Alice in Wonderland (1951)

Directors:

Clyde Geronimi
Wilfred Jackson
(more)

Writers:

Lewis Carroll (adaptation)
Winston Hibler (story) ...
(more)

Release Date:

26 July 1951 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Adventure | Family | Fantasy | Musical

Tagline:

A world of wonders in One Great Picture

Plot:

Alice stumbles into the world of Wonderland. Will she get home? Not if the Queen of Hearts has her way.

Plot Keywords:

Rabbit | Queen | Card | 19th Century | Pocket Watch

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Kathryn Beaumont	...	Alice (voice)
Ed Wynn	...	Mad Hatter (voice)
Richard Haydn	...	Caterpillar (voice)
Sterling Holloway	...	Cheshire Cat (voice)
Jerry Colonna	...	March Hare (voice)
Verna Felton	...	Queen of Hearts (voice)
J. Pat O'Malley	...	Walrus / Carpenter / Dee / Dum (voice) (as Pat O'Malley)
Bill Thompson	...	White Rabbit / Dodo (voice)
Heather Angel	...	Alice's Sister (voice)
Joseph Kearns	...	Doorknob (voice)
Larry Grey	...	Bill (voice)
Queenie Leonard	...	Bird in the Tree (voice)
Dink Trout	...	King of Hearts (voice)
Doris Lloyd	...	The Rose (voice)
James MacDonald	...	Dormouse (voice)
The Mellomen	...	Card Painters
Don Barclay	...	(voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bob Hamlin	...	One of The Mellomen (uncredited)
Bill Lee	...	One of The Mellomen (uncredited)
Marni Nixon	...	Singing Flowers (voice) (uncredited)
Thurl Ravenscroft	...	One of The Mellomen (uncredited)
Max Smith	...	One of The Mellomen (uncredited)
Norma Zimmer	...	White Rose (voice) (uncredited)

Directed by
Clyde Geronimi
Wilfred Jackson
Hamilton Luske

Writing credits
Lewis Carroll		(adaptation: of "The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass") (as Lewis Carrol)
Winston Hibler		(story) &
Ted Sears		(story) &
Bill Peet		(story) &
Erdman Penner		(story) &
Joe Rinaldi		(story) &
Milt Banta		(story) &
William Cottrell		(story) (as Bill Cottrell) &
Dick Kelsey		(story) &
Joe Grant		(story) &
Dick Huemer		(story) &
Del Connell		(story) &
Tom Oreb		(story) &
John Walbridge		(story)
Aldous Huxley		uncredited

Produced by
Walt Disney	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Oliver Wallace

Film Editing by
Lloyd L. Richardson		(film editor) (as Lloyd Richardson)

Production Management
Ben Sharpsteen	....	production supervisor
Ken Peterson	....	production supervisor (uncredited)

Sound Department
Robert O. Cook	....	sound recordist
C.O. Slyfield	....	sound director
Harold J. Steck	....	sound recordist

Visual Effects by
Blaine Gibson	....	effects animator
Ub Iwerks	....	special processes
Dan MacManus	....	effects animator (as Dan Macmanus)
Joshua Meador	....	effects animator (as Josh Meador)
George Rowley	....	effects animator

Animation Department
Hal Ambro	....	character animator
Ken Anderson	....	color and styling
Dick Anthony	....	background artist
Mary Blair	....	color and styling
Bob Carlson	....	character animator
Les Clark	....	directing animator
Claude Coats	....	color and styling
Tom Codrick	....	layout artist
Don DaGradi	....	color and styling (as Don Da Gradi)
Marc Davis	....	directing animator
Phil Duncan	....	character animator
Norman Ferguson	....	directing animator (as Norm Ferguson)
Hugh Fraser	....	character animator
Don Griffith	....	layout artist
John Hench	....	color and styling
Hugh Hennesy	....	layout artist
Ray Huffine	....	background artist
Ralph Hulett	....	background artist
Ollie Johnston	....	directing animator
Bill Justice	....	character animator
Milt Kahl	....	directing animator
Ward Kimball	....	directing animator
Hal King	....	character animator
Eric Larson	....	directing animator
John Lounsbery	....	directing animator
Don Lusk	....	character animator
Brice Mack	....	background artist
Fred Moore	....	character animator
Charles A. Nichols	....	character animator (as Charles Nichols)
Lance Nolley	....	layout artist
Cliff Nordberg	....	character animator
Kendall O'Connor	....	layout artist (as A. Kendall O'Connor)
Charles Philippi	....	layout artist
Thor Putnam	....	layout artist
Wolfgang Reitherman	....	directing animator
Art Riley	....	background artist
McLaren Stewart	....	layout artist (as Mac Stewart)
Frank Thomas	....	directing animator
Harvey Toombs	....	character animator
Judge Whitaker	....	character animator
Thelma Witmer	....	background artist
Marvin Woodward	....	character animator
Ollie Johnston	....	directing animator: "Alice" and "King of Hearts" (uncredited)
Milt Kahl	....	directing animator: "Alice in croquet party", "Dodo" (uncredited)
Ward Kimball	....	directing animator: "Tweedledee and Tweedledum", "Cheshire Cat", "Mad Hatter", "The March Hare", "The Walrus" (uncredited)
Frank Thomas	....	directing animator: "Doorknob" and the "Queen of Hearts" (uncredited)

