Rating: 
Summary: Perfect Nonsense... One of Disney's best!
Review: Despite some naysayers that claim that Alice In Wonderland is a "Class B" Disney movie, (Even Uncle Walt labelled it as such after it's rather unspetacular opening in 1951}I am forced to disagree. Ever since I first saw Alice in the mid 70's, it somehow wormed it's way into y heart as my favorite Disney film, even though I had never read the original books of Lewis Carrol. First of all, the animation is some of the most beautiful and scay that Disney ever produced. Katherine Beaumont makes quite the convincing Alice as well. Despite not having the singing voice of an angel, you can't help but love her. She gives the voice acting all she's got, and you truly belive that she's an 11 year old trapped in this funny, yet terrifying nightmare world. The special features on the DVD are nothing short of fantastic, and over all, this 2 disc set was well worth the wait and price. Despite the troubles the Disney empire has been having lately, This DVD proves that they can still do something right.
Rating: 
Summary: ALICE IN WONDERLAND!
Review: Disney does its own take on the Lewis Carroll classic in this 1951 animated feature film! While the voices by Kathryn Beaumont, Ed Wynn, Sterling Holloway and others are excellent, this film is not exactly true to the spirit of the book! But since this is Disney it is to be expected and with a song like "I'm Late, I'm Late, for a Very Important Date" you certainly feel like making allowances! But certainly Disney's strength is with more traditional fairy tale fare!
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely GORGEOUS DVD!
Review: Disney has done a superlative job transferring "Alice in Wonderland" to DVD. The colors are eye-popping, the picture is razor sharp and there is no visible grain at all. I was blown away by the picture quality. Now, on to the film. "Alice in Wonderland" has always had problems. Even Disney himself did not feel it was very good. He said once that it lacked "heart." I don't know what it lacks, but I do know Disney made a MAJOR mistake in allowing the voice of Alice, Kathryn Beaumont, do her own singing in the film. The girl had a HORRIBLE singing voice, so horrible that Darlene Gillespie of "The Mickey Mouse Club" actually re-recorded Beaumont's vocals for the "soundtrack" album. Another problem is one that is inherited from the book, which is a meandering, episodic storyline, each segment having absolutely nothing to do with the last. "Alice in Wonderland" is really an unfilmable book -- there have been at least half a dozen screen versions made, and none of them have been very good. And frankly, I doubt if anyone ever WILL make it into a good movie. It's just not a book that lends itself to being filmed. Another problem is one that Disney ran into in "Mr. Toad": His characterization of the British is not quite on the mark. His characters are CARICATURES of the British. Disney didn't quite seem to understand the whole British sensibility, which is key to Lewis Carrol's humor. Disney's "Alice," as well as his "Mr. Toad," seem too Americanized, like he didn't quite "get" the books on which they were based. In addition, the character of Alice doesn't seem to have much of a personality, and what personality is there is not very likable. She's kind of a whiner. All that said, the Mad Hatter's Tea Party is wonderful and so is "The March of the Cards," which also is my all-time favorite instrumental from a Disney film. And Tweedle-Dum and Tweedle-Dee are PERFECT (their "That's logic!" line actually makes me laugh out loud), although I don't particularly care for the Walrus and the Carpenter sequence. There are also many brilliant pieces of visual invention in the flower garden and forest sequences. So, for adults anyway, "Alice in Wonderland" is a mixed bag. Not one of Disney's best -- but it sure makes a great-looking DVD!
Rating: 
Summary: Disneys first true stinker
Review: Disney is famous for creating wonderful characters and amazing stories. Many of there movies have done this well. They still continue to do this with recent jems like Lilo and Stitch and Treasure Planet. Along the way Disney has made a few bad ones a few stinkers with horrible unmemerable characters and stupid stories. This was there first. Alice in Wonderland is not the worst Disney film ever but it is close. It involes a girl named Alice gets traped in a place called wonderland. Nothing makes sense she walks through it. Rather then befriending some of these weird characters and saving this world from some distaster she simply walks through meeting one annoying character after another accomplishing nothing, learning nothing, just getting annoyed in a world of jerks and idiots. I don't recomend this for children or adults. It is too rude for children and way too stupid for adults. Pass up this stinker and enjoy Disneys other classics.
