Rating: 
Summary: A Restored Wonderland
Review: This isn't the best adaptation of Lewis Carroll's "Alice" stories, but it's a charming, fun film with great animated set-pieces. I'm staggered to see how beautifully the film has been restored: a comparison of the old video with the new reveals all sorts of detail in dark areas, especially backgrounds. Certain scenes now take place in day when they originally seemed to be at night! Without a doubt, this is the best restoration of a classic animated film I've ever seen.The supplements, though, are wanting. The kiddie features are simply atrocious. The "Virtual Tea Party" is probably the most noxious DVD extra I have ever, ever encountered. Watch as character impressionists and a bunch of kids cavort around a tea party set, torturing the viewer with awful songs and games. "We're Painting Our Noses Red" is actually one of the better ones. Other 2-disc Disney titles have similar bilge, but boast commentaries, documentaries, and restoration featurettes - none of which are on Alice. As a result, there is next to no modern perspective offered on the film itself, or the twenty-year quest to get it made. Aside from the segments on deleted songs, casual fans are left to guess at the significance of most of the 'grown-up' supplements, including TV specials and a 1923 silent short. What's here is nice, but only for those in the know. This is a great release for fans of the film, because of the beautiful restoration. Try and find it cheap, though, because the second disc isn't worth all that much.
Rating: 
Summary: Definateley A Masterpiece!
Review: Alice In Wonderland is my favorite animated movie and this is a great 2-disc DVD release. Disney completeley restored the picture and sound, like they did with the Sleeping Beauty DVD, and the film has never looked better. The special features are great for any age. For kids, there is a virtual Wonderland tea party where every time you play, there's going to be something different, Sing Along songs, and an Adventures In Wonderland Set-Top Game. For the more mature audience, the second disc provides a great look into the past. There is the original One Hour In Wonderland tv special hoasted by Walt Disney, clips from the Fred Warring show, in which a band plays music from the film and live actors act out scenes. There is also several demo's of songs that didn't make it into the film, including one about the Jaberwoki for all you fans of the books. There are some brand new featurettes that are very entertaining, including From Wonderland To Neverland, about how the song, "Second Star To The Right," from Peter Pan, was originally written for Alice. A few things about the special features disapointed me. The only disapointment about the special features was the newly discovered Chesire Cat song, "I'M Odd." Disney only found the original sheet music so they had to re-record it and the music was set to clips from the movie instead of storyboards. But there are so many great things about this DVD that that dosen't even matter. I highley recomend you buy this DVD for you and your family.
Rating:
Summary: Bonus Material is even better than the movie!!
Review: Our family purchased the 2004 2 disk version. This is the first time the bonus material on Disk 2 gets played way more than the movie in our house. The bonus disk contains the entire first Walt Disney televised special. It was aired Christmas Day 1950. Walt himself brings out the magic mirror and the fun begins. Wonderful color animation of Mickey and the gang as well as musical clips from classic Disney films. Pure family entertainment. My kids love it. That's good enough for me.
Rating:
Summary: The Aptly Titled Masterpiece Edition
Review: "Alice in Wonderland" is back on DVD, and LOADED with awesome extras! It's Disney's classic story of a little girl named Alice, who followed a white rabbit into a hole in the ground, and came out in a world of pure fantasy! All the flowers and animals sing and dance, and they're all quite mad! Alice meets one zany character after another, from a bumble-headed dodo bird and an insane Cheshire Cat, to the hookah smoking caterpillar and Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. She grows and shrinks and grows again, and eventually finds herself at the funniest tea party that ever took place! Alice soon has her fill of the madness of Wonderland, but before she can make it home she'll have to face the Queen of Hearts. "Off with her head!" It's sad to hear the negative comments this film has endured since its release. Not everyone is a fan of stories that revolve around pure nonsense, but even Walt himself never realized what a masterpiece he and his team had created when they transformed Lewis Carroll's story into their newest animated classic back in the early fifties. The film is lighthearted fun from beginning to end, full of brilliant colors and characters, all of whom are unforgettable, from the well known Cheshire Cat, to minor characters like Bill the Lizard. The animation is some of Disney's best, especially on the lead character, who really comes alive on film. The plot may be mere endurance and survival, but that's all you need in a movie that is such a feast for the eyes and ears, with more songs than any other Disney animated feature. The lovely Kathryn Beaumont is outstanding as Alice (just as she was in the role of Wendy in Disney's Peter Pan). Sterling Holloway and Ed Wynn are brilliant as usual, and Jerry Colonna is hilarious as always in the role of the March Hare. But the real treat on this new, 2 disc edition is the special features menu. Disc one and disc two both have a nice selection. Of course, there's the expected stuff; Mickey Mouse in his classic short, "Thru the Mirror," some sing-along-songs, a set top game, but they don't stop there! One of my favorite extra features was the program, "One Hour In Wonderland," which I had been waiting years to see! This was a Christmastime television special sponsored by the Coca-Cola company, Walt's first TV program in fact, designed to promote the upcoming release of "Alice In Wonderland." It features Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, Mortimer Snerd, Kathryn Beaumont in full Alice dress, Bobby Driscoll, a collection of teenage party guests, the Magic Mirror (played to perfection, as usual, by the wonderful Hans Conried), and of course, the young Walt Disney himself, accompanied by his teenage daughters. The setting is a Christmas party at the Disney Studios, where Kathryn Beaumont is the guest of honor. She and her friends are treated to a handful of clips, courtesy of the Magic Mirror, and a serving of refreshing Coca-Cola, courtesy of the Coca-Cola