While this animated adaptation of Alice in Wonderland is not quite the worst that Video Brinquedo has done (it's not quite as awful as Ratatoing, The Little Panda Fighter, The Little Cars and What's Up: Balloon to the Rescue), that's not saying much because none of Video Brinquedo's output is worth watching really and their version of Alice in Wonderland is still awful.
Out of all the numerous Alice in Wonderland adaptations (there are a few mixed bags, but most are pretty good to great), it is by far the worst, not just as an adaptation but as a piece of animation in general.
First and foremost the animation is horrendous, the character designs are very stiffly designed with blocky movements and look creepy and off model (especially what appear to be Tweedledee and Tweedledum) rather than oddball but endearing, there is a constant flat look in terms of the use of colours (Wonderland has never been and looked more lifeless), there are some obvious goofs like hands often being open even when holding objects and the backgrounds are static and have very little detail or fluidity. The whole thing looks as if it was edited in Windows Movie Maker or something like that, except much less professional. The music just doesn't fit, sounding as if it'd be better at home in a very low-budget video game, and too note when there could have been much more of a whimsical touch.
It's also the worst-written Alice in Wonderland adaptation, while this viewer tries to take adaptations of works on their own terms it is hard to when there is practically no Lewis Carroll in feel or sight (apart from the characters the story is almost unrecognisable) and the dialogue is incredibly stilted and childish. Story-wise, it also manages making an episodic but colourful and entertainingly oddball book really uninteresting; there are too many scenes that feel aimless and scenes where it is difficult telling what's going on because of the chaotic structure. The characters are either obnoxious (Alice is very shrill in places), creepy (like Cheshire Cat and especially the overly abrasive Queen of Hearts) or both, there is even a pretty pointless frog character.
Lip-synching is extremely sloppy, and always out of sync with the dialogue and characters' voices. It is also hard to believe that the voice acting is the work of those who've done voice acting apparently numerous times, because it's all over the map and often ear- bleedingly terrible. The Queen of Hearts resorts to overacting in an over- abrasive raspy voice, Alice makes the ears bleed with her shrillness and says her lines often way too fast, Mad Hatter sounds almost too pantomime-dame-ish and Cheshire Cat's voice is too chirpy (it should be more sly and urbane) and he over-compensates.
So all in all, not the worst Video Brinquedo has done but still atrocious. 1/10 Bethany Cox
