Why Alice in Wonderland?
I’ve grown up watching Disney animated movies, but Alice in Wonderland was one that I was able to watch over and over again. Looking back, the combination of the fantastical characters, the vibrant colors and the obscurity of what Alice was going through is what made the movie stand out to me. But how did Disney’s Alice in Wonderland come about? It all began on a afternoon in 1862, on a boating trip three young sisters were nagging to be told a story. With them was Lewis Carroll, an English writer of children’s fiction. In that moment Carol came up with a story of bored little girl who was looking for adventure, basing Alice’s character on the youngest of the sisters, Alice. “The girls loved it, and Alice Liddell asked Dodgson to write it down for her“.
After writing the manuscript, it later would be published as the story of Alice’s adventures in Wonderland in 1865. It went on to be a widely acknowledged book of fiction, Alice’s adventures in Wonderland was able to attract both children and adults through generations with its fantasy and striking illustrations John Tenniel illustrated for the book’s publication
The process of the animation:
Walt Disney loved the book Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and tried to make it various times. Walt first made his Film Alice’s wonderland in 1933, using Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland as a loose inspiration. The film showed Alice played by Virginia Davis “being magically transported into the world of cartoons” (they were also known as the Alice comedies) combining both film and animation. Based on the source material that they had, it was hard to adapt as so much of the characters from writing onto screen. In late 1930’s a story wheel was drawn for the animation by British concept and visual artist David Hall, however the film was postponed due World War II restricting the budget.
After the war Walt knew that he would finally be able to do it justice after seeing Mary Blair’s Artwork, and the film began production in 1946. Mary blair is considered to have greatly influenced the films style and color palette. A live action was done to inspire the artists and filmed as reference for them when they begin animating. Kathryn Levine played in it who was also the voice of Alice.
The film’s production took five years to finish costing around 3$ million. This was due to the full-length live action film that was shot. On July 28, 1951, Alice in Wonderland was released in theaters. As Disney’s first animated feature, audiences at the time were disappointed as “they felt that Disney had failed to capture the atmosphere and intellectual humor of Lewis Carroll’s story“, Disney himself was disappointed in the “lack of heart” that Alice portrayed. He also felt that the movie had too many characters. The songs in the movie however played a huge role in it’s success with songs such as “The Unbirthday Song” and “I’m Late”.
1951 Alice in Wonderland Trailer
Resources:
https://www.boredpanda.com/alice-wonderland-drawing-animation-technique-kathryn-beaumont/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic
https://lewiscarrollresources.net/tenniel/Studies/PictorialTransitions/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice%27s_Adventures_in_Wonderland
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Carroll
https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Alice_in_Wonderland_(1939_film)