As Aventuras de Alice no Mundo das Maravilhas

This is perhaps the most faithful version of Alice in Wonderland. The dialogue is practically verbatim and the visuals are made to resemble the original illustrations drawn by John Tenniel. Composer John Barry provides the story with a collection of beautifully enchanting songs, many of which are straight out of the book.

The cast is more like a convention of every popular British performer known at that time, including a pre-Phantom Michael Crawford as the White Rabbit, Peter Sellers as a hilariously insane March Hare, Dudley Moore as the Dormouse, Robert Helpmann as the Mad Hatter (aka the Child Catcher for moviegoers, aka Royal Ballet for ballet-goers), and humorist Spike Milligan as the Gryphon. Fiona Fullerton plays a delightfully impressionable Alice, despite the fact that she is much older than the Alice of the book.

This movie is perfect for children and adults who want to see a literal translation of the book, made back in the days when moviemakers truly cared about entertaining audiences (and it's fun to wonder how they made Alice grow and shrink when they didn't have the aid of computer effects)!

i first saw this version of carroll's tale as a child on thanksgiving day, and i did not forget how much i enjoyed it. i caught it years later as a teenager on cable, taped it, and did not grow tired of watching it repeatedly. i think that this movie adaption is the best and most faithful to the book that i have seen. the pace is brisk, the songs are lively, the overall musical score is very nice (especially "the me i never knew"), the acting is acceptable, the costume design and sets work well (with the exception of using a painting of the palace that was supposed to be a shot of the real thing in one scene), and it is quite funny in some parts. overall, it was nicely done, and remains a film i can continue to watch repeatedly as an adult.

A book which details the strange adventures of a young girl in a surreal dreamworld is perhaps not a natural subject for a film, but Lewis Carroll's classic has been filmed many times. Few if any, however, of those filmed versions have themselves achieved classic status. The one exception is possibly Disney's cartoon version; this live-action British version from the early 1970s is less well known but is, I think, superior.

Unlike the Disney version, this film stays faithful to Lewis Carroll's original text, except in one respect. Carroll probably envisaged Alice as a little girl (although her exact age is not given in the book, and Tenniel's famous illustrations show a strange child-woman with a twenty-year-old head on ten-year-old shoulders). In this film, however, Alice is not a child but a beautiful teenager on the verge of womanhood. Although purists may not approve of this change, in my view it actually strengthens the film, in two ways. The first is that Fiona Fullerton makes an enchanting Alice and brings a wonderful sense of freshness and innocence to the role. Paradoxically, she seems more child-like than would many child-actors, whose stock-in-trade is often a brash knowingness and the ability to seem old beyond their years.

The second reason why the film works better with an older Alice is that it attempts to explore the psychological sub-texts of the original novel in a way that the Disney version, for example, did not. The story has a deeper significance than that of merely an entertaining children's story. Alice's bizarre adventures are symbolic of the process of discovery of oneself and of the wider world which constitutes growing up. No doubt amateur Freudians could have great fun interpreting the various incidents, but it is not my purpose here to comment on these interpretations. It is enough to say that Alice must, as must we all, try to make sense of a world which often seems strange and bewildering. Her world is simply a bit stranger than everyone else's is. Given that adolescence is for many of us a difficult, disorientating period, an Alice who is on the border between childhood and adulthood seems entirely appropriate. The title of the film's best-known song, `The Me I Never Knew', strengthens the idea that the book is about the attainment of self-knowledge.

Miss Fullerton is ably assisted by a splendid supporting cast, including some of the best-known British comedians of the period (Peter Sellers, Dudley Moore, Michael Crawford, Spike Milligan, Roy Kinnear) and some actors better known for more serious roles (Ralph Richardson, Michael Hordern). Perhaps the cost of employing so many well-known names emptied the budget, as the sets look rather cheap and crudely made. That, however, is not a serious criticism; indeed, one could even say that the unreal-looking sets contribute to the strange, dreamlike feel of this film. In a surrealist film, realism is not a virtue. 8/10.

When I saw this film back in '72 I was impressed with the high production values, cast, characterizations, and special effects. Imagine my excitement and disappointment when several companies (notably one calling itself the Platinum Disc Corporation) put out editions which were simply a dupes from an old 3/4 inch tape: A battered broadcast print version which used to circulate among the independent television market many years back.

The icing on the cake is a missing segment during the tea party sequence (approximately 20+ frames were snipped, most likely because of a tear in a badly handled print). In addition the film was originally shot in widescreen (2.35:1 ratio), but the tape, and subsequently the DVD, is pan-and-scan. These factors are coupled with a grainy image and scratchy sound track makes watching this otherwise fine children's film a real chore.

