(Note that this was pushed back a bit from last week, thanks to the email fromIF-X. And, once again, OMG YAAAAAY!!!)
When I say "weirder" adaptations of Alice in Wonderland, I mean probably weirder. I'm really not all that jazzed about "Tim Burton in Wonderland" though some of the nonhuman character designs are a lot of fun. (Honestly, this looks like the kind of movie Tim Burton could make in his sleep now, and as Sam Adams mentioned in this recent AVQ&A, it's very sad that in the last few years, Burton has "managed to rid his work of anything vaguely inventive or personal while still keeping up the facade of being the goth kid who sits alone at lunch.")
There is something about Lewis Carroll's Alice books that makes people want to do adaptations that play hard and loose with the source material. I'm limiting myself to five today, though I can certainly think of more (for example, you can't technically say that "Lost" and "The Matrix" AREN'T adaptations -however loose- of "Alice" can you?)
This is certainly not the first Disney take on Wonderland. But while everyone knows the 50's "Alice", and Disney fans are generally aware of the early "Alice' shorts, one Disney take has faded into obscurity. In the year 1990-ish, the Disney Channel announced a new series for young children. This was around the same time Disney/MGM Studios was still in use as a working television/film/animation studio and was essentially the Disney Channel's headquarters. A massive set was built upon a soundstage in the Studios, and the series "Adventures in Wonderland" was born:
Answering the inevitable question: yes, the early 1990's really were like this. Giant anthropomorphic rabbits and everything.
I've already discussed "Dreamchild" over at The Realm. Sadly, the film is not available at Netflix (which doesn't even seem to have even heard of it). Fortunately, a kind soul on YouTube has uploaded the utterly terrifying tea party scene, so I can spread the Nightmare Fuel around. (I am indeed giving this a very serious Nightmare Fuel warning. Kids, stay far away. Adults, don't watch this late at night.)
EDIT: "Dreamchild" has recently appeared in among Netflix's instant-watch options. Enjoy.
Speaking of Nightmare Fuel. There's also the odd tendency to want to make scary, dark and edgy versions of Alice's adventures and of all the Wonderland characters. When most 80's kids think of weird versions of the Alice books, their minds immediately go to this little slice of childhood trauma (again, not embedding this because, seriously, between the creepy mirrors, the parents ignoring Alice, and the monster -however cheesy the costume is- popping up in the dark hallway, the scene seems coldly designed by committee to scar a child for life). What's especially weird about this version is that this one scary scene comes right the f**k out of nowhere; the overall tone of the miniseries was upbeat and whimsical up to this point. But you can expect to say, "What the hell" at least once during the cast list in the opening credits.
Thankfully the next two weird "Alices" are far more lighthearted throughout. This was something my sister and I watched one Easter morning for some reason. This little slice of crazy stars Mr. T as the Jabberwocky. That's probably all you need to know.
Skipping right to the middle for you. This is because, as you will see, their Humpty Dumpty is... different:
And rounding out our journey through Wonderland is yet another 80's oddity. Even as a kid sitting in the theater, I thought, "This feels like the studio wanted to make an Alice in Wonderland movie, and then for the hell of it they stuck in their most famous characters." It's not hard to find the full film on Youtube:
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Quick movie review. I watched "Fantastic Mr. Fox" and I thought it was cute. Yes, cute. Cute is not a bad thing. It's charming and whimsical, I love the herky-jerky low-tech stop-motion animation, and I'm curious enough to see Wes Anderson do more animated films. Also, it's interesting how the more derived adaptations of Roald Dahl books are better as movies. (If you're not sure what I mean, watch "Willy Wonka" and then watch "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". I am not talking about the nostalgia filter here.) By the way, "Mr. Fox" is fine for kids, though I wonder what kids will think of it.
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And in case you missed it, there's a fun review of an old "Simpsons" episode (it happens to be one of my favorites) that turns into a meditation on the use of pop-culture references over at the Onion AV Club.
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Sketch of the Day!
Hocus Crocus Alimagocus!!!
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Feederwatch Friday!
Rock Pigeon 3
Mourning Dove 1
Downy Woodpecker 2
Blue Jay 2
American Crow 2
Black-capped Chickadee 4 (!!!)
Tufted Titmouse 2
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
American Robin 2
Song Sparrow 1
Northern Cardinal 1
House Sparrow 20
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Next week: Four-Part Walt Disney World Trip Report!!!
