Alice in Wonderland

(aka ALICE AU PAYS DES MERVEILLES)
(1950, U.K./France) 80/83/96 minutes color
Lou Bunin Productions / Souvaine Selective Pictures
Story: Lewis Carroll (from his book)
Screenplay: Albert Lewin, Henry Myers
Cinematography: Erwin Broner, Gerald Gibbs, Claude Renoir
Special effects: Irving Block
Produced by Lou Bunin, Marc Maurette
Directed by Dallas Bower, Lou Bunin

With: Carol Marsh (Alice), Stephen Murray (Lewis Carroll), Pamela Brown (Queen of Hearts), Ernest Milton (White Rabbit), Felix Aylmer (Cheshire Cat), Joyce Grenfell (Doormouse)

***

Legend has it that Walt Disney was so threatened by the release of this British/France fantasy in the U.S., coming as it did at the same time as his own "Alice cartoon", he blackmailed film labs and theatres alike, insisting that if they printed/exhibited this ALICE... he would nevermore give them any Disney product. What an asshole! The infantile bullying worked, however. The release prints of this film were done by a third-rate lab, and the color shift is obvious and painful to watch. Also, nobody saw this film until many years later, when it snuck noiselessly onto television.

Disney's legendary insecurity and vindictiveness didn't forsee the home video market and devoted film fans, who have refused to let Lou Bunin's quaint and troubled masterwork die.

To be blunt, Disney's ALICE IN WONDERLAND sucks, whereas Bunin's film is an imaginative, intense combination of live-action and dimensional animation, much more ambitious, daring and joyous than Disney's sterile, cloying mess of conformity and pretentiousness.

In our favorite ALICE..., the stop-motion scenes are crude but colorful, with angular, stark set design and a clever use of montage. Rather avant-garde cinematically, it's sort of THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI (1919) for kids. Many of the puppet creatures are winningly grotesque, much more akin to the original spirit of the Lewis Carroll piece.

Carol Marsh may be a wee tad old to be Alice, although she is still quite sweet and personable. Stephen Murray is odd playing author Lewis Carroll, coming across as a shy eccentric with a heart of gold.

The songs, alas, aren't that great, trying in vain to be quasi-operatic, and being a bit protracted as a result. One odd musical scene involves a legion of hideous fish-men warbling a pointless and grating little ditty. But the lobster quadrille is simply fantastic!

Alice's pivotal trial against the Queen is a mockery (aren't they all?) and the ending a bit abrupt, but all in all, Lou Bunin's ALICE IN WONDERLAND is a strange and charming film.

Video/DVD availability: VHS, Monterey Home Video, Goodtimes Home Video; DVD (various)