#13 Alice in Wonderland

Title: Alice in Wonderland

Release Date: July 28th, 1951

Voice Cast: Kathryn Beaumont, Ed Wynn, Richard Haydn, Sterling Holloway, Jerry Colonna, Verna Felton

Plot: A small girl with a fantastic imagination slips into a world where nothing seems to make sense at all.

Review: Forget everything you know about logical thought. Disney dives right into nonsense with this one -- A LOT of it. The world is nonstop ridiculous, and the film, true to the original works of literature, abandons traditional storytelling based on sequential, related events. It divides itself, instead, by chracters: the silliest ones you've ever seen. These include within the first half hour, a loony doorknob, a skiddish rabbit, a British colonial dodo, talking flowers, and bouncy twins. And THAT'S not even the half of it.

The native creatures to the Wonderland are so relentlessly comedic that they make Alice seem boring. I sweat it, you'd wish she'd just shut up and watch, just be. Disney could have produced a movie titled Wonderland and I would have enjoyed it just as much, if not more. Of course, the whole point is to loyally adapt the works of Lewis Carroll.

I have to admit: Disney chose a strange couple of books to adapt. And I'm gonna say it right here and now, though many will disagree with me: there's no doubt about it, this is Disney's stoner film. It has more drug references than all of its previous films combined. Hell, the entire film is a drug reference! As the Cheshire cat put it, "nearly everyone here is mad"; or on something. For goodness sake, there's a hookah-smoking caterpillar. And Disney just speeds along with it and doesn't care if it leaves you behind. It runs wild with vivid colors and fantastic creatures, giving this film the best creative animation I've ever seen.

I have to say this: I LOVE the Mad Hatter and the March Hare. I could watch them for hours and hours and hours. They're the perfect comedy duo, and the fit right into the story. It's difficult to explain; they're just tremendously hilarious. The Cheshire cat?-- less so. I found him actually creepier than funny. That goes for the hookah-smoking caterpillar too. But be that as it may, Alice has probably the most side-splitting, though strangest, characters Disney's ever produced. And that's what gives this film...

A Dream Is A Wish