Another batch of opinions, hastily posted by somebody who wasn't all that invested in the game. (Dammit, Bill!) This may not be the most coherent post in the world, since it's almost quarter of two in the morning now, but here goes:
"The Last Airbender" teaser - Uh... eh. I think I've made my opinions on the prospects of a live-action "Avatar: the Last Airbender" movie perfectly clear by now and this teaser didn't really change anything. What strikes me as odd is the fact that, had I tuned in a minute later I would have missed it entirely.
Boostmobile Shuffle - OK, this one got a laugh out of me. For those of you who are to young to get the reference, enjoy the very first time I realized that athletes should never sing. Ever.
Doritoes and Budweiser - Man, their commercials this year were either just plane weird or boring. Doritoes in particular; it looked like they were using the ideas from their contest a while back that came in a distant second.
"Robin Hood: Prince of Some Stuff" - "Gee, Homer, that's a good idea but I think they've already made movies based on A Christmas Carol." "Yeah, well, what about Robin Hood?" On the other hand, I am hoping they make this movie into another "EXCITING cereal".
"Wolfman" - Team DelToro!!!
Monster.com Beaver - I like the puppetry, but this is a good example of an ad that is really elaborate but doesn't make any damn sense. The Budweiser Bridge ad was like this too. The ur-example of this kind of Superbowl ad comes from 1997. (Bonus: Two or three instantly-dated references for the price of one!)
GoDaddy.com - This may be the greatest and best web-hosting service in the entire Internet, and all most people associate them with are these "to hot for TV" ads. Good jarb ad execs.
Coke Simpsons - Yaaaay!!! I feel like I ought to comment more on this ad as it's the only memorable animated ad. It's wikkid late. I don't want to.
Career Builder and Dockers - To ads in a row with guys in their underwear. Good luck telling them apart.
Teleflora - Hey, I remember this from last year!
"Alice in Wonderland" and "Tru TV Groundhog Day" - I must have mentioned somewhere on this blog that the deepest depth of the Uncanny Valley is inhabited by those staples of Superbowl ads, CGI Babies Who Do Things Normal Babies Don't Do. Well, I was wrong. The real inhabitants are People With Giant CGI Heads (or Normal-Sized Heads On Little CGI Bodies, it's hard to tell).
Universal's Wizarding World of Harry Potter - And I've given so much attention to the history of the Disney/MGM or Hollywood or whatever they're calling it now Studios in Walt Disney World that I feel like I must have discussed the equally strange history of Universal Studios Florida as well. This ad reminds me of the seriously trippy ads used to introduce the park in the first place. I don't think Wizarding World will be open by the time I get to Florida next month (more on that later), but having visited the spot where I think it's going, it's a little hard to believe that this is going to be more elaborate than a retheming of the Lost Continent part of Islands of Adventure.
Dr. Pepper Little Kiss - Ugh. Just... ugh.
"Prince of Persia: the Color Orange!" - With the memory of what happened after "Pirates of the Caribbean" fresh in my head, let me say this: I don't want little girls and their moms suddenly saying they've "Always been a Jake Gyllenhaal fan!" You sit through "The Good Girl" and "The Day After Tomorrow" just for him and then maybe we'll let you in the fan club. Maybe.
HomeAway.com - Here's a depressing trend for you. Commercials for commercials. As in, you had to go online to watch the full version of this. Bah.
Dennys screaming chickens - And here's the most irritating and most impossible to like commercial this year.
"The Crazies" - Interesting and creepy ad for what appears to be an entirely unremarkable thriller. Funny thing is, I would have expected to see an "Iron Man 2" teaser instead.
Google Paris Romance - Awwwwww... See now, this is how you do it.
EDIT: Reviews of ads I have not mentioned can be found at the Onion AV Club. It's funny how the blatant misogyny and anti-intellectualism, especially of the Bud ads, didn't immediately register with me. Then again, I remember when every single beer ad felt like that Duff beer "down with sexism" ad from an early episode of "The Simpsons" (still brilliant but YouTube has sadly failed me).
#16: "Cinderella"
At this point, we're in the 1950's. This marked the beginning of an era of great change for Disney animation. Walt Disney himself was starting to branch out into theme parks and television and live-action features. Therefore, he wasn't always available to personally supervise the various animated films in production. On the downside, this meant the movies of this period have less of Disney's personal touch.
One the upside, it also meant the producers of the films could experiment a bit more.
All of this is buildup for me to say, with regards to "Cinderella", that after all those anthology features, this is more like it!
The film at the coveted Sweet Sixteen spot in the Canon is about as close to the Grand Unified Perfect Disney Movie as you can get. The best thing is, it doesn't hold back. I don't think you can see a more relentless show of outright bitchery onscreen than the actions of Lady Tremain (yet another fantastic villain), nor a bigger asshole in the Disney Universe than Lucifer the cat (who is there to do bitchy things when Lady Tremain is unavailable). Cinderella herself is a far, far more empathic character then Snow White. The drama is absolutely top-notch. The songs are terrific. The final act is like something out of "Die Hard". The Fairy Godmother and the mice are more great competitors for the Best Character Ever title.
