Tuesday, March 02, 2010

Alice in Wonderland 1903-2010


Alice In Wonderland (1903)

The first-ever film version of Lewis Carroll's tale has recently been restored by the BFI National Archive from severely damaged materials. Made just 37 years after Lewis Carroll wrote his novel and eight years after the birth of cinema, the adaptation was directed by Cecil Hepworth and Percy Stow, and was based on Sir John Tenniel's original illustrations. In an act that was to echo more than 100 years later, Hepworth cast his wife as the Red Queen, and he himself appears as the Frog Footman. Even the Cheshire cat is played by a family pet.

With a running time of just 12 minutes (8 of which survive), Alice in Wonderland was the longest film produced in England at that time. Film archivists have been able to restore the film's original colours for the first time in over 100 years.

Music: 'Jill in the Box', composed and performed by Wendy Hiscocks.



Alice in Wonderland (1933)

A scene from the 1933 Paramount film "Alice in Wonderland" with Edward Everett Horton as The Mad Hatter, Charles Ruggles as The March Hare, Jackie Searl as the Dormouse and actress Charlotte Henry as Alice. Elements of "Through the Looking Glass" were also combined with this Lewis Carroll inspired film



Alice in Wonderland (1966)

With music by Ravi Shankar, Alice was flying high in 1966.

"Your hair wants cutting" maaannn!

Alice in Wonderland (1966)
Directed by Jonathan Miller
one of TV Series made by BBC television: "The Wednesday Play"
Weirdest & Greatest Alice Film
"Mad Tea Party"


Alice in Wonderland (1983)
Not a highpoint in the history of Alice as far as I am concerned.
Remarkably similar-looking dancers André De Shields and Alan Weeks play Tweedledum and Tweedledee in the 1983 Great Performances version of "Alice In Wonderland," directed by Kirk Browning and starring Kate Burton as Alice. They recite The Walrus and The Carpenter.


Alice in Wonderland (2010)

CGI. Anything is possible.

2 comments:

Lorena said...

Thanks I thoroughly enjoyed all the Alice clips. I tend to like the older ones more rather than the special effects one, but I'm sort of a throwback. That Ravi Shankar really adds a mystical twist to the era

ArtSparker said...

The 1966 BBc film rivals Svankmajer's Alice for dark/decaying surrealism, and Peter Cook's Mad Hatter is a treasure.