Thirteen Ways of Looking at Alice in Wonderland in Film

Thirteen Ways of Looking at Alice in Wonderland in Film
A Curious List Created by Jan Susina,
author of The Place of Lewis Carroll in Children’s Literature.

    Filmmakers have been intrigued by Alice in Wonderland almost since the beginning of motion pictures.   The first Alice film was produced in England in 1903. Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland is the latest of film adaptations base on the Alice books, but how will it compare to previous versions of films inspired by Lewis Carroll’s classic books.

    Jan Susina, author of The Place of Lewis Carroll in Children’s Literature (Routledge, 2009), has created a list of the top thirteen films that are either adaptations of Lewis Carroll’s Alice books, focus on the life of Carroll, or use Alice Adventures in Wonderland as a significant plot element. 

     The Alice books feature amazing spectacle, amusing dialogue, distinctive characters that have long appealed to many directors and actors.   Carroll was strongly influenced by Victorian theatrical traditions, particularly the pantomime and wanted to adapt the books into a play.   Carroll allows Henry Savile Clarke to adapt the two Alice books into Alice in Wonderland, a Dream Play of Children which was first performed in 1886.  Carroll even contributed some of the lines.

    The fantastical characters and landscapes of the Alice books encouraged film directors to use cutting-edge technology to transport viewers into the magical world.  Just as Carroll was fascinated Mad-Hatter's Tea Party from 1903 Alice in Wonderland filmby the new medium of photography, directors of Alice films often use new and innovative techniques in their films adaptations. An Alice film was made as early as 1903.
    Just as the Alice books appeal to children and adults, so do films inspired by Alice in Wonderland.  However, some films on this list are intended for adults, or older teens.  Those films inappropriate for young children are noted.