Company. Young Miss Beaumont is delightful, and the entire program is a wonderful piece of nostalgia I'm overjoyed to finally have in my personal collection. The wonderful extras continue though, with "Operation Wonderland." This is a promotional featurette on the making of "Alice In Wonderland." We also get treated to some deleted material, which includes some terrific song demos for songs that didn't make it into the final cut, often for characters that didn't make it into the film. In the deleted material we get to see those characters some fans of the Alice stories missed in the film, such as the Jabberwock, the Lion, and the Mock Turtle. There's the usual, but much appreciated art gallery, a fine explanation of how one deleted song ended up making it into "Peter Pan" a short time later, a deleted story concept, trailers and TV introductions by Walt Disney, a new Cheshire Cat song, and even a card game set included in the DVD case. On top of all that are two more extras worth more detailed descriptions. One is the excerpt from "The Fred Warring Show," a musical television show from the 50s that, in this particular episode, showcased the music of the soon to be released "Alice in Wonderland." Kathryn Beaumont, again in full Alice get-up, guest stars with Sterling Holloway in some live reenactments of several scenes from the film with the Fred Warring cast. The picture and sound quality on this program isn't the highest, but it's still one of the coolest extra features on the 2 disc set, if you're into nostalgia that is. The last extra feature I'll mention is the Virtual Tea Party on Disc 1. It's mainly for kids of course, but I found it quite entertaining. There are a number of things to discover by selecting objects from the table, each object causing the party guests and hosts to play a new game or sing a new song. I suppose what I found interesting about it was the performances of the two cast members in the roles of the Mad Hatter and Alice. The Hatter was highly entertaining with his creepy Ed Wynn impersonation, and Alice, well, Alice was charming and quite attractive. I only regret that I never found a cast list for this segment. If you happen to read this, Alice, drop me an e-mail sometime! And the rest of you, order your copies of this wonderful DVD now, before time runs out!
Rating:
Summary: A Burst of Fantasy.
Review: After the success of Cinderella, Walt Disney decided to try something different. He took Lewis Carrol's novel and turned it into a spectrum of silly madness that really is unlike Disney. Alice is unlike your typical Disney hero, because unlike Cinderella and Snow White she is only twelve. Disney's version of Wonderland is very neat to watch. The characters are all wonderful and the voice talents are really superb. The Cheshire Cat, The Queen of Hearts, and The Mad Hatter, are some of the hilights of the film. It is one of the more whimsical of the Disney films. I highly reccomend it.
Rating:
Summary: A Disney Treasure
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderland
Review: This is another great Disney movie. It's one of my other favorites. Alice in Wonderland is a great adventure for the whole family. It's really great to watch as many times as you want. I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Wow!
Review: I had never seen this film until I purchased the DVD. I had read quite a bit about it, and most of the stuff I had read was negative: critics didn't like it, it lost money when it was initially released, it didn't follow the original source works, ect... But to sit down and watch this thing is a real treat. The animation is beautiful and the art direction is stunning. I enjoy the Disney movies, but this one really stands out as far as I am concerned. I have never read the original works that the film was based on, but for my money, this picture feels cohesive and whole it's design and animation - which I feel plays a big part (subconsciously for most people) in the overall enjoyment of a film. Mary Blair's design influence is very strong and this film is a knockout!
Rating:
Summary: This Review Condradicts Some Concerns I've Read
Review: I think some people have forgotten that this movie came out in 1951, before the days of halluciginic drugs. Those drugs did not come around until the 1960's. Alcohol was the common "drug" of that time period. I grew up watching this movie and it never made me want to go out and smoke, drink, or do drugs. I still watch it and I never think about those things. I do not see what is wrong with this movie, it is a lot more appropriate for children than some of the "adult" movies parents let their children watch. This movie makes a lot of sense, but you have to look beyond what there is on the outside. This movie teaches us that no matter how great our daydreams are, we must always come back to reality, and sometimes reality is a lot better. Life needs order or it will not make sense and will be full of chaous. Maybe people do not catch onto that when they watch it, but watch it again and look closely. Maybe you will find it makes a lot more sense than you think. This movie is mostly supposed to entertain families, not have a deep meaning that makes you think for days on end. I love movies like that, but it's nice to watch something that is just fun. It has catchy music and unforgettable lines.
Rating:
Summary: Disney's 13th Animated Masterpiece!
Review: Following the success of Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland is snother Disney gem, this colorful,classic animated feature tells the adventures of young Alice in a rather odd way since it doesn't really follow the book by Lewis Carroll, but still, makes a wonderful and entertaining film. Although it was not well-liked when it was first released, it is considered today another one of Disney's greatest masterpieces. The colorful characters will make you laugh from beginning to end. It is hard to say who is the wicked villain in this film, since they all play a role in making Alice's day in wonderland not very pleasent, starting from the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, the Chessire Cat and the Queen of Hearts, who just wants to see someone's head roll. This new Masterpiece Edition DVD set brings Alice in Wonderland to a more deserved release than that previous Gold Collection, which brought very little bonus features. The masterpiece edition does bring many more bonuses, and one of my favorites is that "Virtual Wonderland Party", in which children can enjoy a little while in a fantastic tea pary. Really great! This DVD also has the greatest cover art, I love it. 5 stars!
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