Disney's 13th animated feature   "Alice In Wonderland" was considered Walt Disney's least favorite movie because he felt that it lacked "heart" and the movie flopped in 1951 despite that it became a cult classic in the 1960's and became one of best by fans of classic Disney movies.

Not to mention it wasn't true to the original stories from Lewis Caroll, though several other Disney movies like "The Jungle Book" also didn't follow the book.
http://www.alice-in-wonderland.net/alicepic/movie/alice30.jpg

Release: Reactions & criticisms
Upon its release, the film was panned by critics and failed miserably at the box office. Disney later said he despised the film, claiming that, unlike Cinderella, Alice had a lack of "heart" and that compared to the sympathetic Cinderella (whom most people felt for), most people did not care about Alice. (It seems that Disney proposed the movie to be 75 minutes, mainly because he did not want the movie to be too long for people to watch.) As a result, it was not re-issued theatrically like most of the other Disney films until 23 years later. It was, however, the first Disney animated feature to be shown on television, as an episode of Disneyland, where it was edited severely to run within a running time of an hour.


Personally, it's an OK film and had good animation for the 1950's, which animation started to become more limited, and had several classic scenes like the tea party with the Mad Hatter & March Hare. Also much  better than several CGI movies from recent years like "Chicken Little" and "The Wild".

Disney's 13th animated feature   "Alice In Wonderland" was considered Walt Disney's least favorite movie because he felt that it lacked "heart" and the movie flopped in 1951 despite that it became a cult classic in the 1960's and became one of best by fans of classic Disney movies.

Not to mention it wasn't true to the original stories from Lewis Caroll, though several other Disney movies like "The Jungle Book" also didn't follow the book.
http://www.alice-in-wonderland.net/alicepic/movie/alice30.jpg


Personally, it's an OK film and had good animation for the 1950's, which animation started to become more limited, and had several classic scenes like the tea party with the Mad Hatter & March Hare. Also much  better than several CGI movies from recent years like "Chicken Little" and "The Wild".


I remember seeing Alice in Wonderland in the movies when it came out. I didn't understand anything that was going on with the story, it was a cartoon but the story was for really for adults. I remember being more scared of the characters instead of enjoying them and the movie. The cat in the tree that disappeared to smiling teeth spooked me badly and kept me up at nights thinking of it, and that Queen yelling "Off with their heads" scared me too. I only saw it once in my life, and that's enough for me.

Now that I'm older, I think the movie was all about drugs and the differerent highs you get from them and the whole story was written while the guy was high on cocaine or LSD. Gracie Slick's "White Rabbit" also thinks so.   

I remember seeing Alice in Wonderland in the movies when it came out. I didn't understand anything that was going on with the story, it was a cartoon but the story was for really for adults. I remember being more scared of the characters instead of enjoying them and the movie. The cat in the tree that disappeared to smiling teeth spooked me badly and kept me up at nights thinking of it, and that Queen yelling "Off with their heads" scared me too. I only saw it once in my life, and that's enough for me.

Now that I'm older, I think the movie was all about drugs and the differerent highs you get from them and the whole story was written while the guy was high on cocaine or LSD. Gracie Slick's "White Rabbit" also thinks so. 



I am a firm believer that Alice in Wonderland is an adult story. Whoever decided it was a children's story is beyond me. Yes, Lewis Carroll was on SOMETHING when he wrote it (he had to have been). The "smoking catapiller"? What was he smoking, I wonder? The whole thing is very interesting. I want to get an unabridged copy of it (along with Through the Looking Glass)-NOT copies they rewrote for kids-because kids won't understand the unabridged version (hell, adults DON'T understand it either.  ;D )

As for the movie, I do have a copy of it in my video library-but it is not one of my favorite Disney films.




Cat

I liked the animation of this movie, the colors, the way that Alice looked...she was very powdery/soft looking. LOL! :D

I liked the animation of this movie, the colors, the way that Alice looked...she was very powdery/soft looking. LOL! :D


Do you mean sort of like Woops picture on her post?...not the cartoon one.

Do you mean sort of like Woops picture on her post?...not the cartoon one.



I'm talking about the way that the character of Alice looks like.....she's powdery/soft looking....another character that gives me the same feeling is Snow White.

My kids just watched this movie today while I did some stuff around the house.  I am not a fan of Alice in Wonderland, it happens to be one of my least favorite Disney movies.  I bought the movie for my daughter a couple of years ago and I have never watched it with her, actually I haven't seen it since I was a kid.  I guess I should sit down and watch it, maybe my tastes have changed. 

I am a firm believer that Alice in Wonderland is an adult story. Whoever decided it was a children's story is beyond me. Yes, Lewis Carroll was on SOMETHING when he wrote it (he had to have been). The "smoking catapiller"? What was he smoking, I wonder? The whole thing is very interesting. I want to get an unabridged copy of it (along with Through the Looking Glass)-NOT copies they rewrote for kids-because kids won't understand the unabridged version (hell, adults DON'T understand it either.  ;D )

As for the movie, I do have a copy of it in my video library-but it is not one of my favorite Disney films.