    For moviegoers anticipating Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, the films in this list show how Carroll’s Alice books have inspired filmmakers around the world.  One of the great strengths of the Alice books is how various directors have been able to create distinctive and original films based on the same text. Check out these films to see which one you think is the best adaptation.  Unlike Carroll’s Alice books, which have never been out of print is their initial publications, some of these films are currently unavailable for sale.  A few have just been recently released on DVD.  Determined viewers should be able to find all of these films either on the secondhand market or on internet.
     The films are listed in chronological order, rather than rank order. Some of are better than others, but each film is well worth watching.  Enjoy.
    1. Walt Disney’s Alice’s Wonderland (1923).  This is the first of Walt Disney’s “Alice Comedies” series in which a young actress (Virginia Davis) enters into a wonderland of cartoons.  When Disney moved to Hollywood he produced a series of short films from 1924-1927 which mixed live action with animation. This film and several of the other “Alice Comedies” are available on the Disney Rarities DVD, Disc 1.  Although it is not part of these comedies, Disney did produce another short cartoon based on ThroughBetty in Blunderland the Looking-Glass called Thru the Mirror (1936).  In this cartoon short , Mickey Mouse falls asleep after reading Alice Through the Looking Glass and enters into alternative world through a mirror very much like Wonderland.
    2. Dave Fleischer’s Betty in Blunderland (1933).  Disney wasn’t the only animator who adapted Alice in Wonderland into cartoons. This short cartoon features Max and Dave Fleischer’s, famous curvy protagonist, Betty Boop, who enters an alternative world, borrowed from Wonderland and Looking-Glass, via a subway station.  Betty Boop is no Alice, but it is entertaining.
    3. Norman Z. McLeod’s Alice in Wonderland (1933).  With a screenplay by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, this is a one of those star-filled films that Paramount produced in the 1930s and 1940s.  The film features Charlotte Henry as Alice, with Gary Cooper at the White Knight, W.C. Fields as Humpty Dumpty, Edward Everett Horton as the Mad Hatter and Sterling Holloway as the Frog.  The release of this film discouraged Disney from making Alice in Wonderland as his first feature length cartoon.  Instead, Disney chose to produce Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (1937) and the changed cinematic history.
    4. Victor Fleming’s The Wizard of Oz (1939).  Some people might question why this famous film adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s book is on an Alice film list.  But, Baum was deeply influenced by Carroll’s Wonderland.  He was trying to create an American Alice in  The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900).  In this film, when Dorothy (Judy Garland) wakes up after her dream visit to Oz, she realizes the people in Kansas are versions of the folks he met in Oz.  This is the same framing device Carroll used for Alice in Wonderland where Alice wakes from a dream that has been influenced by her surroundings.
    5. Lou Bunin’s Alice in Wonderland (1948, France).  An amazing adaptation that uses marionette animation.  All the Wonderland characters are puppets except Alice, who is played by an adult.  Before the tale begins, the film features Carroll interacting with Alice and even Queen Victoria.  Disney was so threatened by this film that he tried, unsuccessfully, to stop its distribution of his film.  Some of the sets were produced by Irving Block, famous for his Forbidden Planet (1956).
    6. Walt Disney’s Alice in Wonderland (1951). Disney’s famous full-length animated cartoon combines the two Alice books.  Classic Disney animation which memorable songs including “The Unbirthday Song.”  While Kathryn Beaumont is good as the voice of Alice, Ed Wynn as the Mad Hatter, and Sterling Holloway as the Chershire Cat steal the show.
    7. Jonathan Miller’s Alice in Wonderland (1967, BBC television).  This film version is perhaps the most Jonathan Miller's Alice in Wonderlandaccurate of the Victorian context for Alice.  It features Peter Cook as the Mad Hatter, Michael Redgrave as the Caterpillar, and John Gielgud as the Mock Turtle, and Peter Sellers as the King.  Miller’s adaption of Alice in Wonderland is on par with David Lean’s 1948 adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist.
    8. Terry Gilliam’s Jabberwocky (1977).  A Monty Python-esque film loosely based on the poem “Jabberwocky” from Carroll’s Through the Looking-Glass.   The film features Michael Palin.  Jabberwocky is medieval mayhem similar to Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
    9. Jan Svankmajer’s Alice (1988, Czech).  This is an astonishing, but terrifying stop-action adaptation of Alice in Wonderland.  There is a fine line between spooky and creepy.  I think Svankmajer crosses that line in this from Jan Svankmajer's Alicefilm.  This edgy film is not for everyone, but it well worth watching for Alice enthusiasts who are teens and adults.
    10. Gavin Millar’s Dreamchild (1992).  This film is not an adaption of Alice, but it is a creative imagining of the relationship between Charles Dodgson and Alice Liddell, the young girl who inspired him to write the book.  The film begins with 80-year-old Liddell visiting New York City for celebrations of the 100th anniversary of Carroll’s birth.  Alice reflects on her childhood friendship with Dodgson/Carroll.  The film features a sympathetic Ian Holm as Carroll and Jim Henson’s Muppets as the creatures in Wonderland.
    11. Nick Willing’s Alice in Wonderland (1999, U.S. television).  This is a star-studded, three-hour adaptation combines both Alice books.  It features Tina Majorino as Alice, Whoopi Goldberg as the Cheshire Cat, Ben Kingsley as the Caterpillarfrom Gavin Millar's Dreamchild, and Martin Short as the Mad Hatter.  The stand out actors are Gene Wilder as the Mock Turtle and Peter Ustinov as the Walrus.  The Victorian toy theater version of the Walrus and the Carpenter from Through the Looking-Glass is the highpoint of this film. It effectively frames the Alice books within a Victorian context.  Characters that Alice meets in the real world reappear as altered characters in Wonderland, similar to The Wizard of Oz.
    12. Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean’s MirrorMask (2005). Neil Gaiman is a great mimic and is able to update and revise classic texts.  MirrorMask is goth-girl adaptation of the Alice books. This is a contemporary fantasy in which a teen-age girl, played by Stephanie Leonidas has her own adventures that eerily echo those of Carroll’s Alice.
    13. Bob Shaye’s The Last Mimzy (2007).  Based on Lewis Padgett’s “Mimsy were the Borogoves,” two children save the world from ecological destruction with the help of their stuffed white rabbit.   The toy named Mimzy turns out to be a new form of artificial life using nanotechnology which has come back to warn the people of Earth of the forthcoming disaster.  A complicated science fiction film that combines elements of E.T. and Alice.
    For readers who would like a more comprehensive list of Alice film adaptations, they can read David Schaefer’s “Alice on the Screen” in Martin Gardner’s marvelous The Annotated Alice: The Definitive Edition (Norton, 2000).
    If this list isn’t already quirky enough, on the horizon are two even more unusual film adaptations.  Marilyn Manson, the creepy metal rocker, has an Alice film coming out called Phantasmagoria: The Visions of Lewis Carroll. Sarah Michelle Geller, of Buffy the Vampire fame, is the featured actor in the upcoming American McGee’s Alice, based on the popular, but violent, video game.



U.K. reviewers of Alice in Wonderland film enjoy 3D, great visuals

The new Alice in Wonderland film, directed by Tim Burton and featuring Johnny Depp, was released in the Opening night in London of Alice in WonderlandUnited Kingdom last week with a opening that featured royalty.  That is an interesting twist as the film, like the book, finds Alice figuring out how to deal with queens and kings in Wonderland or Underland, in the film.

Another similarity between the two Alice books and film is that many familiar characters from the first show up in the second. That is what has been heavily promoted in photos and video previews.  Those images look lush and appealing and are probably what will draw people to see the film. But the storyline is quite different, and that may be what causes many to be confused and leave somewhat frustrated.

The London Times is relatively positive. While "the characters may be familiar but the plot deviates insanely from the original," these changes don't stop the critic from enjoying The Caterpillar in Alice in Wonderlandthe new story and how it looks.

