Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland on Film

Many Film Versions of Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass

Jul 26, 2009

There are many film and TV versions of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass, and each one delights viewers with a unique presentation.

Tim Burton’s upcoming film version of Alice in Wonderland is only the most recent theatrical version of Lewis Carroll’s imaginative tale. These books are popular works to dramatize because the basic plot is simple enough that it can be reimagined to fit any genre, and the characters are so vibrant that it seems everyone is a main character.

Starring Kathryn Beaumont (Alice), Ed Wynn (Mad Hatter), J. Pat O’Malley (Tweedledum/Tweedledee)

This is probably the most popular movie version of Carroll’s work, with events from both books thrown in as Alice travels through Wonderland trying to get home. This brightly animated version has many memorable songs, particularly “The Unbirthday Song” and “All in the Golden Afternoon.” The Masterpiece Edition DVD has many interesting extras, including abandoned concepts and demos of unused songs.

Starring Anne-Marie Mallik (Alice), Peter Sellers (King of Hearts), John Gielgud (Mock Turtle), Michael Redgrave (Caterpillar)

This UK TV dramatization is a more abstract, artistic version than the other child-friendly ones. It’s black and white, and the characters don’t wear animal costumes so it’s hard to figure out who they’re supposed to be if you’re not familiar with the story. There is not much dialogue and Alice often thinks the narration, which is taken verbatim from the book, while Ravi Shankar’s sitar music provides a surreal soundtrack.

Starring Kate Burton (Alice), Richard Burton (White Knight), Austin Pendleton (White Rabbit), Donald O’Connor (Mock Turtle), Nathan Lane (Mouse), Eve Arden (Queen of Hearts)

This Broadway version stars Kate Burton as Alice and her father Richard Burton as the avuncular White Knight. The performance covers both books, with episodes taken from Wonderland in the first act and Looking Glass in the second. The costumes and sets look drawn, as if they jumped out of a John Tenniel illustration. All of the dialogue and songs are taken verbatim from the books, but the actors give the words such unique inflection that it sometimes gives a different meaning to Carroll’s words. One of the cleverest scenes is in the courtroom, while the White Rabbit tries to make sense of the nonsense case of the stolen tarts and the Queen and Knave of Hearts flirt.

Irwin Allen’s Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass (1985)

Starring Natalie Gregory (Alice), Red Buttons (White Rabbit), Donald O’Connor (Lory Bird), Telly Savalas (Cheshire Cat), Sammy Davis, Jr. (Caterpillar), Ringo Starr (Mock Turtle)

This colorful, campy musical was a made-for-TV movie. In two parts, it covers both books, including events not usually dramatized in Alice movies. For example, this version has the Lion and the Unicorn fighting for the crown, and has Alice on the train. This version is geared more at children, although adults may enjoy spotting the stars in over-the-top performances. Particularly entertaining is a scene in which the Caterpillar, played by Sammy Davis, Jr., turns into Old Father William and tap dances with Alice.

Starring Tina Majorino (Alice), Martin Short (Mad Hatter), Ben Kingsley (Caterpillar), Whoopi Goldberg (Cheshire Cat), Miranda Richardson (Queen of Hearts)

This visually stunning version mixes CGI with live action to bring Wonderland to the television screen. It mixes in episodes from both books, mostly in the correct order, but most of the dialogue and some of the segues between events have been made up for this version instead of being lifted from Carroll.

Tim Burton’s film version of Alice in Wonderland is reportedly going to be basically a new story set in Lewis Carroll’s fictional world. Over a hundred years after publication, Carroll’s books are still inspiring imaginations to further creativity.

For those interested in even more film and television versions of Lewis Carroll’s popular work, there is also an Alice in Wonderland website that has an exhaustive list of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland on film and TV.

The copyright of the article Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland on Film in Fantasy Films is owned by Emily Chauviere. Permission to republish Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland on Film in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.