Honestly, if you go back and watch Disney’s Alice in Wonderland movie from 1951, it’s a total trip. I’m not just talking about the bright colors or the talking cats. It’s the vibe. It feels like a movie that shouldn’t exist, especially not from the studio that gave us Cinderella just a year earlier. While most Disney classics feel like a warm hug, Alice feels like a fever dream you’re not quite sure you want to wake up from.
Most people today consider it the definitive version of Lewis Carroll's story. But back then? It was basically a disaster.
Walt Disney obsessed over this project for decades. He actually started his Hollywood career with the "Alice Comedies" in the 1920s, which were these weird little shorts where a real girl hung out with cartoon characters. He spent years trying to figure out how to make a full-length feature work. He even hired Aldous Huxley—yeah, the guy who wrote Brave New World—to write a script. Huxley’s version was apparently way too intellectual and literary for Walt, so it got tossed.
The Disaster That Became a Masterpiece
When the film finally hit theaters in 1951, critics absolutely hated it. They thought it lacked "heart." British critics, in particular, were offended that an American studio had "Disney-fied" their beloved literary treasure.
It flopped. Hard.
Walt himself was pretty disappointed. He reportedly felt the character of Alice lacked a soul. He said she was too cold. But something funny happened in the 1960s and 70s. College students—some of whom were, let's say, "experimenting" with certain substances—found the movie’s surreal visuals and nonsensical plot absolutely perfect. Disney, never one to miss a marketing opportunity, leaned into it. They re-released the movie with psychedelic posters, and a cult classic was born.
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The Secret Ingredient: Mary Blair
If you love the way Disney’s Alice in Wonderland movie looks, you have Mary Blair to thank. She was one of the few women in a high-ranking creative role at the studio back then. Her concept art was bold, flat, and used colors that didn't make sense in the real world.
She used:
- Electric purples.
- Shocking pinks.
- Deep, moody blues for the woods.
The animators actually struggled with her style. One of the legendary "Nine Old Men," Ollie Johnston, famously said it was almost impossible to put her art on screen because it was so flat and stylized. They ended up compromising, blending her wild color palettes with more traditional Disney character shapes. That’s why Wonderland feels so distinct from the "real world" at the beginning of the movie.
What People Get Wrong About the Plot
People complain that the movie has no plot. You know what? They're right.
It doesn't have a plot. It’s a series of vignettes. Alice falls down a hole, meets a weirdo, moves on, meets another weirdo, and eventually almost gets her head chopped off. There’s no big "character arc" where she learns a lesson about being herself. She just wants to get home because everyone she meets is incredibly rude.
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Actually, the character of the Doorknob was created specifically for the movie. In the book, Alice just talks to herself in that hallway. Disney realized that watching a girl monologue to a wall for ten minutes would be boring, so they turned the lock into a character so she’d have someone to talk to. It was a smart move. It gave her someone to bounce off of.
The Voice Behind the Apron
Kathryn Beaumont was only 13 when she voiced Alice. She didn't just provide the voice; she was the live-action reference for the entire film. Imagine being a teenager and having to act out falling down a rabbit hole while being filmed on a soundstage so animators could trace your movements later.
She did a phenomenal job. She captured that specific "polite but frustrated" English schoolgirl energy that makes the character work. If Alice were too sweet, the movie would be annoying. If she were too bratty, you wouldn't care if the Queen of Hearts caught her. Beaumont found the middle ground.
Scrapped Songs and "Second Stars"
Did you know there are more songs in Disney’s Alice in Wonderland movie than any other Disney flick? There are tons of them, mostly because they're all so short. But many didn't make the cut.
There was a song called "Beyond the Laughing Sky" that Alice was supposed to sing at the beginning. They cut it because they thought the melody was better suited for something else. They ended up tweaking the lyrics and using it for Peter Pan. You know it as "The Second Star to the Right." Pretty wild, right?
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Why the 2010 Remake is Different
When Tim Burton tackled his live-action version in 2010, he tried to give it a "prophecy" and a "battle." He turned Alice into a warrior. It made over a billion dollars, but for many fans, it lost the point.
The 1951 version works because it embraces the nonsense. It doesn't try to explain why the Mad Hatter is mad or why the Red Queen is so angry. They just are. In a world where every movie needs an "origin story" or a "cinematic universe," there's something refreshing about a girl just being confused by a caterpillar for five minutes.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Collectors
If you're looking to dive deeper into the world of this film, there are a few things you should check out:
- Look for the Mary Blair concept art books. Seeing her original gouache paintings will change how you see the film. The colors are even more intense than what made it to the screen.
- Watch the live-action reference footage. It’s available on most "Diamond Edition" Blu-rays or on Disney+. Seeing Kathryn Beaumont act out the tea party with Ed Wynn (the Mad Hatter) is comedy gold.
- Listen to the "I'm Odd" deleted song. It was supposed to be the Cheshire Cat's main number. It’s much creepier than the "Twas Brillig" song we ended up with.
The legacy of Disney’s Alice in Wonderland movie isn't just in the merchandise or the theme park rides. It’s in the fact that it remains one of the few times a massive studio took a genuine risk on surrealism. It’s messy, it’s disjointed, and it’s beautiful.
Next time you watch it, pay attention to the backgrounds in the Tulgey Wood. Those weird, bird-like creatures and the "pencil dog" are pure imagination. They don't make sense, and they don't have to. That's the whole point of Wonderland.
To really appreciate the craft, try watching the film with the sound off once. You’ll notice how the animation shifts when Alice grows or shrinks—the way the line work actually changes to convey her weight and scale. It’s a masterclass in traditional animation that often gets overlooked because the songs are so catchy. Grab a copy of the 70th Anniversary edition if you can find it; the restoration work on the colors is genuinely stunning and brings it closer to Mary Blair's original vision than ever before.