Alice in Wonderland (1966) – DVD Review

By Jeff Swindoll Mar 3, 2010, 15:04 GMT

This surreal, gothic version of the Lewis Carroll fantasy was directed by Jonathan Miller. Miller’s masterpiece was filmed for the BBC in 1966 and stars acting legends Peter Sellers, John Gielgud, Michael Redgrave, Peter Cook and Leo McKern, with dreamlike music written and performed by Ravi Shankar. In this Alice, an enigmatic young girl wanders through a Victorian landscape populated by the most bizarre and astonishing characters. Alice gently questions ...more

I feel like Sergeant Pepper slipped me some acid.  Director Jonathan Miller found an underlying melancholy in the Alice stories by Lewis Carroll.  He brought that into a haunting, surreal, dream-like, Victorian adaptation of the story for the BBC.  Oh what a curiouser and curiouser trip it’s been.

Alice (Anne-Marie Mallik) is spending the day with her sisters in the sunny fields.  She appears to nap, but spies a Victorian gentleman White Rabbit (Wilfrid Brambell) and follows him into a tunnel. 

She finds herself in Wonderland, encountering the Duchess (Leo McKern), growing, shrinking, at a mad tea party with the Mad Hatter (Peter Cook), March Hare (Michael Gough) and Dormouse (Wilfred Lawson), poetry from the Caterpillar (Sir Michael Redgrave) and Mock Turtle (John Gielgud), meeting the King of Hearts (Peter Sellers), and nearly getting her head taken off by the Queen of Hearts (Alison Leggatt).  

Beware the Acid, my son!
The little stamp that bites when included in a DVD case!
You will see the Jubjub bird, and think you’re listening
to the frumious Beatles in ‘66, but awaken with such a headache!

The Alice-extravaganza continues with a new edition of the trippy 1966 BBC version. Well, no the BBC did not include an illegal narcotic for me to imbibe while watching this version of Alice in Wonderland.  Though that inclusion would be oddly appropriate as the whole affair had a “flower power” feel to it.  I had visions of John, Paul, George, and Ringo on that Sgt. Pepper’s album cover (again, this was without pharmaceutical stimulation). 

Director Jonathan Miller was not a fan of any of the other adaptations of Carroll’s works.  He openly criticizes Disney’s version and felt none of the other films captured the sense of melancholy he saw in the text.  So he set about to correct those oversights and created this memorable, black and white version for the “Wednesday Play.”  The result certainly has a 60s feel to it and a counterculture undercurrent. 

Alice does look like a workhouse child on the front though and even with that undercurrent it has a Victorian vibe (The ruling family of Hearts is dressed as Queen Victoria and Prince Albert [in a can?]).  I’m some what disingenuous about the drug issue (hey it was the 60s) since Miller intends his version to play as a dream.  Oh, but what a strange dream, but grand, it is.    

Alice in Wonderland is presented in fullscreen.  Special features offer something old and something new.  The old was included on the 2003 release and includes a commentary by director Miller, the 2 minute behind-the-scenes gallery by renowned photographer Terence Spencer, and the 8 minute 1903 silent version (and first version) of Alice in Wonderland. 

I don’t know if the old release had it but the 1903 version has a commentary by Simon Brown of the British Film Institute.  There was an essay in the old release by a Carroll expert that doesn’t make the transition. 

New additions include the 70 minute Alice “Wednesday Play” about Alice Liddell’s (Deborah Watling) being the Rev. Dodson/Lewis Carroll’s (George Baker) inspiration for the novel.  It was written by Dennis Potter.  There’s also the 9 minute “Ravi Shankar plays for Alice” vintage piece about him composing music for the teleplay.  

There’s enough new here to recommend this disc for purchase during the Alice extravaganza.  Anglophiles and lovers of the odd will be delighted, but if you’re looking for a childish version of Alice then you may want to go down a different rabbit hole. 
 
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