Alice in Wonderland 1985

This is a rather long movie that covers Alice in Wonderland first, and then Alice Through the Looking Glass. A lot of famous people from the time, and some near the end of their careers, were in this film, including Sid Caesar, Sammy Davis Jr, Ringo, Jayne Meadows and Carol Channing.

There's also a number of songs that are done, all from Steven Allen. The outfits the characters wear are fairly well done. There are some variations from the actual story, but not horrible ones. For example, when Alice falls down the rabbit hole she ends up at the bottom and then follows a long horizontal tunnel leading to the room with doors.

One of the best songs is Sammy Davis Jr. doing a song and dance routine about Father William.

Herein lies a problem with the first half of the film. Three of the songs are quite negative, one of them having a strong air of hopelessness. That kind of song doesn't really fit with the first half of the film, although it would fit with the much more negative second half.

In the second half there is a strong emphasis on Alice overcoming her fears, along with the presence of a monster. An owl tells Alice she has created the monster from her own fears and that she has to overcome them.

None of the songs in this half have a very negative air, although the presence of the monster makes the second half darker.

The second half also seems to be much heavier on philosophy and psychology than the first half.

I know the Alice in the original story was around 7, but the level of dialogue coming from her during the films seems way beyond what a regular seven year old would actually use. It's possible, of course, that Alice had been receiving a much better education than children do today, or her parents took more of an interest in her education than many do today, but her age still seems to be a little low for how she talks.

Still, it's a pretty good adaptation.


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