This is one in a series of posted reviews for every Alice in Wonderland title available on Amazon. When the Tim Burton rendition of AIW with Johnny Depp was due out in 2010 I thought it might be a good time to go back and watch the benchmark Walt Disney production from 1951, which I saw -or assumed I saw- as a child. It was a chance to get reacquainted with the many varied characters from the story as sort of a warm up for the Burton film. Upon viewing the Disney classic I was astonished to realize that I had likely never seen more than a few clips (at most) of that beautifully rendered Alice in Wonderland. So much seemed brand new. Nor did I have a memory of ever seeing any other "Alice" production. Then I realized that I had never read the book! Wait a minute. Where then did my memory of the Alice story come from? The curiosity sparked by that question ultimately led me over the next two years to accumulate every version of Alice in Wonderland still in existence. Well over 40 by the way! This general commentary continues as a posted review for both the 1951 AIW production from Walt Disney (this title) and the 2010 production starring Johnny Depp, as these are the two most well known Alice's. Rather than attempt to add yet-another-review here, it seemed like it might be a more fun use of the provided space to muse for a bit on the popularity and remarkable longevity of the story spawned by Lewis Carroll in 1865, as well as to share with you a bit of what I picked up while watching these 40 or so renderings of Alice in Wonderland. All other Alice productions listed by Amazon will have a specific review of the relevant production with same title used throughout. To continue... I claim to be neither a Lewis Carroll nor an Alice in Wonderland expert. Rather, I went into this project naive... ignorant of the details of the story of Alice in Wonderland... ignorant of the poems within the story, and certainly ignorant of the comings and goings in Lewis Carroll's life that set up the circumstances allowing him to imagine the story of Alice in Wonderland (originally entitled "Alice's Adventures Underground", by the way). Watching that 1951 Disney rendition of AIW was a remarkable experience. It was fun to "remember" the story of Alice again, but also, it left me with a desire to see how else the Alice story has been rendered. The Disney film is of course animation. So how would Alice in Wonderland be portrayed in other mediums? What I learned is that AIW has been rendered in about every way you can imagine. Most familiar of course is the telling of the Alice story in film, with live action, animation, and various combinations of both. In fact since the invention of film at the turn of the 20th century not a decade has gone where at least one (and usually several) fresh renderings of the Alice story been told in moving pictures. Beyond that however the Alice story has been told in many forms: audio recordings, plays, ballets, operas, and musicals. It's been done with the use of puppets and marionettes, with stop motion "Gumby style" animation, in games, in home-brew backyard productions posted to YouTube, and as an Alice in Wonderland theme park. There's even been an X rated version done as a musical (quite good). A number of established shows have done a take on the Alice story; The Muppets, Sesame Street, The Care Bears, Betty Boop, Mickey Mouse, Barney, Scooby Doo, The Simpsons, Star Trek TOS, and even `Hello Kitty' took a shot at Alice. What's more, a wide variety of famous actors and celebrities have appeared in an Alice film. Stars from W.C. Fields to Cary Grant to Peter Sellers to Richard Burton... The Smothers Brothers, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Dudley Moore, Brooke Shields, Maryl Streep, Debbie Allen, Nathan Lane, Sammy Davis Jr., Ringo Starr, Terry Garr, and Whoopi Goldberg, just to name a few, have been involved in some sort of Alice production. And then there are the numerous Alice based endeavors, from Woody Allan's `Alice' with Mia Farrow, to Jefferson Airplane's `White Rabbit'. Why? Why is Lewis Carroll's story of a young girl who fell down a mythical rabbit hole so compelling? What gives the story such staying power? How is it that people of virtually all ages are so inexplicably drawn toward Alice and her land of wonders? I don't know. I've tried to steer clear of scholarly answers that address that question. There have been many attempts to do so. On the surface we can locate several plausible reasons that explain why Alice in Wonderland resonates with so many. We have a young, [seemingly] helpless girl. She's an underdog. Out of her element. A vulnerable character put in jeopardy. We ask, "what will happen next?", as the story takes one unexpected turn after another. And of course animals with human attributes in any story is compelling. Walt Disney discovered that innate attraction and made an industry of it. But do these answers get to the heart of the question? I happen to believe the explanation of Alice in Wonderland's universal appeal is that we, all of us, all human beings, young and old, have been to Wonderland ourselves. We go there in our dreams. We can all relate to the experience of logic and proportion falling away because it has happened to us. We understand how, in all the bizarreness of the wonderlands we fall into at night, that we rarely lose our heads. We should be really scared. Alice should be really scared. But somehow we accept what we see. Such is the worlds of dreams. Furthermore, how many of us have wondered if we continue to dream after we die? Are dreams what the afterlife is composed of? We don't fully understand the nature of dreams, so we contemplate upon them. Even the errant machine HAL in 2001 A Space Odyssey asked if he would dream after he was turned off. And now to return to the original question I postulated. How did I somehow know the story of Alice in Wonderland without having a particular recollection of reading the book? Or seeing a movie? One answer of course is that pieces of the story just leaked into my consciousness over the years. A movie clip here. A verbal explanation there. But could there be a deeper reason? It may have to do with "archetype". It is certain that Alice in Wonderland acts as a metaphor for dreams, but the Alice Stories seems to delve deeper... into a primal archetype --a "template" if you will-- out of which human circumstances arise. Because of that we recognize Alice's dilemma in a deep and fundamental way. To write the story of Alice in Wonderland Lewis Carroll had in some way become conscious of the meta-physical world. The world beyond normal perception. A world that is, as Rod Serling put it, "beyond that which is known to man". Whereas visual artists such as Hieronymus Bosch reflected their visions of the other-world in paintings, Lewis Carroll's palette was paper and words. I would not be surprised if Carroll had at some point and in some fashion become "experienced", in a Jimmy Hendrix sort of way. Anyway, enjoy every telling of the Alice story you can get your hands on. Each one is unique. It's fascinating to see how the core Alice story is manifested in different media. It's fun to see how the various animals are rendered. If you can, read the books first. If you can't, remember that anything to with a playing card motif, the King and Queen of Hearts, the Knave of Hearts, the stolen tarts, the Duchess, falling down the rabbit hole and the pool of tears, the White Rabbit, growing and shrinking, the Mad Hatter (and tea party), Bill the Lizard, the Caterpillar, the Cheshire Cat, the March Hare, the Dormouse, the Mock Turtle, and the Gryphon, -phew- all come from Alice in Wonderland. A motif based upon a chessboard, The Red King and Queen, the White King and Queen, the Red Knight and White Knight, the Jabberwocky, Tweedledum and Tweedledee, Humpty Dumpty, the Lion and the Unicorn, Hatta and Haighaa (a disguised appearance by the Mad Hatter and the March Hare), and the The Walrus and the Carpenter come from Through the Looking Glass. You'll find that many renderings of Alice in Wonderland combine elements of both books, and you know... Not everyone likes what's often been done turning the story of Alice on ear but I say, it's in spirit of fun there's really nothing at all to fear so what if Walt Disney brought forth Tweedledum and Tweedl-dee and introduced Alice to the Walrus and his carpenter bud-ee and all those talking flowers! Such beau-tees it's been done by others dontcha see all for the sake of cre-a-ti-vi-ty yeah, Disney took license with the main stor-ee added song and dance, and a touch of glee a lovely embellished for all to see this movie will last for an e-ter-ni-tee so yeah you-know-what? it's really O-K. It's all just a dream an-y-old-way of the many many versions of this fine tale hardly any of the a-dap-ta-tions fail they've all been done with narry a shred of malice all in all it's in the spirit of our dear friend Alice so go visit Netflix Amazon and Youtube No one will care... an Alice you'll love will be waiting for you there and if the telling don't exactly track Mr. Dodgson's theme like we said before... it's only a dream --------------- All the Alice reviews in this series are on Listmania: 1) Click on my user name 2) Click on 'Listmania!' 3) Then click on See 'Entire List'.