Rating:
Summary: A Magical film.
Review: Disney's 1951 animated masterpiece is based on Lewis Carrol's novel which this film tells the story of a girl named "Alice" who one day sees a white Rabbit, follows him down a rabbit hole into another dimension where fun and nonsense rule. Highly entertaining and fun flick that deserves the phrase, the images are stunning so is the animation, and Alice is a total hottie!
Rating:
Summary: (3.5) Good children's movie, but mediocre book adaptation.
Review: Disney's 1951 film "Alice in Wonderland" is one that held a strange appeal for me throughout my childhood. The Queen of Hearts literally gave me nightmares - I had dreams that I was Alice, trying to escape without losing my head - and the story of the Walrus and the Carpenter depressed me, yet I kept going back and watching it again and again. The movie fascinated me. Children love any opportunity to dream and make believe, and "Alice in Wonderland" has so many creative and fantastical elements that it provides an unlimited source of stimulation. Now, as an adult having recently read for the first time the books upon which the film was based, I was inspired to purchase the Masterpiece Edition of "Alice in Wonderland" on DVD and revisit this Disney classic.
The movie is actually based on two books by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known as Lewis Carroll. "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" was published in 1865, and "Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There" appeared in 1871. Nowadays the two are commonly printed together in a single volume. Unfortunately, for fans of the books, the movie adaptation does not quite live up. The biggest problem with the movie is that it just doesn't make much sense. We don't understand why the things that happen to Alice happen, like why the Mad Hatter insists on changing seats all the time at the tea party, or why the bird that Alice disrupts calls her a serpent. These things are all explained in the books, but the meaning is lost in the translation to film. Still, a child is less likely to question the logic behind events in the movie, and will be more interested in the magical feeling of the story.
The other big failing of the film is that all of the witty wordplay and riddles with which Carroll's books abound are nowhere to be found. Again, this will probably be less of an issue for a child viewer, but someone who has read the books can't help but notice the gaping hole left by this omission. Carroll's books where all ABOUT wordplay and witticism. Granted, it can be difficult to transfer such literary tricks to the screen, and most children probably would not pick up on the more complicated or obscure ones anyway, but certainly some of the simpler puns could have been carried across. Alice herself is also a less impressive heroine in the movie, as the loss of wordplay detracts from our sense of her as being exceptionally bright for a seven-year-old.
My other observations about the adaptation from book to movie are fairly neutral. Disney made significant changes to the story, but this is to be expected considering the length and complexity of Carroll's books. Some episodes from the books are left out entirely, like the scenes with the Duchess, her peppery cook, and the pig baby, and also the exchanges Alice has with the Mock Turtle and the Gryphon. The order of events that were included in the movie is also switched about, particularly because of the fact that the movie combines the plots of both books. Interestingly, the Queen of Hearts in the movie is actually an amalgamation of two different characters - the Queen of Hearts from "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and the Red Queen from "Through the Looking-Glass."
However, criticisms of the book-to-movie adaptation aside, "Alice in Wonderland" is still a good, solid children's animated film. It won't hold the same appeal for older audiences, but I remember how much I enjoyed watching it as a child and am sure it will continue to inspire the imaginations of today's young viewers. The movie is also a visually impressive artistic accomplishment. The animation is superb. In fact, I'd say it's one of the most vivid and lush of all of Disney's earlier films. The brightly-colored characters really stand out against the predominantly black background.
The 2-disc Masterpiece Edition DVD has a wealth of special features. Most are geared toward the child viewer, which is to be expected, but there are some pieces that even an adult will find interesting. Disc 1 offers a "Virtual Wonderland Party" for the kids, which is rather like an interactive television show; sing-along songs of "The Unbirthday Song" and "All In A Golden Afternoon" (the song that the talking flowers perform); an "Adventures in Wonderland" game which is fairly simple, being intended for children, but which I found particularly delightful because it is actually based on riddles (I thought this was a nice way to give the movie a tie-in with the wordplay of Carroll's original story); a featurette including the song "I'm Odd," sung by the Cheshire Cat, which was one of at least 30 songs written for the film but never included; and the original Mickey Mouse short "Thru the Mirror."
