Alice in Wonderland [Masterpiece Edition] [2 Discs] DVD

Alice in Wonderland
This Disney feature-length cartoon combines the most entertaining elements of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. Chasing after the White Rabbit, who runs into view singing "I'm Late! I'm Late!," Alice falls down the rabbit hole into the topsy-turvy alternate world of Wonderland. She grows and shrinks after following the instructions of a haughty caterpillar, attends a "Very Merry Unbirthday" party in the garden of the Mad Hatter and the March Hare, stands in awe as the Cheshire Cat spouts philosophy, listens in rapt attention as Tweedledum and Tweedledee relate the story of the Walrus and the Carpenter (a sequence usually cut when Alice is shown on TV), and closes out her day with a hectic croquet game at the home of the Red Queen. The music and production design of Alice in Wonderland is marvelous, but the film is too much of a good thing, much too frantic to do full honor to the whimsical Carroll original, and far too episodic to hang together as a unified feature film. One tactical error is having Alice weep at mid-point, declaring her wish to go home: This is Alice in Wonderland, Walt, not Wizard of Oz! Its storytelling shortcomings aside, Alice in Wonderland is superior family entertainment (never mind the efforts in the 1970s to palm off the picture as a psychedelic "head" film). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cast Kathryn Beaumont as Alice Ed Wynn as Mad Hatter Richard Haydn as Caterpillar Sterling Holloway as Cheshire Cat Jerry Colonna as March Hare Verna Felton as Queen of Hearts Pat O'Malley as Walrus Bill Thompson as White Rabbit Heather Angel as Alice's sister Joseph Kearns as Doorknob Larry Grey as Bill Queenie Leonard as Bird in the Tree Dink Trout as King of Hearts Doris Lloyd as The Rose James MacDonald as Dormouse The Mello Men as Card Player Don Barclay as Card

Crew Les Clark - Animator George Rowley - Animator Wolfgang Reitherman - Animator Charles A. Nichols - Animator Fred Moore - Animator Joshua Meador - Animator Daniel MacManus - Animator Bill Justice - Animator Milt Kahl - Animator Cliff Nordberg - Animator Ward Kimball - Animator Hal King - Animator Don Lusk - Animator Blaine Gibson - Animator Hugh Fraser - Animator Norman Ferguson - Animator Eric Larson - Animator Hal Ambro - Animator Bob Carlson - Animator Frank Thomas - Animator John Lounsbery - Animator Marvin Woodward - Animator Marc Davis - Animator Judge Whitaker - Animator Harvey Toombs - Animator Philip Duncan - Animator Art Stevens - Animator Frank Thomas - Animation Director Ollie Johnston - Animation Director Hamilton Luske - Director Wilfred Jackson - Director Clyde Geronimi - Director Lloyd L. Richardson - Editor Oliver Wallace - Composer (Music Score) Sol Kaplan - Composer (Music Score) Ted Sears - Songwriter Don Raye - Songwriter Mack David - Songwriter Sammy Fain - Songwriter Jerry Livingston - Songwriter Al Hoffman - Songwriter Gene de Paul - Songwriter Bob Hilliard - Songwriter Walt Disney - Producer George Rowley - Special Effects Blaine Gibson - Special Effects Daniel MacManus - Special Effects Joshua Meador - Special Effects Joe Rinaldi - Screenwriter Milt Banta - Screenwriter Del Connell - Screenwriter Bill Cottrell - Screenwriter Dick Kelsey - Screenwriter Dick Huemer - Screenwriter Winston Hibler - Screenwriter John Walbridge - Screenwriter Tom Oreb - Screenwriter Bill Peet - Screenwriter Erdman Penner - Screenwriter Joe Grant - Screenwriter Ted Sears - Screenwriter Brice Mack - Background Artist Lewis Carroll - Book Author

Alice in Wonderland
Not fully appreciated upon its initial release by either critics or audiences, Alice in Wonderland has grown in stature over the years. Its primary failing is that its conventional approach (in both script and design) fails to capture the special dreamlike quality of the Lewis Carroll source material. However, on its own terms, the film is enormously entertaining. The animation is top-notch throughout, but especially so in the sequences involving the Cheshire Cat, the climactic card chase, Alice's many changes of size, and the wonderful Mad Hatter tea party. The actors providing the voices are extremely well cast and are responsible for a great deal of the film's success. Ed Wynn and Jerry Colonna capture the inspired lunacy of the Mad Hatter and the March Hare respectively, and Sterling Holloway is an appropriately disturbing Cheshire Cat. Kathryn Beaumont's Alice is charming, stubborn, bewildered, bossy, prissy, obedient, polite, and irritated by turns, and Beaumont makes the many swift changes believable. Also noteworthy is the score, most of which consists of very short and sometimes incomplete numbers, but still is quite beguiling. Pay special attention to the lovely "In a World of My Own" and the lush "All in the Golden Afternoon." Although Alice in Wonderland may have been taken somewhat for granted originally, the next films for this directing triumvirate -- Peter Pan and Lady and the Tramp -- would be recognized immediately as animated classics. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
 

Oliver Wallace: Academy, Best Musical Score (nominated)

General Specifications: Language Options: English, French, Spanish Subtitle Options: English Sound Processing: DD5.1: Dolby Digital w/ sub-woofer channel 1: PCM mono THX: THX-Certified Mastering Additional Features: cc Newly discovered Cheshire Cat song "I'm Odd" Virtual Wonderland party Adventures in Wonderland set-top game "The Unbirthday Song" and "All in the Golden Afternoon" singalong songs Original Mickey Mouse animated short "Thru the Mirror" Digitally restored and remastered with all new transfer DVD Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1: Pre-1954 Standard MPAA Rating: G DVD Discs Included: 2 DVD Sides: 2 DVD DVD Region Code: 1 Content Length: 75 min   DVD Chapters: Side #1 -- Disc 1 1. Opening Credits ("Alice in Wonderland") [1:43] 2. Alice's History Lesson [1:15] 3. "In a World of My Own" [1:50] 4. The White Rabbit ("I'm Late") [2:39] 5. Curiouser and Curiouser [:42] 6. The Bottle on the Table [2:21] 7. Through the Keyhole in a Bottle [2:41] 8. Alice Meets Tweedledee and Tweedledum ("How D'Ye Do and Shake Hands") [1:48] 9. "The Walrus and the Carpenter" [5:50] 10. The White Rabbit's House [1:52] 11. A Lizard With a Ladder [3:33] 12. A Garden of Talking Flowers [:57] 13. "All in the Golden Afternoon" [4:31] 14. Advice From a Caterpillar [4:43] 15. More Ups and Downs For Alice [1:54] 16. The Cheshire Cat [3:07] 17. A Mad Tea Party ("The Unbirthday Song") [6:08] 18. Who's Got the Time? [2:15] 19. The Tulgey Wood [3:57] 20. "Very Good Advice" [2:10] 21. The Cheshire Cat Again [1:09] 22. "Painting the Roses Red" [1:40] 23. The March of the Cards [1:11] 24. The Queen of Hearts [2:25] 25. A Game of Croquet [2:15] 26. Alice's Trial [2:12] 27. The Chase [4:24]