4/5 This is no bad dream
  by Don Eldredge (Sherman, TX United States)
Because of critics' reaction to Alice in Wonderland in 1951, it is written, Walt Disney actually apologized for the movie and soon after his television show became a hit a few years later, he showed it in its entirety on TV, thus relegating it to his "minor film" category. The movie has never been able to shake this image, and that is a shame. We should remember that "Wizard of Oz" wasn't a giant box office hit in 1939, and only after it was made an annual event on television did it become a classic in the eyes of the public. "Alice in Wonderland" deserves far more attention than it has ever received. The characters are wonderful. The music is humable, even singable. It's a short film that takes the viewer into a dreamland, and Disney's animated version stands up against any of the other live versions that have popped up over the years. It's time to give this movie the credit it deserves as a classic in animation. Watch it from a child's point of view, with the amazing images of a cat that disappears, talking cards, and Alice constantly growing and shrinking. And then enjoy it as an adult for the dream world into which we are all swept. And furthermore, the DVD transfer is fantastic, with as many extras as one will find on a Disney non-special edition disc. Take another look at this one and be swept away.

5/5 One of the best animated movies of all time
  by
The story of the animated film is similar to that of the first book, but contains parts of the second book. Dozy Alice is so silly she follows trouble by chasing a talking rabbit down hs hole. At the bottom, she drinks an unknown substance which helps her get through a talking door into Wonderland. Here she meets the Dodo, TweedleDum and TweedleDee (who tell her the story of the Walrus and the Carpenter), the Talking flowers (watch out for the snobby Iris!), the Caterpillar and the Cheshire Cat. She even has un-birthday tea with the Mad Hatter and the March Hare. However, Alice gets caught up in a game of croquet with the Queen of Hearts, and later a trial. The whole thing becomes such a nightmare, Alice realises she's had a dream while she dozed off.

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!)

5/5 Disney's horror film?
  by Stanley Runk (Camp North Pines)
Back in the day, Disney made some great animated films. In fact, you know it's decent if it was made when Walt Disney was still alive. Now, it's a money grubbing corporation cranking out flix and merchandise for $$ like Full Moon Productions. I mean, c'mon! Lion King 2? Little Mermaid 2? Lady and the Tramp 2? Aladdin 3? Cinderella 2? At least twenty different versions of 101 Dalmations? Lets wake up here. Disney used to put out some fantastic films, and Alice In Wonderland is right there at the top. It's the most experimental and disturbing of the Disney features. It's also hilarious! Naturally it doesn't follow the book(s) 100%, but I don't think I've ever seen an adaptaion of Alice that has(if Terry Gilliam got ahold of the rights, THEN you'd see something spectacular!). Some reviewers whine about how this is "boring", "confusing" and "inappropriate for children." Grow up, will ya? It's Alice In Wonderland, not Eraserhead! What kind of adult is "confused" by a Disney film that my daughter can follow? Believe me, this movie will NOT corrupt or traumatize your child. You have the Stanley Runk guarantee on that. Unless your child is a genius and more educated in the ways of the world than you are, they will not pick up on any kind of drug references. And it won't inspire your daughter to smoke a cigar if she sees a talking walrus doing it. My daughter and I watch this all the time. We laugh, we sing, we quote it, we have more fun with this film than any other Disney film. To my knowledge she hasn't started smoking cigars yet. So put that in your hookah and smoke it, Mister! If you haven't seen this(unlikely), pick it up for sure. It's so enjoyable and made in a time when Disney took chances and didn't adhere to the moronic P.C. formulas they do today.

4/5 Alice in Wonderland dvd
  by (USA)
Yup, I got it yesterday, and watched everything on it. Here's my feelings on this dvd.

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!

5/5 A Disney Treasure
  by Templeton C. Moss (Taylorsville, KY United States)
This is one of the best DVDs to come out in a whlie. Though the movie it contains is not neccessarily Disney's most readily accessible title (except for during the sixties when they found out it had gained popularity on college campuses, know-what-I-mean, nudge-nudge) it is two discs of pure Disney magic.

Setting aside the feature, which we all know is one of the best adaptations of Lewis Carroll's works (and if not the most accurate, certainly the most "watchable," as it is just dark enough to keep that edge but...well, let me put it this way: have you SEEN another version of "Through the Looking Glass?" I need a stiff drink before getting into that) the real highlight of this disc is the special features.

Two TV introductions by Walt, a 1950's making-of featurette, vintage television programs includin the historic "One Hour in Wonderland" the first Disney TV show, a whole album's worth of demos for songs that were never used, concept art galleries and more. This disc is an essential for anyone, like me, who is in love with Disney animation.

If for no other reason than the "One Hour in Wonderland" show features a clip from "Song of the South." It's worth buying the whole disc just for that, since it's the closest that movie's ever going to come to a DVD release in this lifetime.