Evening star., 1951-08-02
Disney's Alice q Churnner;
Playhouse Gets q Farce
By Jay Cormody
By Joy Cormody

py Joy
"ALIcE IN WONDERLAND" q Wal
Disney picture, supervised by Ben Sharp
Fteen, directed by Clyde Geronimi, Hamil
ton Luske and Wilfred Jaxon. At Keith's
The Cast.
Alice -5,----------- Kathryn Beaumon
Caterpillar ------------., Richard Haydl
, Cheshire Cat ----- Sterling Hollowa
Sueen S q aag Hearts t- 'eTEy VaSus ep1eno' Peito,
WIlrus-carpsnter-Dee & DUN 80
White Rabbit and Dodo - Bin Thompson
Do,oerknob -------------- Joseph kesrn
sird in the Tree - oueenie Leonarc;
King Of Hearts OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES Dink Trou
normouse ------------ James Macdonslt
Don Barclay
Three-maybe four-generationS
OF "Alice in Wonderland" fan
club members were at Keith'S
yesterday morning at $50 O'Clock
to inspect Walt Disney's treat
ment Of our heroine.
This is to report that Disney
has done all right by Alice. She
Is a little more sophisticated than
older Lewis Carol followers will
remember her, but this has hap
pened to other dream girls when
they start associating with Disney,
among them Snow White and
Cinderella.
The same Is true of Alice's Won
derland associates, all of whom
come equipped with a few mod
ern thought processes. Neverthe-
less, they remain an extraordinar-
lily winSome collection of Chesh-
ire Cats, Mad Hatters, Queens,
, Knaves and other lively dancing
fora and fauna who make Won
derland more attractive than the
most persuasive travel folder.
It really Is beside the point that
Alice's skirt snaps out parachute
wise to break her fall or that she
sings a couple of songs which
sound as If Cole Porter had writ
ten them for Mary Martin. All
this means is that, like the orig
inal author Of Alice in Wonder
land" Disney also is man Of
imagination who refuses to be
chained by convention or ira
dition.
What he has done is a far, far
happier thing than Lou Bunin
managed to bring off in his COM
petitive "Alice" located around a
couple of corners.
x x x X
The fact of the lively, dancing,
singing and humorous exhibit at
Keith's is that Alice in Wonder
land" was not in itself able to-
contain Disney. He has added ex-
cerpts also from Through the
Looking Glass" a dextrous enough
job Of blending but one which may
foul up later readings of the two
stories by parents to their off,
spring.
Disney's brilliantly plumaged
fantasy follows rather closely the
formula he has established forI
winning customers and influence
ing every body. 1t is a fancifullyI
decorated story he tells with those
flashing asideS which make bright
musical comedy versions of fairy
tale classics. In fact, the ami
mated figures in "Alice" become
f1gurative notes dancing to the
lively score on the sound track.
There are several echoes of
Fantasia" in certain Of these
such as the heroine's "Bluebird"
(friendly how-de-do bird) song,
a ballet by a wonderful chorus of
innocent oysters, and a choral
number in which the flowers treat
Alice to their unf1attering COM
parison with themselves.
For all his reckleSsness and
Self-contldence, Disney has a
proper respect for Carols clever
ness in coinlng the characters OF
"Alice in Wonderland" and pro-
viding them with the most in
spired nonsensical dialogue Of
all time. Yet he has not minded
at all, blending this fanciful
speech with some of the best
known voices in America, Ed
Wynn's as the Mad Halter, Ster-
ling Holloway as the White Rab-
bit, Jerry Colonna as the March
Hare, etc.
The incident of Alice's wonder
land visit is handled with a sharp
eye to the lavishness and humor
of each passage of it. There has
been no Stinting on the part of
Disney and his animators on any,
thing, Alice's adventure on her
own ocean Of tears, her wreckage
of the White Rabbits mansion,
or the tea party, although the
latter sometimes takes on the
mood of a comedy Slapstick in
Volving Wynn and Colonna.
In D1Sley'S treatment OF "Allce"
his innovations represent modern
improvements in terms of sound
and color which cannot fail to
please more recent addicts with
out dispensing their more reac-
tionary elders.
For how long the pleasure of it
will go on, from yesterdays start
at 9:38 am. no one can say pre-
cisely. The most generous guess
is unlikely to prove far wrong.
"Alice" and Disney have been an
inevitable match since the begin
ningS of both.