Alice in Wonderland (1985)

What should I start with? The good or bad side? Okay, let's get the things that don't work well for the movie out of the way.For starters, the SONGS!!!! Ugh! I'm sorry I find them way too cheesy and unnecessary! What's a rapping/tap dancing caterpillar doing here? The duchess and her cook botch the short song written in the book, forget Twinkle Twinkle Little Bat; it's not as interesting as the added song! Why does the Queen need a song to explain why she needs a reason to behead people; she needs no intro! But I'm going to have to say the song that bugs me the most is Ringo's song as the Mock-turtle. He sings about how "this" world doesn't have enough nonsense (not sure if he's referring to the 4th wall's world or Wonderland). If he's referring to our world, fine, but at the same time what concern does he have about our world? He's carefree in Wonderland! If he's referring to Wonderland then I could strangle the lyric writers! Wonderland is abundant in nonsense! Everyone there is MAD! Not one person there is not mad (except maybe for Alice). The songs aren't the only things that annoy me. Alice goes to Wonderland and there are very not so subtle hints about teaching her how to grow up and face her fears. Wonderland was an escape from reality; not a return to it. I won't scream at the costumes or special effects because there's no point in 1985, however I'll bring up this childhood killer; the Griffin mentions the Queen beheading is not real. I know we would like that, but that was part of what made Wonderland exciting and a tad bit scary; heck she sings a whole song about it and a trial's going on to determine whether or not they should sentence the Knave of Hearts for stealing the tarts!Okay, so let's get down to what is good. They've got a proper aged Alice (6-8 years) and she's not too bad, though I'm not sure if the Alice in Wonderland dialogue fits her well. Some of the actors are good, though I like the Queen of Hearts (her song ruins her), and as much as I hate to say it, the White Knight is likable and his song is nice and soothing. I know his long song from the original story gets botched too, but this song is heartwarming and relaxing after trauma Alice went through. It's cheesy, but it's mildly okay.

I LOVE the books Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and it's sequel Through the Looking Glass. I've read each one inside and out and have even studied The Annotated Alice which has notes in the margins so one could get a sense of the mayhem which isn't really mayhem once you understand where Lewis Carrol is coming from. For the die hard fan, one should check out the almost forgotten movie, Dreamchild. I say almost because, hey, I didn't forget it.1985 saw the production of a big musical production of Alice in Wonderland, based off of both books, complete with acclaimed director Irwin Allen who was known for disaster movies. Poseidon Adventure being one of his most famous.Along with a big name director came a big name cast that included Carol Channing, Imogene Coca, Ringo Starr, Sammy Davis Jr., Shelley Winters, John Stamos, Harvey Korman, and man this list could go on and on.The TV Musical spanned two nights on CBS and was a HIT. Well, it was to me, heheh. I don't know the real stats.Newcome Natalie Gregory played Alice and went on later to play Jenny in Disney's Oliver and Company. Like in that movie, she doesn't do her own singing here either.Once in Wonderland, Alice meets the familiar faces and the casting goes from genius to insane.A stand out would have to be Carol Channing as The White Queen who really makes this character her own. And she turns into a creepy lamb.Shelley Winters in the small part of The Dodo Bird seems very wasted as they do nothing with her and she's a huge name. Come on, she's Shelley Winters, not someone with a small name. Even John Stamos had more screen time than her.Martha Raye as The Duchess, Steve Lawrence as Tweedle Dumb and Eydie Gormé as Tweedle Dee look like they've been doing these parts of years now. It came so natural to them.Pat Morita plays a horse.Natalie Gregory really holds her own next to all these veterans.The music is very energetic and some of the songs contain lyrics from Lewis Carrol's text.That's one thing I LOVE about this production. A lot of Carrol's dialogue is contained which is what prompted me me to read the original books when I first saw this as a kid in the 80s. It was the first book I read. It's still my favorite.If you want an old fashioned, fun, family musical, go check this out, and watch it like how Mark and I watch Bette Midler in Gypsy. Turn off all of the lights, sit in your living room as if you're in a theater and watch it and behave like how you would in a theater. Give yourself a 15 minute intermission even between acts. It's an experience let me to tell ya.Go to My Movie Page:http://neonboy619.blogspot.com

I loved this movie when I was a little girl. I wish so bad that it would come out on DVD so that I can share the fantasy and excitement with my child that the cartoon some how does not manage to portray. My child is 4 and loves fantasy and everything along the lines of that. I love all the actors in the movie. The movie is fantastic for all ages even me at 27 who can't wait to see the movie again. I recommend the movie to every child and family a great movie to enjoy for the whole family. I only wish that I still had it recorded from when it was on the t.v. way back then. Sammy Davis Jr. was so fun in that movie and honestly that is the only movie that I can actually say that I have seen him in

I have seen it myself when I was really little. I am probably among a very select few who have seen it at least 60 times!! After having experienced college, and heard about all of the drug references in here, and especially after seeing the cast to see who acted in this presentation (Sammy Davis Jr, Sherman Hemsley, Steve and Edie, etc...) I SO would like to see this again! I will probably spend 4 hours laughing my ass off, which will likely continue for the next 8...I can't even believe I was fortunately to find something about this after doing a google search. then again, this was after some 30 pages of google matches that came up almost as dry as a martini. I hope it will be on CBS again soon. I think the last time I saw it on TV was back in 1995, the first half...