Music Department
Jud Conlon	....	vocal arrangements
Mack David	....	songs by
Gene de Paul	....	songs by (as Gene De Paul)
Joseph Dubin	....	orchestrator
Sammy Fain	....	songs by
Bob Hilliard	....	songs by
Al Hoffman	....	songs by
Jerry Livingston	....	songs by
Don Raye	....	songs by
Al Teeter	....	music editor
Edmundo Santos	....	lyrics: Spanish version (uncredited)

Other crew
Walt Disney	....	presenter
Charles Palmer	....	story editor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Walt Disney Productions

Distributors

• RKO Radio Pictures (1951) (worldwide) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1954) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Elan Film (197?) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• RKO Radio Pictures (A/SIA) (1952) (Australia) (theatrical)
• RKO Radio Pictures Argentina (1951) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• RKO Radio Pictures (1952) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• RKO (1953) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Sascha Filmverleih (1953) (Austria) (theatrical)
• Suomi-Filmi (1975) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Walt Disney Productions (1975) (France) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Abril Vídeo (1993) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Buena Vista Home Entertainment (BVHE) (1999) (Germany) (DVD)
• Buena Vista Home Entertainment (BVHE) (2004) (worldwide) (DVD)
• Buena Vista Home Entertainment (2005) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Buena Vista Home Entertainment (Brazil) (VHS)
• Gativideo (19??) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Walt Disney Home Video (worldwide) (VHS)
• Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (2010) (Argentina) (DVD) (special edition)
• Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (2010) (USA) (DVD) (2-Disc Special Un-Anniversary Edition)

Other Companies

• RKO Synchron Abteilung  German dubbing

Also Known As:

"Alicia en el país de las maravillas" - USA (Spanish title)

Runtime:

75 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Canada:G | Finland:S | Iceland:L | Peru:PT | Sweden:Btl | UK:U | USA:G (1973) (re-rating) | Brazil:Livre | Denmark:A (DVD rating) | Portugal:M/6 | South Korea:All | USA:Approved (PCA #15112) | USA:G

Filming Locations:

Walt Disney Studios, 500 South Buena Vista Street, Burbank, California, USA

Company:

Walt Disney Productions

Trivia:

The English novelist Aldous Huxley worked with Walt Disney on early scripts for this project in late 1945. The original idea was for a cartoon version of Alice embedded in a flesh-and-blood episode from Lewis Carroll's life. Huxley's mother, Julia Arnold, was one of the little girls that Carroll used to enjoy photographing, and to whom he told the Alice stories. The project was close to Huxley's heart, but Disney found his work too intellectual, and it was not used. Huxley received no credit on the finished picture.

Goofs:

Factual errors: In the opening credits, Lewis Carroll is spelled Lewis Carrol, missing the last letter L.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Alice's sister:[reading from a history book] "... leaders, and had been of late much accustomed to usurpation and conquest. Edwin and Morcar, the Earls of Mercia and Northumbria, declared for him: and even Stigand..." Alice.
[camera zooms out to show Alice sitting in a tree, playing with Dinah and making a chain of daisies]
Alice:Hmm? Oh, I'm listening.
Alice's sister:"And even Stigand, the archbishop of Canterbury, agreed to meet with William and offer him the crown. William's conduct at first was moderate."
[Alice laughs as her daisy crown falls on her sister's face]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Doctor Who: The Rings of Akhaten (#7.8)" (2013)

Soundtrack:

The Caucus Race

Maybe not as "charming" as most Disney films...

...and certainly "Pinocchio" had a more popular and memorable song score, but for my money I'd pick "Alice In Wonderland" as one of Walt Disney's top achievements in animation. From Lewis Carroll's story, and filled with knock-out colors (pinks and blues and reds on inky blacks), this episodic tale would not have worked so well if the direction hadn't been so graceful, setting a light, jovial mood, and the songs so tongue-trippingly clever. Alice herself is lovely and funny, the supporting characters appropriately manic, and the quiet moments gently even out the craziness (as with the Tulgey Wood/"Very Good Advice" sequence). Disney certainly runs hot ("Pinocchio", "Peter Pan") and cold ("The Sword and the Stone"), but this fantastic journey into nonsense, from a practically-unfilmable book, is endlessly interesting from a visual stand-point. ***1/2 from ****