The upside is that another company, Force Video, has recently released a remastered widescreen version of this family favorite. Regrettably, at the time of this writing, I could only find a region free version in Australia, but hopefully a world wide reissue will not be long in the offing. But, as with every upside there's always a downside. And regrettably Force Video's version is no different, because where the image and soundtrack of have been restored to their original glory, the video transfer is little lacking. Not much, but it's there. And even though the disk itself is region free, the information is formatted for PAL-CAM video. Which means you'll be able to watch it outside of Australia (and the U.K.), but only on a high end multimedia display or computer monitor, both of which'll show some of the transfers shortcomings (the image is somewhat jagged around the edges, and the sound fades in and out on the left channel). But even with those limitations, it is by far the absolute best release of this film to date.

Versions to avoid;

1) Platinum Disc Corporation; this fly by night firm cranks out discount DVDs for the sole purpose of grabbing the dollars of the uninformed. Before seeing any DVD at a price that looks too good to be true it's because it's either a pirate or a Platinum Disc issue. And true to form their edition of Shaftel's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" is no different. It's merely a dupe to DVD from the old broadcast print. Avoid this one at all costs.

2) Screen Media Films; it's pretty much the same print as Platinum's, but there's a little more footage prior to the film's proper beginning, showing Republic Picture's "Eagle" footage and Gold Key intro. Truth be told this film is about 1% cleaner than Platinum's. It's barely noticeable, but if you're familiar with how films are made, and give both versions a careful screening, you can see where some frames are slightly cleaner than the poor release. In the end it's a wash as both versions are just as bad as the other, though the DVD transfer is marginally better (I guess the company felt that gave them license to say their version was "remastere"; even though it isn't). Avoid this one also.

Screen Media seems to have gone to some effort to get a better authoring of this film (verse it competition), but the film itself still isn't as sharp as it should be. In addition, even though the sound track has been cleaned some, the score still wavers, meaning the track itself has suffered damage (probably during the initial telecine transfer some 30 years ago). Though, for what it's worth, you don't really notice it when the actors are speaking, just when John Barry's hauntingly beautiful score is playing. On the other hand Force Video's version has crisp audio, even though there's still the left channel anomaly I mentioned earlier.

The film itself, staring the then very young and very pretty Fiona Fullerton, tells Lewis Carroll's story, and does so in a very compelling way by immersing the viewer in a surreal world. Showing the audience a world full of wonder from a child's perspective. Fullerton herself, as talented as she is, strikes me as being a bit old for the part. Checking her data shows that she was 16 years old at the time of release, which means she was either 14 or 15 during principle photography. For myself that still seems a bit old for an actress attempting to portray a little girl, but Fullerton's acting ability sells the role to the audience. Combined with a very talented supporting cast the characters are brought to life in a delightful rendition of Carroll's tales. Shot in Todd-AO 35 the film image has a kind of rustic feel to it that adds to the mystery of the world Fullerton's character must discover.

In short, the film itself is very much worth viewing, but if you come across a version that's priced under ten dollars American, then do yourself a favor and check the back of the DVD case. If it isn't presented in widescreen don't waste your time. Wait to find a better version so you can enjoy it with your family :-)

While this adaptation has a plethora of talent in front of and behind the camera, including impressive sets, costumes, make-up and dazzling special effects, it has two main flaws.

First is William Sterling's hesitant direction, not knowing when to pick up the pace or cut a number that's not working; overall, there's a sense of lag and lethargy. His credits show that this was his last theatrical release (though this fate should have befallen any number of directors over the years).

Second, is the fact that this is a musical. Now, you might expect that with John (Dances With Wolves, Body Heat, James Bond) Barry handling the tunes, that there would be some outstanding music and you'd be right (the arrangement of "The Me I Never Knew" alone is powerful enough to demand that this music be re-released on CD!). The "musical" works best when Barry is allowed to put Carroll's words to music. It falters, however, as does too many minutes of the film, when he's forced to put music to long-time collaborator, Don Black's lyrics. Black is no novice, having won an Oscar for his lyrics to Barry's Born Free, but these songs are tack-ons, fillers; they don't work and Barry/Black have a thankless task trying to make them do so (it would be like writing a musical to Shakespeare and throwing out The Bard's lyrics).

Fiona Fullerton is a handsome Alice, and while her singing isn't professional, it has an endearing warmth. Her voice improved as she became a pretty and capable British stage actress, excelling in, yes, musicals.

Barry/Black went to better success with the UK stage hit, Billy.