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Wednesday, April 25, 2018

Alice In Wonderland (1951)

A young girl (Kathryn Beaumont) spots a white rabbit (Bill Thompson) and follows him into a large rabbit hole. She falls a great distance and finds herself in a topsy turvy world where she shrinks and grows, cats disappear leaving only their smile, mad people have tea parties and a Queen (Verna Felton) has a penchant for cutting off people's heads. Based on the beloved classic by Lewis Carroll and directed by Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson and Hamilton Luske. This 1951 animated Walt Disney version of Carroll's oft filmed tale (I have 4 other versions myself) is delightful and surprisingly faithful to the source material even with the added (but unnecessary) songs. It's colorful, bright and keeps Carroll's nonsensical humor. Sadly, many of the book's characters were eliminated to keep the running time down so there's no Jabberwocky, Mock Turtle or Duchess. Purists will no doubt take offense at the "Disneyfication" of the Carroll books but a definitive version of the Carroll stories has yet to be made. Until then, this charmer will do nicely. The voice cast includes Ed Wynn, Heather Angel, Jerry Colonna, Sterling Holloway, Richard Haydn, Doris Lloyd and J. Pat O'Malley. 

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