Down the Rabbit Hole: Disney’s Alice in Wonderland 70 Years Later
In the summer of 1951, Walt Disney would at last release his adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s classic story Alice in Wonderland.
Let’s go down the rabbit hole of history and see how this film made it to the big screen.
Beginnings
The books, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, were written by Lewis Carroll in 1865 and 1871 respectfully.
Since publication, the books have been very popular, particularly for its bizarre nature.
As a child, Walt Disney read the books and adored them. Years later in 1933, when he got the idea to produce a full-length film, he thought about an adaptation of the Carroll books as a combination of live-action and animation starring Mary Pickford. But it was shelved when Paramount made a live-action version that year.
Another Attempt
After Snow White’s release in 1937, Walt decided to restart work on Alice in Wonderland. Then, artist David Hall was brought in to do concept art and storyboards for the film.
Image: David Hall
Unfortunately, after a story reel was shown, Walt wasn’t pleased. The reason was he thought Hall’s art would be too hard for the animators to emulate and because of the darkness of the story. When World War II hit, Walt decided to put this on hold.
After the war, production was given another go ahead. It was then, Aldous Huxley wrote a story outline for the film. In it, Lewis Carroll and the inspiration for the Alice character, Alice Liddell as characters.
But it was rejected for being too close to the Carroll story.
Production Restarts
After considering a live-action/animation combination film, Walt in 1946 made the decision that an all animated version would be best.
But what really inspired Walt to restart work on the film was Mary Blair’s artwork.
Mary Blair was a concept artist that would be a major influence on most of the films after Bambi and the first three films of the 1950’s. When she first came to the studio, her style was more detailed. But when she went with Walt and other artists to South America, it changed her art style.
Her style was very bold and very stylized and modern. Thus, Alice in Wonderland was perfect for her style.
Mary Blair, Concept art for the Walt Disney animated feature “Alice in Wonderland,” c. 1950, gouache on board. (Photo Courtesy of the Hilbert Museum)
As for the film’s story, Walt thought that it should focus on the whimsical and light hearted side of the Carroll books.
Musical Wonderland
Something that’s often noted about the Disney movie is that it has more songs than other films. This was so the film could keep the imaginative poems of the books. Some songs even last for a few seconds.
Release
After almost twenty years of planning, Walt Disney’s Alice in Wonderland was released. While it wasn’t a complete failure during it’s initial release, it still didn’t gross enough for it to be a blockbuster.
But it would become a success after it re-releases in 1974 and 1981. Plus it would become as popular as the Lewis Carroll books.
Enjoy the 70th anniversary of Alice in Wonderland by watching it today on Disney+!