Not a scratch and repackaged to look like new. Im impressed this was previously owned. My favorite kid classic.

Early on in Walt Disney's career, he had wanted to tell the story of Alice in Wonderland. As early as 1923 he had begun a series of

Disney's Alice in Wonderland - I remember watching this when I was about 6 in the 60s. I even have the Alice in Wonderland watch with ceramic figurine it came on. I loved the story. Lots of great animation, music and voice talent. I watch it when I just need a brain break. Lots of fun sections. I miss my siamese cat that used to curl up next to me and watch too - lots of great memories for me. Good for all ages in my opinion. I purchase all my movies via stream anymore - watch when, where on what you want - no DVDs to store and carry a player for. win/win/win! Having said all of this, I never hesitate to update my reviews should new info seem useful. All of my reviews reflect my honest, personal experience with the reviewed item - your experience may be different. I am not influenced by any outside source. I receive/accept NO free products or discounts that are not available to all shoppers- ever. I am a verified purchaser - not a paid reviewer. I have been doing honest, trustworthy reviews for well over 25 years with Amazon - posting thousands and thousands of reviews. Those posts have been viewed over 8.2 million times to date, (proof of my thousands of reviews and status in years). BOTTOM LINE:  I pay for all my stuff, just like you do - with hard earned dollars!

Wonderful movie, family loves it.