Meanwhile, a Guardian film critic bemoans that  Tim Burton's imaginative gothic style has lots its mojo. AS Byatt has a good essay in The Guardian about revisiting the book and why it's still a classic

The Mirror has a glowing review calling it a "terrifically twisted take on the Alice in Wonderland story in a gloriously lush 3D romp"

From OK! Magazine:  the visuals are great, but the storyline is confusing

From The Void blog "a subtle sequel mixing loving homage with out-and-out weird"

IGN likes Alice as "a rebellious, free-thinker" but doesn't like "the headache inducing visuals"

Alice is still bratty, even in an older version, according to The Daily Beast.  Even in the book Alice is "a cranky know-it-all with a low threshold for the nonsensical."

And, in other Alice news that flooding the media, it's curious to find a "thrice-removed" cousin of Alice Liddell managing a children's boutique in Abingdon where she stocks white rabbit merchandise.  RAR4YCRJAAA7

Sunday morning breakfast reading in the Times

While the New York Times' essay about Alice in Wonderland appeared online Friday, the article, by Larry Rohter is in the Sunday print version (today).  How fun to drink coffee, eat English muffins and read about Alice in Wonderland.  The article by Dave Kehr about the re-releases of Alice-related What to wear to the Alice film, as suggested by Buzznetfilms on DVDs also is good. 

Tim Burton's Alice seems to be fighting violence, just as contemporary culture is struggling with fighting violence and figuring out justice.  I don't think that's quite what Lewis Carroll was working out with the original Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, but it's always up for re-interpretation and re-imagination. When we went to Hot Topics on Friday night for the pre-release of Almost Alice, it's clear that the merchandise for Burton's Alice is darker, geared specifically to teens (mainly girls, and a few who are tweens), and follows in the vein of steampunk. 

Who is fighting the Jabberwock in Alice in Wonderland?

In Tim Burton's new Alice in Wonderland, I think that teen-age Alice character fights the frightful Jabberwock. The Jabberwock in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass. Illustration by John Tenniel.At least that's what I understand from trailers and talking with Ramin Setoodeh, a reporter at Newsweek who saw the previews. In our email conversation, Setoodeh wondered who is fighting the Jabberwock in the original John Tenniel illustration in Lewis Carroll's the second Alice book, Through the Looking-Glass.

The question is interesting because if you look at Tenniel's woodcut our contemporary eyes see a girl with a mini-dress and striped stockings. But Victorian girls probably didn't wear that kind of clothing, out of modesty and fashion sense. Yet, the hair looks very much like a girl's, although some boys had long hair at this time. The facial features sort of look like a girl, too.

In Through the Looking-Glass, Alice reads the poem. There are two lines that refer to a male:

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!" (second stanza)

"And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?/Come to my arms, my beamish boy! (fifth stanza)

These lines clearly suggest that this is a boy fighting. Maybe it's a boy elf. The shoes look very elfish, for Victorians anyway. The entire outfit -- striped stockings, shoes, top and waist pouch -- seems like what an elf or pixie would wear. Then the huge sword would make more sense as an average sword might be big for an elf or pixie.

But it pretty clear that Alice isn't fighting in Carroll's original text. It's not as clear who Tenniel thought was fighting the Jabberwock.

Addendum on Feb 28: In Larry Rohter's article in The New York Times (Feb. 28, 2010), he also discusses this transformation of the Jabberwock image to one of Alice fighting the dragon in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland film.

addendum 2 After seeing the film, the ending is a somewhat silly fight between Alice and a Jabberwock, Curiously, Burton's film tries to recreate the original Tenniel drawing in many ways and then it veers off into typical fantasy fight sequence. some may even be frustrated that Alice never tries to practice using the torpal sword. Alice chops off the Jabberwocks's head, a la the Red Queen.

Have you thought that Alice in Wonderland is frightening?

As our household gets excited for the upcoming release of the new Alice in Wonderland film, some people weAnne Hathaway as the White Queen in Alice in Wonderland, holding the Dormouse know or read in forums are admitting that Lewis Carroll's original book was rather frightening to them.  It's hard to pinpoint what some people found frightening, but others specify the oddness of the characters, the way Alice seems to loose control, the original John Tenniel illustrations, or other illustrations or films. 

After talking to a few critics who've seen the film and after watching many of the previews, I'm beKristen Stewart brooding in Twilightginning to think that Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland is going to focus on a  darker interpretation  of the book as well as heightened  conflicts.  Each generation re-interprets classics and it seems that the times are right for an Alice that's not intimidated but finds the world of Wonderland in chaos.  She's a powerful teen-age girl who's ready to fight for what's right, or what seems right anyway. This would dovetail with how Disney is marketing this Alice to tweens and teens enamored with the darkness of the vampires in the Twilight series as well as the brainy, but klutzy, teen-age girl trying to find her way in a confusing, dark world filled with unusual, surreal characters.  By the way, it's worth hanging out at your local mall's Hot Topic store just to see how this linking of Twilight and Alice comes together at the tween/teen hangout. Angst and confusion and Day-Glo stripes, cute Johnny Depp and sweet Anne Hathaway (famed modern Cinderella of Princess Diaries). While you're there, pick up a Cheshire Cat hoodie with key zipper so you can look cool.