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Movie: Disney's Alice in Wonderland

In between the stupendously fun Cinderella and the zippy Peter Pan, you find this oddity, Alice in Wonderland.  Compared to the two giants on either side, Alice in Wonderland seems like a stump.  Alice in Wonderland is Disney's driest movie ever although it wasn't the first time they made a movie with such a penchant for chaotic nonsense.  Earlier in their lineup was The Three Caballeros, a movie which for all intents and purposes seemed to wheel about with little care for direction.  However The Three Caballeros was a fun movie in its portrayal of music and color.  Alice in Wonderland, by comparison, seems tired.

Plot, it would seem, matters little.  Since Alice's world is all nonsense, it would stand to reason that narrative structure not hold much weight.  The movie consists of very little beyond Alice bumping into a regular parade of secondary characters that don't stick around for very long.  The movie is hurt by one of Disney's least likable heroines ever, a whiny crybaby who would probably forget how to buckle her own shoes if the moment gave her cause to throw a tear fest.  Alice's singing, while acceptable, pales in comparison with Disney's other female leads.  In fact most of this movie's music is marginal at best.

Alice in Wonderland, then, is propped up by said secondary characters, and some of them are simply enchanting.  The Cheshire Cat and the Queen of Hearts are obvious highlights, but I think this film is made by the Mad Hatter and March Hare, two of Disney's most deliciously goofy characters ever.  The character animation is also as confident as ever, although it doesn't sparkle like Cinderella earlier and Lady and the Tramp later on.

This is not to say that Alice in Wonderland is a terrible movie.  I didn't feel the need to shut it off and groan like some other Disney movies.  However for every scene that clicks there are two more that don't, and its problems are illustrated by its ending, an unraveling of Alice's story that moves by so hurriedly that you realize the movie skipped the climax and the denouement to go straight through to a throw away plot device of an ending.

Grade: 71

Description
Movie: Disney's Alice in Wonderland

In between the stupendously fun Cinderella and the zippy Peter Pan, you find this oddity, Alice in Wonderland.  Compared to the two giants on either side, Alice in Wonderland seems like a stump.  Alice in Wonderland is Disney's driest movie ever although it wasn't the first time they made a movie with such a penchant for chaotic nonsense.  Earlier in their lineup was The Three Caballeros, a movie which for all intents and purposes seemed to wheel about with little care for direction.  However The Three Caballeros was a fun movie in its portrayal of music and color.  Alice in Wonderland, by comparison, seems tired.

Plot, it would seem, matters little.  Since Alice's world is all nonsense, it would stand to reason that narrative structure not hold much weight.  The movie consists of very little beyond Alice bumping into a regular parade of secondary characters that don't stick around for very long.  The movie is hurt by one of Disney's least likable heroines ever, a whiny crybaby who would probably forget how to buckle her own shoes if the moment gave her cause to throw a tear fest.  Alice's singing, while acceptable, pales in comparison with Disney's other female leads.  In fact most of this movie's music is marginal at best.

Alice in Wonderland, then, is propped up by said secondary characters, and some of them are simply enchanting.  The Cheshire Cat and the Queen of Hearts are obvious highlights, but I think this film is made by the Mad Hatter and March Hare, two of Disney's most deliciously goofy characters ever.  The character animation is also as confident as ever, although it doesn't sparkle like Cinderella earlier and Lady and the Tramp later on.

This is not to say that Alice in Wonderland is a terrible movie.  I didn't feel the need to shut it off and groan like some other Disney movies.  However for every scene that clicks there are two more that don't, and its problems are illustrated by its ending, an unraveling of Alice's story that moves by so hurriedly that you realize the movie skipped the climax and the denouement to go straight through to a throw away plot device of an ending.

Grade: 71