Right from the stunning (hand drawn!) opening sweep of a verdant riverbank on a lazy summer's day, "Alice in Wonderland" is one of the most beautifully animated of the Disney films of the 1950s. Unfortunately, this film has always been one of the most maligned in the Disney canon. Many books on the subject of Disney's animated films will often only devote a paragraph or two to the film, and in that short paragraph it will invariably mention how "Alice" was a financial flop, how Walt Disney himself wasn't very fond of it, how it's a chilly film. I don't find this film chilly, I find it refreshingly free of sentiment or cliche that can often weigh down other Disney films. To start with, we have Alice. Unlike Cinderella or Snow White, Alice has a lot of personality. Who among us hasn't been very frustrated that Cinderella just took all the abuse from her stepmother and sisters and was powerless? Alice, on the other hand, is not one of the "shy little violets" and operates on more than just one emotion; she gets mad, befuddled, disgusted, amused, angry and, best of all, she stands up to adults (how odd for the 50's) and tells them when they are being ridiculous. This film has a subversiveness that may have been unintentional in showing how the world of adults, with its rules and logic, can be purely nonsense and that a child can be the only sane person in the lot. (To be fair, this sentiment is in keeping with Lewis Carroll's original books.) Alice is beautifully voiced by Kathryn Beaumont (who did a similarly excellent job as the voice of Wendy in "Peter Pan" a few years after.) The real appeal of Alice here is that unlike many other Disney heroines,Kathryn Beaumont was a young girl when she recorded the voice and therefore, Alice looks and sounds like a girl of a certain age. Contrast that to Mary Costa's voice and the animated figure of Sleeping Beauty who looks as if she could be a 1950s pinup model despite only being 16. The story itself is a wild trip through an ever shifting dreamscape most notable for the wild color schemes that anticipate the 1960's motifs. This is not implying that "Alice in Wonderland" is one big drug reference; it is not. Many people who worked on this film have commented that it felt like the film was getting away from them, that the characters took on lives of their own. This is evident as the film just gets wilder and wilder as it goes on with the introductions of the most bizarre and colorful characters Disney ever brought to life. The only real flaws in the film include a scene when Alice breaks down and berates herself for never following her own advice, this moment stops the film cold in the middle of what has been a non-stop thrill ride. The extremely abrupt ending of the film is a very strange choice. I think even an extra 20-30 seconds between Alice and her sister at the conclusion of the film would have made the film a little stronger. The DVD has some interesting extras, but again, I feel that the Disney studios still do not have a high regard for this film and just threw it together on DVD. I have heard that the LaserDisc version had many more interesting extras, and it would be my hope for this film to get a rerelease on DVD with some more extras restored.

Great movie and quality!

I just love this movie, and I consider it to be the best Disney cartoon of all time. It is colourful, and its tone is warm, but the most of the characters are not too friendly to Alice - and it is such a wonderful contrast. And so many great, beautiful songs! I love the Queen, the Cheshire Cat, the White Rabbit and all the rest of them. I love the Tulgey Wood scenes, for they are suddenly so dark, the sad song about a very good advice that Alice sings is so wonderful. Of course, the tea party scene is so great too! And the Queen of Hearts is so funny. The story of the Walrus and the Carpenter is, maybe, a little too long, but it is worthy anyway because of the acting and the dancing of the Walrus. Wonderful, just wonderful cartoon. I heard that Walt Disney himself said that he didn't like it - and if it's true, I really don't know why. So much wonderful work was put into this film. "Alice in Wonderland Where is the path to Wonderland? Over the hill or here or there? I wonder where..." On the DVD the picture quality is great, and the remastered audio track sounds very good to me - especially the songs. There is also the original mono audio track for the film available on this DVD. Some of the bonus materials are really good, but some are not. My favourite additional materials are: 1. "From Wonderland To Never Land", in which a very beautiful song called "Beyond the Laughing Sky" is featured 2. "Operation Wonderland" - a behind-the-scenes video 3. "The Fred Waring Show" - live action play of Alice in Wonderland featuring appearences of Kathryn Beaumont and Sterling Holloway in their original roles from the cartoon But there are a few disappointments among the bonus materials. First, the Virtual Wonderland Party is just awful. It has simple none of the spirit of Alice in Wonderland film. And also there is a "set top game" - it is clearly made with much effort, but the game itself, sadly, is not interesting at all.

