ALICE IN WONDERLAND (1951) REVIEW

*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

Based on Lewis Carroll's classic book, Alice In Wonderland, this represents one of the best animated films that the Walt Disney company has to offer.

Alice (Kathryn Beaumont) is a young girl with a wild imagination. When she is outside with her older sister (Heather Angel) and cat, Dinah, she sees a White Rabbit (Bill Thompson) with a watch exclaiming that he's late. Of course, this catches Alice's attention and follows the rabbit down the hole. This leads to a series of adventures with a range of unusual characters including: Tweedledee and Tweedledum (J. Pat O'Malley); the Mad Hatter (Ed Wynn); the March Hare (Jerry Colonna) and the Cheshire Cat (Sterling Holloway). She also encounters the villain of this film, the evil Queen of Hearts (Verna Felton).

Despite the film being released in 1951, the animation is beautiful and really creative. The Wonderland itself looks stunning due to its bright colours and stand out backgrounds.

Alice herself is a likable protagonist. I can certainly relate to having an overactive imagination and wishing I was somewhere else just like she does. She's also really funny and has a lot of one-liners. Another stand-out voice is Ed Wynn as the Mad Hatter. He is hilarious which is why this is one of my favourite Disney films to watch. Verna Felton is best known for voicing the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella and Flora in Sleeping Beauty, both of which are very similar roles. However, Felton is unrecognisable as the Queen of Hearts, who has anger management problems and spends the majority of her screen-time shouting 'Off with their heads!'.

Of course, it wouldn't be a true Disney film without some songs. The most recognisable is The Unbirthday Song sung by the Mad Hatter and the March Hare. It's a fun and memorable song. 

I think that the main reason why Disney's animations will remain classics is because of its originality and its appeal to both children and adults. The characters are all creative and memorable in their own way. Alice In Wonderland proves all of this in just 70 minutes.

Overall, Disney manages to tell Carroll's classic story by using beautiful animation and including some well-known voices.

8/10