BBC brings its whimsical 1986 adaptation of Alice in Wonderland to DVD! One of the most well-known stories begins one golden summer afternoon. Alice is sitting on a riverbank with her sister when a fully-dressed, talking rabbit runs past her. She follows the rabbit down the hole and enters a nonsensical world where it seems the normal rules of logic do not apply. In Wonderland, Alice participates in a winnerless race, alternates between being tiny and giant, hears riddles at a “mad” tea party, plays croquet with live flamencos, and attends a trial where the Knave of Hearts is accused of stealing the Queen’s tarts. Join Alice as she encounters the Hatter, the Cheshire Cat, and others as she makes her way through Wonderland!
Extremely faithful to Carroll’s work, and nearly all of the dialogue (including a number of songs) seems to have been lifted directly from the original text, and it covers most of the book. Having suffered through the plastic Tim Burton movie, Carroll scholars will surely find this a worthy adaptation based on the dialogue alone. What sold me on this Alice was the dawning realization that Letts and Dicks are seemingly paying homage of sorts to the 1939 film version of The Wizard of Oz. The styles used to achieve the two productions are similar, even though they’re separated by decades and tools. Today, the painted backgrounds used to frequently bring Oz to life would be unthinkable, as would these flat CSO backgrounds – but the end results aren’t terribly different if you analyze them sans prejudice. We (hopefully) make allowances for Oz when we watch it today because it’s an understood classic, and forgive that it’s a product of its time, just as this Alice is of its time, and just as importantly, its place: BBC TV. – Ross Ruediger
Starring Kate Dorning, Mark Bassenger, Jonathan Cecil, Ysanne Churchman, Claire Davenport.
Note: You may also be interested in[ Alice Through the Looking Glass (1973) BBC](http://amzn.to/1GCEggQ): “While both programs present frequently disturbing visions that no doubt haunted the children of their respective days, it seems unlikely that kids weaned on the production values and dramatic pacing of today would find much to appreciate here. No, from today’s vantage point, this is fare for adults who can appreciate the conditions under which these shows were created, or people who just want to soak up as many screen versions of Carroll’s literature as possible.” – Ross Ruediger
The special effects for both films were produced using what would now be considered primitive green-screen work.
Also see [Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland](http://amzn.to/1LAN1cr), the 1972 British film version all-star musical adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s classic tale starring Fiona Fullerton, Peter Sellers, Michael Crawford and Dudley Moore, and the timeless black and white [Alice in Wonderland (1933) ](http://amzn.to/1jXeS0r)starring Cary Grant, Gary Cooper, W.C. Fields, Richard Arlen, Leon Errol.