Honorable Mentions:
Mulan (1998) - love it! She is strong enough to save herself, and vulnerable enough to make you love her.
Pocahontas (1995) - not historically accurate, but has some of my favorite songs
Snow White (1937) - not my favorite (actually I prefer to not watch it), but from a critical standpoint, it is an incredible film (and was the first Disney film)
And without further ado....
#1 Alice and Wonderland
One day, Alice (Beaumont) is bored with her lessons and wishes for a world where everything is the opposite of reality. As she sings to her cat Dinah, she sees a White Rabbit (Thompson) wearing a coat and carrying a pocket watch. Intrigued, she follows him down a rabbit hole that isn't what it appears.
When she finishes falling, Alice sees the rabbit escape through a door which is too small for her. A drink makes her shrink in size, while eating makes her grow. Eventually she is small enough to follow the rabbit and meets a cast of interesting characters while following the rabbit: storytellers Tweedledee and Tweedledum (O'Malley, pictured above), Dodo (Thompson again) who never has helpful suggestions, a confusing Caterpillar (Haydn), and joins a tea party with (all pictured below)...
...the Mad Hatter (Wynn), March Hare (Colonna), and the Doormouse (James MacDonald) and learns the joys of Un-birthday Parties. Popping up to frustrate and confuse Alice is the mysterious, disappearing Cheshire Cat (Holloway) who warns her about the demanding Queen of Hearts (Felton) who rules Wonderland.
Reason I chose this film:
Alice may seem like a strange choice, since it isn't the most popular (or easiest to find) Animated Disney Classic, but this has always been my favorite! There is so much happening: intricate, colorful backgrounds and an army of crazy characters...I love it. Even though most interactions are brief, the characters Alice meets are memorable and a part of popular culture (the Queen of Hearts and the Cheshire Cat are pretty popular...just try searching for costumes / pictures of these characters).
There isn't really a plot (or purpose), but that is part of the joy of this film. In many ways it is similar to a dream. No, it doesn't make sense, but how often do dreams make sense? Usually fantasy is preferable to reality, regardless of clarity.
I haven't read Lewis Carroll's story (or the sequel "Through the Looking Glass") yet, and I'm not sure if I want to. I know aspects from both were selected for the film (and subsequent Alice films), and I don't want to lose the magic of the film for the real story... In most cases I prefer to read the literature before seeing the film...but I fell in love with Alice's story as a child and I'm not willing to give that up.
In college my love for Alice was renewed when my roommates (and their friends) assumed the identity of a Disney princess. They had been friends for a few years before I joined the crew, and all the cool princesses were taken. They decided I should be Alice because I was blonde...an English major...and younger than them (only by a year). The name and identity stuck, and we had some memorable conversations about our statuses as Disney princesses (they liked to share direct quotes from our discussion of our future "princes" based on our film...and I complained that all I got was a white rabbit. Oh the memories).
Some people believe it is a trippy story, and think Disney (the animators ect) were influenced by durgs while making this film. I don't know if that is true, I don't really care...why spoil a delightful experience by reading random drug related messages into the story. You see what you want...and I'll sing / speak along with the characters at the top of my lungs.
*I look forward to seeing Tim Burton's Alice film, although I assume it will be much darker than this one.
**I also look forward to seeing the SyFy mini series of Alice (2009)... based on their re-imaging of The Wizard of Oz in 2007's Tin Man, it should awesome!
Alice in Wonderland (1951) 75 minutes
Director: Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, and Hamilton Luske
Starring: Kathryn Beaumont as Alice
Ed Wynn as Mad Hatter
Richard Haydn as Caterpillar
Sterling Holloway as Cheshire Cat
Jerry Colonna as March Hare
Verna Felton as Queen of Hearts
J. Pat O'Malley as Tweedledee / Tweedledum
Bill Thompson as White Rabbit / Dodo
When she finishes falling, Alice sees the rabbit escape through a door which is too small for her. A drink makes her shrink in size, while eating makes her grow. Eventually she is small enough to follow the rabbit and meets a cast of interesting characters while following the rabbit: storytellers Tweedledee and Tweedledum (O'Malley, pictured above), Dodo (Thompson again) who never has helpful suggestions, a confusing Caterpillar (Haydn), and joins a tea party with (all pictured below)...
...the Mad Hatter (Wynn), March Hare (Colonna), and the Doormouse (James MacDonald) and learns the joys of Un-birthday Parties. Popping up to frustrate and confuse Alice is the mysterious, disappearing Cheshire Cat (Holloway) who warns her about the demanding Queen of Hearts (Felton) who rules Wonderland.
Reason I chose this film:
Alice may seem like a strange choice, since it isn't the most popular (or easiest to find) Animated Disney Classic, but this has always been my favorite! There is so much happening: intricate, colorful backgrounds and an army of crazy characters...I love it. Even though most interactions are brief, the characters Alice meets are memorable and a part of popular culture (the Queen of Hearts and the Cheshire Cat are pretty popular...just try searching for costumes / pictures of these characters).
There isn't really a plot (or purpose), but that is part of the joy of this film. In many ways it is similar to a dream. No, it doesn't make sense, but how often do dreams make sense? Usually fantasy is preferable to reality, regardless of clarity.
In college my love for Alice was renewed when my roommates (and their friends) assumed the identity of a Disney princess. They had been friends for a few years before I joined the crew, and all the cool princesses were taken. They decided I should be Alice because I was blonde...an English major...and younger than them (only by a year). The name and identity stuck, and we had some memorable conversations about our statuses as Disney princesses (they liked to share direct quotes from our discussion of our future "princes" based on our film...and I complained that all I got was a white rabbit. Oh the memories).
Some people believe it is a trippy story, and think Disney (the animators ect) were influenced by durgs while making this film. I don't know if that is true, I don't really care...why spoil a delightful experience by reading random drug related messages into the story. You see what you want...and I'll sing / speak along with the characters at the top of my lungs.
*I look forward to seeing Tim Burton's Alice film, although I assume it will be much darker than this one.
**I also look forward to seeing the SyFy mini series of Alice (2009)... based on their re-imaging of The Wizard of Oz in 2007's Tin Man, it should awesome!
Alice in Wonderland (1951) 75 minutes
Director: Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, and Hamilton Luske
Starring: Kathryn Beaumont as Alice
Ed Wynn as Mad Hatter
Richard Haydn as Caterpillar
Sterling Holloway as Cheshire Cat
Jerry Colonna as March Hare
Verna Felton as Queen of Hearts
J. Pat O'Malley as Tweedledee / Tweedledum
Bill Thompson as White Rabbit / Dodo
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