Product description

Alice In Wonderland (Special Edition)

Price: £9.68
RRP: £17.99 This item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery
You save: £8.31 (46 %)
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
Average customer rating: 4.0

Binding : DVD
EAN : 5017188813532
Label : Walt Disney Home Video
Manufacturer : Walt Disney Home Video
Publisher : Walt Disney Home Video
Release date : 2005-04-11
Title : Alice In Wonderland (Special Edition)
Actor : Array
Audience rating : Universal, suitable for all
Format : Array
Languages : Array
Number of items : 1
Region code : 2
Running time : 75
Studio : Walt Disney Home Video

Customer reviews

review by: Tom Thatcher date: 2008-09-26 rating:

Exceptional rendition of classic story
It is almost unbelievable, but a cursory reading of some of the reviews would suggest that some Amazon customers have not read, or even heard of, the Lewis Carroll classics "Alice Through The Looking Glass" and "Alice In Wonderland."

This film is one of the most mature and thoughtful of all Disney films, and manages to capture some of the dreamy, frightening, enchanting and nightmarish atmosphere of the books. Alice is a children's story in name only: it is best described as a semi-benign nightmare of epic proportions.

Alice's chase down the rabbit hole leads to her encounters with many odd characters culled from both books, from Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee to the Walrus and the Carpenter to the Cheshire Cat and the Caterpillar. Much has been made of the caterpillar with the hookah, not without some justification, one feels, and likewise the Cheshire Cat - all very surreal and distant. When Alice grows very quickly after eating the biscuit, the next 10 minutes of images are beyond all doubt of an extremely lewd nature, and once you have grasped this it becomes very obvious. I am astonished that Disney got away with it as it is so blatant, but it is charmingly done ..... I have always thought this but have seen it suggested elsewhere in print only recently.

The music in the DVD is very good and the voices are just superb. Alice's precise, confused, petulant and adolescent nature is well-captured by the ever-excellent Kathryn Beaumont. Disney Stalwart Pat O'Malley sings and acts his way through the film in superb form (T Dum and T Dee, Walrus and Carpenter)and Sterling Holloway is as classy as ever. Songs that really work are "Unbirthday" "Painting the Roses Red" "Father William" and many others.

Highly recommended, and any film that has one Dink Trout as the King of Hearts gets my vote. Probably the closest Disney ever came to getting the right "feel" to a film and in places this is actually pretty subversive. Watch it again with a very open mind .............. twee it ain't.

review by: date: 2008-05-26 rating:

The weirdest film I've ever seen?
Alice In Wonderland isn't your average Disney film. It starts off with the posh girl singing with the plants in some park and then daydreams and is sucked into a loopy world where she goes through hundreds of doors and meets loads of odd characters ranging from the loveable white rabbit, the annoying mad hatter and the funny Queen of Hearts.

It's not a disney film that I'd recommend for those just getting into disney as it lacks the innocence and you really have to watch it to understand it whereas the true classics are just great forms of escapism as well as wonderful films. This one however may indeed leave you in Wonderland wondering what on earth it's all about and questioning whether it was worth the money or not. Buy The Little Mermaid, Mulan, Cinderella, Toy Story, Hercules or Mary Poppins instead if you haven't already as those won't disappoint.

review by: s.vernon date: 2007-10-11 rating:

ENTERTAINING DISNEY CLASSIC
On a warm summer afternoon, Alice is playing with her cat when she spots a white rabbit complaining that he is late for something. Curious, Alice follows the Rabbit and falls down the rabbit-hole. When she reaches the bottom of the hole, she finds herself in a crazy world where everything is topsy-turvy. She meets Tweedledee and Tweedledum. She discovers that certain foods can make her grow taller or smaller. She meets the ever-grinning Cheshire Cat. She joins the Mad Hatter and the March Hare in their crazy tea party. Alice finally meets the loud-mouthed Queen of Hearts, who challenges her to a croquet match, which is stopped short when Alice is accused of playing a prank on the Queen. After causing a disruption in her court trial, Alice wakes up, realizing that she had dreamed the whole thing.

Walt Disney, ever since the 1930's, had always wanted to adapt Lewis Carroll's classic books to the screen, but had problems with the story. When he finally got the chance, he was disappointed with the result, and the film, unfortunately, was a box office failure. But the film is entertaining nonetheless. The characters are wonderfully brought to life, just the way Lewis Carroll wrote them. Wonderland is beautifully drawn, with the Disney animators giving it just the right amount of fantasy. The songs (some of which are adaptations of poems found in the ALICE books) are fun, especially "A Very Merry Unbirthday"! The voice talent is perfect, with Kathryn Beaumount (later to become Wendy in Disney's PETER PAN) as Alice, Jerry Colonna as the March Hare, Ed Wynn (at his best) as the Mad Hatter, and Verna Felton (the fairy godmother in Disney's Cinderella, Aunt Sarah in LADY AND THE TRAMP) as the Queen of Hearts. Overall, this is one of Disney's best! Recommended. 10/10.

review by: Maria date: 2006-05-11 rating:

Down the rabbit hole..
A true disney classic.It holds elements of fatansy, creativity and imagination which modern Disney seems to lack, and that is simply what makes this film so very charming and timeless.

review by: theboynextdoor date: 2006-02-27 rating:

wow
I hardly remember seeing Alice in Wonderland from childhood, I only bought this DVD on the strength of the disney brand name and because it was on sale (ahem!).
It quickly became my favourite disney film, rising above Aladdin and Pocahontas. Quite a feat for a film with little storyline, told episodically with a rather unlikeable main character. Alice is rude and obnoxious but infinitely more interesting than most Disney leads, (good girls and drippy princes). The songs are great, especially the deleted one which you can see on this special edition, "Beyond The Laughing Sky".
Why Walt Disney felt this was Disney's weak link and disowned it is beyond me, I love it.

Similar products

Cinderella (Special Edition) [1950]
Dumbo (Special Edition) [1941]
Peter Pan (2 Disc Special Edition) [1953]
The Aristocats Special Edition [1970]
Robin Hood [1973]

Similar categories