Lucas (Tweedledum / Tweedledee), Michael Sheen (voice of White Rabbit), Paul Whitehouse (voice of March Hare), Barbara Windsor (voice of Dormouse), Stephen Fry (voice of Cheshire Cat), Alan Rickman (voice of Blue Caterpillar)

Once upon a time Tim Burton directed great fantasy motion pictures like Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands and the first two Batman movies, then his career hit a huge snag with the downright hideous remake/reimagination of Planet Of The Apes. After a comeback with the hugely underrated Big Fish, a decent remake of Charlie & The Chocolate Factory and the marvellously macabre Sweeney Todd, Tim is back in Apes territory with this dismal remake/quasi-sequel/adaptation/reimagination or whatever spin the producers want to sell to the media/audience.

I can't lay all the blame at Burton's doorstep however, it's clear that during production he had a studio executive barking orders in his ear: "Remember, it's a 3D movie so you must have an object being thrown/thrust towards the camera every 60 seconds, etc."

The majority of blame for this mess has to go to the screenwriter, Linda Woolverton, who carelessly blended elements and characters from Lewis Carroll's original novels and a plot from C. S. Lewis's The Chronicles Of Narnia.

Bearing in mind that this had a young audience as it's core market, I'd be ashamed for any child of mine to be subjected to this and would happily plonk them down in front of the 1951 animated version or the 1972 panto-lite version... Or give them the original book to read.

Even the acting isn't up to the usual standard from it's talented cast. Johnny Depp usually has a good partnership with Burton but his character is simply annoying here, but not so much as Helena Bonham-Carter whose dialogue purely consists of "Off with his/her/their head(s)!" Anne Hathaway is underused and Mia Wasikowska, the young girl who plays Alice, is very wooden, possibly due to the screenplay lacking any character arc for her. She's the same Alice at the end as she is at the beginning, therefore making her whole journey pointless.

Alice In Narnia: The Chronicles Of Wonderland is not without any merit, however. Visually, the CGI fantasy world looks good, aside from the castles uncanny resemblence to the Cinderella castle in the centre of Disneyland.

Nevertheless, it's clear to see that the production designers, costume designers, makeup artists and visual effects wizards worked hard on this, even though there is far too much emphasis on the 3D, making it more intrusive than immersive.

Hardly one of the worst films I've ever seen, but a disappointment of epic proportions. If I was a big cheese at Disney, I'd be summoning for the producers and crying: "Off with their heads!"

5/10

Did You Know:

Alan Rickman was originally going to have his face composited onto the animated Caterpillar Absolem. He was filmed recording his voice in the studio, but the idea was eventually scrapped. The animators did, however, try to give Absolem's face characteristics similar to Rickman's

.

Award Wins & Nominations:

MILSTEAD MOVIE AWARDS:

Wins: 2 (Best Costume Design; Best Makeup)

Nominations: 3 (Best Original Musical or Comedy Score; Best Original Song; Best Production Design)

Worst of the Year: 2 nominations (Worst Actress; Worst Screenplay (Adaptation))

OSCARS:

Wins: 2 (Best Art Direction; Best Costume Design)

Nominations: 1 (Best Visual Effects)

BAFTAS

Wins: 2 (Best Costume Design; Best Makeup & Hair)

Nominations: 3 (Best Music; Best Production Design; Best Visual Effects)

OTHER WINS:

Saturn Awards (Best Fantasy Film; Best Costume Design); Annie (Best Character Animation); AFI (Best Actress); Critics Choice (Best Costume Design; Best Makeup); Cineuphoria Awards (Best Supporting Actress; Best Makeup); Costume Designers Guild (Excellence in Fantasy Film); Eddies (Best Editing - Musical or Comedy); Gold Derby Awards (Best Art Direction; Best Costume Design); Hollywood Post Alliance (Outstanding Colour Grading); Kids Choice Award (Favourite Actor); Las Vegas Film Critics (Best Costume Design); Oklahoma Film Critics (Not-So-Obviously Worst Film); Phoenix Film Critics (Best Family Film; Best Costume Design); Satellite Awards (Best Costume Design; Best Visual Effects); Teen Choice Awards (Choice Movie Fight)

ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS (PG)

D: James Bobin

Disney (Joe Roth, Suzanne Todd, Jennifer Todd & Tim Burton)

USA 🇺🇸 2016

113 mins

Fantasy

W: Linda Woolverton [based on characters created by Lewis Carroll]

DP: Stuart Dryburgh

Ed: Andrew Weisblum

Mus: Danny Elfman

PD: Dan Hennah

Cos: Colleen Atwood

Mia Wasikowska (Alice Kingsleigh), Johnny Depp (Tarrant Hightopp), Anne Hathaway (The White Queen), Helena Bonham-Carter (The Red Queen), Sacha Baron Cohen (Time), Rhys Ifans (Zanik Hightopp)

Cash-in sequel to a film which was a cash-in on a much-loved fantasy.

My review of 2010's Alice In Wonderland echoed much disappointment with the way that Lewis Carroll's original source material had been handled. The same goes for Alice Through The Looking Glass, which shares the same title as the author's follow-up, but that is where the similarities end.

Alice Kingsleigh is still the same spoilt brat that she was in the first film, only this time she has her own ship. When it is announced to her that her ship is to be repossessed, she finds herself in Wonderland once again, where she must travel through the history of the fictional world to save The Mad Hatter from sinking further into manic depression. This plotline only serves to give Johnny Depp as much screentime as possible as The Mad Hatter, even though he was only a peripheral character in the original book, but the Hollywood suits have checklist to tick, therefore The Mad Hatter is promoted to a major character.

Though there are some striking visuals, costumes and makeup, the story here is even more boring than Tim Burton's "re-imagination" and it feels like the actors are only in it for the paycheque.

Fans of the 2010 film may see it differently, but I consider this amongst 2016's biggest disappointments.

4/10

Mia Wasikowska & Anne Hathaway in Alice Through The Looking Glass

Did You Know:

The character of Time does not appear in either of Lewis Carroll's two Alice books, but is mentioned in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Chapter 7. The Mad Hatter tells Alice that he had quarrelled with Time, and in fact had been sentenced to death for murdering time. Ever since then, time cursed The Mad Hatter so that "it's always tea-time, and we've no time to wash the things between whiles."

Award Wins & Nominations:

MILSTEAD MOVIE AWARDS:

Wins: none

Nominations: none

Worst of the Year: 6 nominations (Worst Actress; Worst Supporting Actor; Worst Screenplay (Adaptation); Worst Sequel/Prequel; Worst Original Song; Worst Makeup)

OSCARS:

Wins: none

Nominations: none

BAFTAS

Wins: none

Nominations: none

OTHER WINS:

Hollywood Music in Media Awards (Best Original Song - Fantasy or Sci-Fi Film)