This is the Disney version of the movie I'm reviewing; the one with Katherine Beaumont playing the voice of the curious, energetic, dinner-bell-shaped, delightfully-pedantic character of Alice. I'm just going to say this up front; it has little to teach anyone morally or religiously, but in spite of this, I think this is one of the most fun movies I've ever watched. In retrospect, in fact, there are a couple of really good ways to watch this film; both of which are very enjoyable. Way number one is to look for the symbolism in the story, and believe me when I say that it is there. The original Alice in Wonderland books were brilliantly-disguised pieces of social and political sattire, with the behaviors of the various characters poking fun at a number of trends which existed at the time, and much the same thing can be found here. You can easily see corrupt, greedy elitists in the Walrus, hardworking, but still rather selfish ordinary people in the Carpenter, Dodo could be a parody of every foolish figure in public office who tries to solve problems by making them worse, and seems utterly oblivious to the cares of those he's hurting, etc... Then, of course, the symbolism found in characters like the stuck-up, in-crowdy flower patch, the beatnik caterpillar and the Queen of Hearts are so easy to decypher as to be laughable. On the other hand, you could just watch it the way that I nearly always watch it; laugh in delight as Alice uses her apparently-magic skirt to parachute down into Wonderland, grows and shrinks incessantly, and meets all manner of ridiculous things and people in the process. In short, you could watch the movie just for fun; as a welcome escape from the world of men. My favorite animated Disney movies of all time are Fantasia, Beauty and the Beast, and this movie. Each plays a special role and each does something different. Fantasia tells no single, concrete story. Beauty and the Beast tells a very definite story. Alice in Wonderland is middle-of-the-roadish, in that it tells a series of mini-stories which last only a short time, and are rather disconnected from one another. Weird things happen, the main character moves on, and more weird things happen. This is the element of the movie that every child loves. However, as an adult, I find something more in Alice than I do in Wonderland. To be perfectly honest, I think the personality of Alice is as much of a draw for me as the land she explores. Alice is very curious and brave; daring and bold, but not obnoxious. Perhaps most distinctively, Alice distinguishes herself from other cartoon heroines in that she seems to have a raging obsession with formality, dignity and politeness, which I still find one of the most charming traits any protagonist could possibly have. Speaking personally, I never saw Alice as an everyman type, or an avatar for the viewer. Of all the amazing things in Wonderland, she, a child who's truly concerned with being polite, may be one of the most amazing. Children may relate to her confusion at seeing so many strange things in the world, and her sense of wonder when she encounters them, but I think it would be too much to suggest that there is any child quite like her. Any problems that I might have with this film stem entirely from its lack of any clear message or moral, and that's merely a personal bias of mine. I also would have liked it to be longer, but I think that about most of the movies I really enjoy. If you like odd characters, strange behaviors, weird situations, bizarre creatures, and just plain unusualness all around, seen with the eyes of a protagonist who's as dignified and polite as the world is strange, then what you're looking for can probably be found in Wonderland. In fact, in a way, all of this is reminiscent of our own desired destiny; a journey onwards into a world of great wonders and fewer limits in terms of what is and isn't possible.

I was first drawn to purchase the original cartoon version of Walt Disney's Alice in Wonderland, after watching Lewis Carroll's 1865 fantasy novel, "Alice in Wonderland, which featured the stars: Mia Wasikowska, and Johnny Depp version in 2010. It was an amazing piece of cinematography, directed by Tim Burton in both digitized computer animation through both IMAX 3D and Disney Digital 3-D, as well as in traditional theaters. What amazed me while watching the whole re-introduction of this new Alice in Wonderland, Mia Wasikowska plays the now nineteen-year-old Alice, who 13 years later returns for the first time as a young woman; I could not help but draw parallels to the original Disney presentation, way back in 1951. In the original Disney film version of 1951, Alice becomes bored and her mind starts to wander. She sees a white rabbit who appears to be in a hurry. She chases it into its burrow and then a most bizarre series of adventures begins. Kathryn Beaumont plays Alice, and Ed Wynn plays the Mad Hatter. During the recording sessions, Ed Wynn ad libbed the speech where the Mad Hatter tries to "fix" the White Rabbit's watch. ("Muthtard? Leth not be thilly!") These comical scenes in the first movie made it quite memorable. The comical bits and animation, made an indelible impression on my mind as a child. Such as a fairy tale book come to life - you couldn't help but laugh at the bids, throughout the film. Also, as a child growing up in the fifties, (yes, I am baby boomer! ) Walt Disney, was one of the few forms of entertainment, where you could be entertained by real life animation, in full color ( the majority of TV was black and white in those days, before color TV became widely available.) meaning, it was as close to true-to-life cartoon action, you could ever deliver for the technology available in those days. Part of the special features on disc2 are numerous short featurettes which Walt Disney himself narrated about the production and the storyboards that were carefully crafted and drawn throughout the film. He shows how Disney studios went through the pain staking process of crafting the movie, in consideration of Lewis Carroll's original artwork in the book, and how Disney put his own personal techniques making the story more colorful and imaginative. Also, he explained how Alice in Wonderland was one of the first Disney films that included more musical productions than his earlier works, Snow White and Cinderella, with far most orchestra musical pieces and songs including a theme song, sung by Kathryn Beaumont herself. It is easy to see how Walt Disney became such a mainstay of the American entertainment industry, it has certainly remained in my imagination all these years into adulthood. This video is definitely a classic and worth the purchase for the children in your life to enjoy. Thanks, Bilal Hassan