Disc 2 rounds out the collection of special features with "One Hour in Wonderland," Walt Disney's first TV show, hosted by Kathryn Beaumont (the voice of Alice); "An Alice Comedy: 'Alice's Wonderland'" which was the 1923 pilot film for a TV comedy series; an "Operation Wonderland" behind-the-scenes featurette from 1951; a half-hour excerpt from the Fred Waring show, which aired in 1951; numerous deleted materials, including an interesting featurette about a song originally written for "Alice in Wonderland" but which was left out and adapted for use in "Peter Pan" in 1953; an art gallery; theatrical trailers from 1951 and from the 1974 re-release; and TV introductions from 1951 and 1964.
Rating:
Summary: Curiouser and Curiouser
Review: Disney's retelling of the classic story of Alice in Wonderland is pretty cute indeed. The animation of course is breathtaking as almost all of the Disney's films are. It's not a big musical, and it's not a grand movie as when it was released way back when. However, Alice in Wonderland is one of my favorite all time stories by Lewis Carroll. Disney has done a spectacular job of creating the story and combining both Alice in Wonderland and Alice through the Looking Glass, and added their own little touches to the movie. Kathryn Beaumont does a fantastic job of creating the voice for Alice. And she is in one of the Disney's hall of famers now, she went on to do the voice of Wendy I believe in Disney's Peter Pan. The character's are very creative with The White Rabbit, The Mad Hatter and March Hare, The Snobby Flowers, The Caterpiller, The Cheshire Cat, and the Queen of Hearts who really seems to be fond of cutting off people's heads. It's witty and really fun for children of all ages. Though if your a fan like me of the classic story, you may sit there and nitpick the movie. But as I remember it's generally for kids, and they will love this movie. The only thing is now when I try to show the kids other films of Alice in Wonderland they always think of the Disney version :) But it's fun, witty, and a classic Disney hit.
The DVD is a bit disappointing though but does have some rather fun stuff such as: Alice in Wonderland Storybook, Alice in Wonderland Trivia Game, Operation Wonderland (This is actually a very nice feature includes tours through Walt Disney's offices and the creation of Alice in Wonderland, besides that a promotional fun of Alice in Wonderland staring Kathryn Beaumont). They also have an Unbirthday Song Sing-Along, All in the Golden Afternoon Sing-Along, and a Theatrical Trailer. After perchasing the Snow White Collectable DVD collection this is a bit disappointing DVD seeing as how much more attention was paid to Snow White all of Disney's versions should be like the extravagant Snow White DVD. But it's fun, has some really nice things, and the animation on the DVD is spetactualar. Kids and Adults will really enjoy this fun hit :)
Rating:
Summary: Alice in Wonderland (1951)
Review: Disney's version, although not as true to the original atmosphere and storyline of the books, is a delightful family feature. Kathryn Beaumont's voice performance is very sweet and sympathetic. The animation in this film is spectacular, bringing
the colour of the characters to life. The music score and songs
will get the kiddies going, and has a sensible charm that will also entertain the adults too. Overall, a nice movie.
Rating:
Summary: My favorite Disney film!
Review: FINALLY!!! I have been waiting for this to be "cleand up" and put in 5.1 surround and/or DTS. This by far is my favorite Disney film and in it's release date in 1951 was hugely criticized. I believe I once read that Walt himself had apologized to the American public for it, but that was probably the "times" back then. There are so many messages and references in the film, that wrapped up around Lewis Carroll's original story with Disney's great animation that many people will agree with me... you may love it or hate it, but it's definitely not boring. Thank you for re-releasing this!!!!! :)
Rating:
Summary: My favorite Disney film!
Review: FINALLY!!! I have been waiting for this to be "cleand up" and put in 5.1 surround and/or DTS. This by far is my favorite Disney film. In it's release date, 1951, it was hugely criticized. I believe I once read that Walt himself had apologized to the American public for it, but that was probably the "times" back then. There are so many messages and references here, this wrapped up around Lewis Carroll's original story with Disney's great animation that many people will agree with me... you may love it or hate it, but it's definitely not a boring flick. :)
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