Cat
isn't it established that lew was big into opium? alice in wonderland was TOTALLY psychedelic.

that said, i love alice in wonderland. that and fantasia are friggin' full-on 420 doobfests. (not that i'd know.) there was a czech or something, really weird stop-motion animation remake in the 80s. i think it was just called "alice." pretty cool.

isn't it established that lew was big into opium? alice in wonderland was TOTALLY psychedelic.

that said, i love alice in wonderland. that and fantasia are friggin' full-on 420 doobfests. (not that i'd know.) there was a czech or something, really weird stop-motion animation remake in the 80s. i think it was just called "alice." pretty cool.



I can't remember if it was opium but I know he was into some kind of drug (not to mention his fascination with little girls-Alice was only one of a few who he "kept company with".  ::) ) The dude was really bizarre.




Cat

I loved that film, but more in enjoyed the live tv version form the same era- Jack Palance was Jabberwocky and the Smothers Brothers were tweedle Dum and Dee.

I can't remember if it was opium but I know he was into some kind of drug (not to mention his fascination with little girls-Alice was only one of a few who he "kept company with".  ::) ) The dude was really bizarre.




Cat
i looked him up on wikipedia. they say he had a prescription to laudanum (sp?), which contained a lot of opium. the hookah-smokin' caterpillar and the mushroom stuff makes me think he was a little deeper into it than that.

as for the little girl thing, my guess is he probably just wanted to have kids and never had the chance. grown men aren't allowed to like or think about children without being thought of as peedos, which is rather sad, because really that's just a natural human biological clock thing in most cases. he seemed quite fascinated with alice but it all struck me as perfectly sexless and unerotic.

unlike catgirls.

there's some allegation he had pictures of naked children but i think they said that was unsubstantiated. plus recently it came to light he actually had several adult girlfriends, which i guess doesn't preclude his being a kiddie kraver too. but i was always skeptical of that.

http://www.alice-in-wonderland.net/alicepic/movie/alice30.jpg

"oi! i can't believe i let myself be IN this rotten film!"

kkay, omg, can you get a copy of that live-action version anywhere? sounds wonderful. i love jack palance in all his works. so uniformly bad!

i looked him up on wikipedia. they say he had a prescription to laudanum (sp?), which contained a lot of opium. the hookah-smokin' caterpillar and the mushroom stuff makes me think he was a little deeper into it than that.

as for the little girl thing, my guess is he probably just wanted to have kids and never had the chance. grown men aren't allowed to like or think about children without being thought of as peedos, which is rather sad, because really that's just a natural human biological clock thing in most cases. he seemed quite fascinated with alice but it all struck me as perfectly sexless and unerotic.

unlike catgirls.

there's some allegation he had pictures of naked children but i think they said that was unsubstantiated. plus recently it came to light he actually had several adult girlfriends, which i guess doesn't preclude his being a kiddie kraver too. but i was always skeptical of that.



You could be right. The dude just seems totally bizarre to me but it also makes me fascinated by him all the same. (I know, sounds strange).



Cat

You could be right. The dude just seems totally bizarre to me but it also makes me fascinated by him all the same. (I know, sounds strange).



Cat
what's really weird is that walt disney would adapt a story by someone with such a spotted reputation. the woman who wrote mary poppins was evidently a bisexual who never had children. alexander key (witch mountain author) was a antiwar extremist, misanthrope and recluse who believed in UFOs. with disney's affinity for the conventional two-parent home it's funny how many of the authors his works are based on were anything but conventional family types.

okay, to be fair, he was dead by the 70s, i think, but still...

Not suprised that it became a cult classic in the 1960's  ::)

Suprised that it passed the censors with the smoking Catterpiller & Alice eating mushrooms since many classic toons were edited  for content...




Other surreal animation from the Golden Age:

Keep in mind, those cartoons were intended for adult since they  originally aired in theatres before movies like "Casablanca" & "Gone With The Wind"...

The pink elephants scene from "Dumbo", one of my all time favorite Disney movies!
"Duck Pimples" (Donald in part of a mystery novel)
"Der Fuehrer's Face" (WWII Donald cartoon, which he has a nightmare about working for the axis)
"Donald In Math Magicland" (one scene he's dressed like Alice... hey it's a cartoon)
"Thru The Mirror" (inspired by the classic "Alice" stories, Mickey goes through an alternative universe through the mirror)
"Mickey's Garden" (Mickey & Pluto shrinks and gets chased by giant bugs)
"Plutopia" (Pluto dreams about a cat giving him treats whenever he bites it's tail... Not making this up!)
"Porky In Wackyland" (Porky tries to catch the last of the do do)
"The Great Piggy Bank Robbery" (Duck Twacy, parody of a popular fictional dectective)
"The Big Snooze" (Bugs invade Elmer's dream)
"Duck Amuck" (Bugs, not revieled towards the end, takes control on a Daffy cartoon)
"Inki & The Minah Bird" (An emotionless Mynah bird hops into hay and shrinks in one scene, also walk/hop to "Fignal's Cave"...)
"Snow White" (Betty Boop cartoon, also featured one of the cartoons that music from Cab Calloway... though many Betty Boop cartoons are very surreal)

Disney did get by the senors with Alice with "Eat me".  ;) ;D ;D




Cat