Alice in Wonderland (Masterpiece Edition) (1951)

Firstly, I don't know why loads of people think this film is cheesy. I know Alice isn't for everyone, but when you look at the other films made based on Children's classics by Disney (eg- Jungle Book, Hunchback of Notre Dame), you'll see it's more faithful than those films to the original. However if you have read the books and haven't seen this film, some characters are missing (eg- Duchess, Mock Turtle, Knave of Hearts, White Knight). This may just think that Disney has ruined this classic forever. They haven't. It's the best adaption I've ever seen.

Although I actually have the PAL version, I suppose the movie is just the same over in North America. The best bits are the Walrus and the Carpenter, the garden of singing flowers and flamingo croquet. And the Mad Tea Party is still the funniest part of a Disney classic. So buy this movie. Wether it's a video tape or DVD.

(I also live near Carroll's birth place!)

The Prevews
I really liked the previews on this dvd. Mulan 2 is a great one, and so is Mary Poppins. Home on the Range is ok. There is also a preview for the Brother Bear dvd, but it is almost the same as the original theatrical preview. It also has the "hot tub" trailer from Lion King 1.5.

The Movie
This was a real refresher to me because I've only seen "Alice in Wonderland" once or twice when I was really young (like 3 or 4). My favorite part is when Alice sings "A world of My Own". I also like the singing flowers in "The Golden Afternoon" and "The Unbirthday Song" (I remembered both of those songs from the Sing-along tapes I would watch over and over when I was younger). Overall I liked the movie. I liked the smoking caterpillar! The only parts I didn't really like were the part with the Walrus and the Carpenter, and the croquet game followed by the Trial.

The Virtual Tea Party
I did not like this at all! I felt like I was watching an episode of Barney! The only neat thing I discovered was if you click on the index of activities, you'll see "cookie recipies". Click on that, and there are three recipies fro Chocolate chip, Peanut butter, and Oatmeal cookies. I like to cook, so that appealed to me.

The Sing-alongs
I really liked these since I have always loved Disney's Sing-along Songs. It's also neat beacause these sing-alongs (of "The Golden Afternoon" and "The Unbirthday Song") show the film before it was restored. Speaking of the restoration, It's WONDERFUL! They did such a great job!

The "Alice Set Top Game"
One word, boring. This was even lamer than the tea party! It shows you, like 5 objects. Then, it asks you a question like "What does the Mad Hatter wear on his head?" You would then click on his hat....see, lame.

"I'm Odd"
I liked the song, but I wish they created new animation and integrated it into the film. What they did was just use their animation of the Cheshire Cat that was in the movie, and try to make it fit the new song. The song itself though, is enjoyable and very pleasing to the ear.

"Thru the Mirror"
This Mickey mouse cartoon was cute and interesting to watch.

One Hour in Wonderland
I LOVED this! It was very enjoyable to watch. The story was, Walt had the Magic Mirror from Snow White, and he entertained the girl that voiced Alice and some other people with it by having the mirror show them parts of Disney movies and cartoons. These included, "The Silly Song" from Snow White, A Mickey Mouse cartoon where Mickey, Donald, and Goofy were all cleaning a big clock, Zip-a-dee-doo-dah plus a little more of Song of the South, and a Pluto cartoon where Pluto took a bone from a bulldog. After that, they showed Disney animators playing "Jingle Bells" with trumpets, tubas, and other wind instruments. That was very comical . At the end, it showed "The Unbirthday Song" from Alice in Wonderland. Throughout the show, it also showed old advertisements for Coca-cola, and they were amusing to see as well.

The Alice Comedy
I didn't think it was very good. It just showed a real girl, going through a dull cartoon world. I thought it got boring after the first 3 or 4 min, (it's 8 minutes total).

The Original Theatrical Trailers
They were nice.

Walt's TV introductions
They were nice too.

"Operation Wonderland"
I really liked this "Behind the scenes" of Alice. I always look foward to this kind of stuff on Disney dvd's.

The Fred Waring Show
I liked the first part of this, where Walt talked briefly abot Snow White, Cinderella, and Alice. After that though, I didn't like it at all. It was very weird seeing the people on the show act out some of the scenes in the movie. The Cheshire cat scene was particulary weird acted out with real people.

Deleted Materials
These were very good. "From Wonderland to Neverland-Evolution of a song was neat since "Second Star to the Right" was originally written for Alice with different words. "Alice daydreams in the park" was ok, and the "Song demos" were very fun to listen to.

Art Galleries
They are very nice pictures, but it would have been nice to see more.

Well, that's my review! I hope you enjoyed it!