"Alice In Wonderland on film, Walt Disney miscellany 2"

Film and TV productions across the years

1951 - THE WALT DISNEY ANIMATED FILM

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Alice in Wonderland: The Masterpiece Edition

Released in 2004 (USA) and 2005 (UK) as a 2 disk DVD set, the movie has been digitally remastered with both video and audio having been reworked in surround sound and restored to a condition better than any other release of the film on home video.

In addition to the film itself, the DVD release includes many desirable extras which include:

A newly discovered Cheshire Cat Song "I’m Odd"

A one-of-a-kind all-new Virtual Wonderland Party, a special feature that allows viewers to play games, sing songs and dance along with their favorite characters.

An original Mickey Mouse short feature

a unique Walt Disney behind-the-scenes feature hosted by Walt Disney

An in-pack Wonderland Card Game, offering concentration-style image matching fun for the entire family.

In amongst the many features on the DVD, the most interesting from a collectors point of view includes the newly-discovered Cheshire Cat song, "I’m Odd" – recently uncovered in the Disney vault, it’s a whimsical and fun tune that Walt Disney’s team

created but didn’t include in the movie. Alice voice actress Kathryn Beaumont introduces this feature by detailing the history of the number which then leads to a newly recorded version of the song (since only the sheet music was found) done by Disney voice actor Jim Cummings set to movie clips and concept art.

A complete, unedited "One Hour in Wonderland" TV Special can be found on the DVD. In this program, Walt

Disney and Kathryn Beaumont host a Christmas party with guests such as Peter Pan voice Bobby Driscoll and ventriloquist Edgar Bergen. Kathryn is in the "Alice" dress which she wore for the Disney animators as a reference for their drawings.
A behind-the-scenes glimpse at the movie called "Operation Wonderland," is an exciting featurette about the making of the classic animated film, narrated by James Melton, the featurette goes through the basics of the production and even shows some of the live-action reference footage shot for the animators.
There is also one of the original episodes of "The Alice Comedies," created by Walt Disney in 1923. These had little to do with the Lewis Carrol stories.

    Also included is an original 1936 Mickey Mouse animated short "Thru the Mirror," released for the very first time, which follows Mickey as he falls asleep while reading Lewis Carroll’s "Alice in Wonderland" book and experiences his own magical adventure.
    A virtual Wonderland Party, hosted by the Mad Hatter, allows viewers to play games and interact with characters from the film to create a virtual party of their own and includes "The Mad Hatter Says" game, "Conduct the Teapot Orchestra," a chance to blow out candles of an "Un-Birthday Cake", a chance to sing and dance to "Silly Songs" and solve "Mad Riddles."
    Other treasures on the DVD include deleted storyboard concepts, six song demos (particularly interesting because they involve characters that didn't end up in the final film such as the Jabberwock, the Mock Turtle, and the Lion and Unicorn), and an art gallery containing 59 stills.

To purchase the masterpiece edition:

CLICK HERE
for the UK/EUROPE edition

CLICK HERE
for the USA/CANADA edition

NB: The UK edition doesn't have all the extras featured on the USA edition. If you have a multi-region DVD player I'd recommend you purchase the USA version.

Alice "re-worked" for the Disney Channel

Some glimpses of more recently drawn Disney-style AIW characters seen on the Disney Channel and sent in by Daniel Frampton.

THE FILM MUSIC SOUNDTRACK

Song folio featuring all the songs in manuscript. "Sing-a-long-a-Disney" ... perhaps!

Reviewer: microjoe from Rio Rancho, NM, United States
"Another fine job at Disney Soundtrack restoration by master restoration producer Randy Thornton. Most of the original material to use for this CD was thought lost and no longer in the archives. The movie's style required music that jumped out at you in short bursts and then dissapeared again, so most songs are very short in the movie. Randy tried to restore these songs to the length that they were originally recorded.
Seven writers composed the music for the film, including the "UN-Birthday" song which was written by the songwriters that were working on Cinderella at the time. Most of the songs were composeded by Bob Hilliard and Sammy Fain. There is a great 15 page booklet with lyrics, liner notes, and art including the always elusive concept art that Disney history buffs treasure. Quite a few novelty songs were created for this movie at Walt's request, and the movie featured 14 original songs, the most any Disney animated film had ever had. In total the CD lists 23 tracks and 1 hour of music."

The soundtrack is available for purchase online.

to obtain more information or to order a copy.

Disney's
ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND
Review and Summary
By Caleb Lane

Adventures in Wonderland was a television show that began in 1991 and first aired on the Disney Channel in the USA. It was then aired on a Canadian station called Family Channel. It was, as a lot of people say, a zany and fun show that was more of a spin-off, rather than a proper adaptation.

Still, this series remains to be one of the most suitable for children and educational - as each of the many episodes of this series had Alice finding out a problem with either her homework or everyday life. She would then talk to her cat, Dinah, about it and then she would walk through her looking glass. She would then discover that other characters of Wonderland would be wondering the same thing at the same time, and this would connect to the main story of each episode.

    Young Elisabeth Harnois starred as Alice at the time. She was hardly known then, except she was widely known for a splendid and cute performance she put on when she was very young in the theatrical Christmas movie, One Magic Christmas. Harnois was selected to play the leading role in this TV show because she had an exceptional talent for really getting into her role (and actually being enthusiastic about it) as most teenaged girls could not. Elisabeth was very excited to get starting on the role, and after reading the pilot script, the young actress found herself acting like a toddler again. The rest of the cast, who were selected before the part of Alice was (as that is always the last role to pick because its so important), were also splendid selections.
    The stories were always great and involving. Although mostly for children, some of the adults would get a kick out of seeing some famous guest appearances. Adults reading this might be surprised to know that in one of the episodes, country singer Willie Nelson appeared in several scenes just randomly playing his guitar and singing Wonderland-themed songs. Also, for adults, it might be interesting seeing the characters we grew up with when we read the Lewis Carroll stories transformed into their modern personalities. The White Rabbit is one of the most interesting transformations because he rides on a pair of roller-skates all the time! Another fabulous and wacky transformation is that of Tweedledum and Tweedledee, who turn into hip, soul guys: Robert Barry Flemming and Harry Waters Jr.
    I am a huge Alice in Wonderland fan and this show is one of the best on the planet. As a lot of the other fans might have noticed, not all of the best characters were included, but it does still have a wondrous, beautiful and charming feel. Adventures in Wonderland is a cute, funny and witty show that is meant to entertain kids, but also meant to return parents to that world of wonder we loved so much.

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