I just can't praise this movie enough. It's like a long, hot bath after some of those anthology features.
#17: "Alice in Wonderland"
Me: "Squee! 'Alice in Wonderland'!"
Walt Disney: "Ugh. 'Alice in Wonderland'."
Me: "I said, 'SQUEE, "Alice in Wonderland"'!!!!!"
Which is to say, it's funny to read what the creators of these movies really thought about them. This, in Walt Disney's eyes, was his biggest disappointment. And to that I say, whatever.
(Okay, the song at about the 55 minute mark is the most dreadful Disney song thus far, and they very obviously ran out of ideas at the end, but the rest of the movie is awesome. So there.)
Have I mentioned how hard Mary Blair rocks? This is her opus. We've got yet another candidate for Best Character Ever in Cheshire Cat. And "Alice" has, by far, the best sight gags and "Parental Bonuses" in any of the classic Disney films. I finally understand the Caucus Race scene! Wee!
#18: "Peter Pan"
I guess anytime Katherine Beaumont has a solo song, that's your cue to go get a snack. The one in this movie is pretty dreadful too, but much nicer than the one in "Alice" and can even be considered a genuine tear jerker.
You've also got another great example of double-standards at Disney: they won't re-release "Song of the South", but the song here at the 50 minute mark is A-OK.
Those are the only things I can complain about here. "Peter" is another amazing movie. At this point, you could easily argue that Disney peaked in the '50's; it was, after all, the last time all of the Nine Old Men would work together on movies. The "You Can Fly" scene gives me chills.
#19: "Lady and the Tramp"
Awwwww…
Now, if "Bambi" is a tone poem, then this is a dedicated character study. I can't help but wonder if this is the beginning of how dogs have been characterized ever since or if it was always that way. It is obvious that Disney was a dog-person. I can't believe I never really noticed this before, but the whole story is told from the animals' point of view.
This is the first movie Disney made in a widescreen aspect ratio. Up until now, we've only been able to watch such films in pan-and-scan. (If you don't know the difference, pan-n-scan is a little like trying to read this through a keyhole.) It looks absolutely terrific now that the DVD allows you to watch it in it's original format.
This is also supposedly the very first time Disney made a feature-length animation based upon an original story. That is… sort of true. Follow this now: Ward Greene wrote a short story about a character who'd inspire Tramp. Joe Grant was kicking around the idea of making a movie about his dog, a Cocker Spaniel. Several years and plenty of executive meddling later, and Ward Greene found himself writing a novelization of "Lady and the Tramp", which was released the year before the movie was. Oh, Disney.
#20: "Sleeping Beauty"
The best of the Silver Age. No contest.
It's gorgeous. The music and effects are excellent. And most important of all, the characters are wonderful.
Philip finally gives us a Prince with more personality than "hot guy who gets to marry the heroine in the last act". By the end of the movie he's a genuine hero.
And he has to be. Maleficent is the best villain! There are, really, a few Disney bad guys who come close, but in terms of downright evil bitchery (her scene with Philip in the dungeon; wow) there's no wonder why she gets to be leader of the villains whenever they do a crossover.
The supporting cast is great as well. Even the minor characters are fun. You have to love the scene with the bard. Really, I can't get over how excellent this movie is. The fact that Disney didn't make another movie based upon a fairy tale until "The Little Mermaid" says a lot; it's like they knew they wouldn't be able to match this one for some time.
It's worth noting that Disney was very hard at work on Disneyland while this film was in production. And that helps a lot in explaining why the overall design of Fantasyland (Sleeping Beauty Castle of course but also other buildings and signage and such) looks a lot like "Sleeping Beauty".
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Next Post takes us into the tumultuous sixties. For more posts in this series, go here, or click the Chronological Disney Animated Canon tag below.
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And, I finally saw "Up" this weekend. That's another thing to talk about after this series is over.
And I've got another adventure to talk about when this series is over. Though it wasn't as spectacular in scope as the Bermuda trip I did manage to (almost) fill another whole Sketchbook. I'll tease you by saying that I still have "Octopus' Garden" in my head and with this hilarious old commercial which used to play during every commercial break ever when I was a kid:
(I can't for the life of me figure out how the building layout seen here transformed into what it looks like today. Don't tell me they really did have sharks in the pool that makes up the entire first floor?)
