Alice in Wonderland (1949 film)

***Alice in Wonderland*** (French: ***Alice au pays des merveilles***) is a 1949 French film based on Lewis Carroll's fantasy novel *Alice's Adventures in Wonderland*. Directed by Dallas Bower, the film stars Carol Marsh as Alice, Stephen Murray as Lewis Carroll, and Raymond Bussières as The Tailor. Most of the Wonderland characters are portrayed by stop-motion animated puppets created by Lou Bunin.

All of the other live actors in the film are seen only in the live action scenes. However, they lend their voices to the Wonderland characters, and the staging of the scenes in England vs. the scenes in Wonderland is reminiscent of the Kansas scenes vs. the Oz scenes in *The Wizard of Oz*, in that several of the live-action characters seem to have counterparts (of sorts) in Wonderland. Among the other live actors are Pamela Brown as the Queen and as the voice of the Queen of Hearts. Stephen Murray is seen as Lewis Carroll and provides the voice of the Knave of Hearts, and Felix Aylmer, who played Polonius in Olivier's *Hamlet*, plays Dr. Liddell, father of Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Alice; he also provides the voice of the Cheshire Cat.

Carol Marsh was 20 years old when she played the part of Alice - conceived by the novel's author as 7 years old.

## Release

The film was kept out of Britain as his representation of the Queen of Hearts was seen as too close and too unkind to Queen Victoria.

The film was not widely seen in the U.S. upon its completion, due to a legal dispute with the Disney Studios, which was making its own full-length animated version of *Alice* at the same time as the Bower version was being worked on. Disney sued to prevent release of the British version in the U.S., and the case was extensively covered in *Time* magazine. The company that released the British version accused Disney of trying to exploit their film by releasing its version at virtually the same time.

Both films flopped in the U.S. when they opened in 1951, but Disney saw to it that the fame of its version was kept alive by showing an edited version of it on network television as part of their *Disneyland* TV series and issuing two record albums based on the film. The Disney version eventually reached classic film status and was re-released in 1974 and 1981. The British version, meanwhile, also was sold to television, but only to local stations, where it was eclipsed by showings of the all-star Paramount 1933 live-action film version of the story, which, incidentally, had also flopped in movie theaters.

## References

1. ↑ "Alice in Wonderland: Cast". *Allmovie*. Retrieved 29 September 2009.
2. ↑ Erickson, Hal. "Alice in Wonderland:Overview". Retrieved 29 September 2009.
3. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042189/
4. ↑ Lou Bunin
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Cinema: Battle of Wonderland". *Time*. 16 July 1951. Retrieved 29 September 2009.

*The Hunting of the Snark*
**🐰Universe🎩**
**Characters**
Dormouse
Red King
The Lion and the Unicorn
Jubjub bird
**Locations**
Looking-glass world
**Related**
*Mischmasch*
Works based on *Alice in Wonderland* (Films and television | Disney franchise)
Translations of *Through the Looking-Glass* | Unbirthday
**🐰Media🎩**
**Film**
1988 (Czechoslovak)
1999
**Stage**
*Alice in Wonderland* (opera)
*Peter and Alice* (2013 play)
*Wonder.land* (Albarn musical)
**Television**
*Once Upon a Time in Wonderland*
**Poems**
"Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Bat"
"The Walrus and the Carpenter"
"The Hunting of the Snark"
**Sequels**
*Alice of Wonderland in Paris* (1966)
*Automated Alice* (1996)
*Wonderland Revisited and the Games Alice Played There* (2009)
**Retellings**
*Alice's Adventures in Wonderland retold in words of one syllable* (1905)
*Alice in Verse: The Lost Rhymes of Wonderland* (2010)
**Parodies**
*Lost in Blunderland* (1903)
*Alice in Blunderland: An Iridescent Dream* (1904)
**Imitations**
*A New Wonderland* (1898)
*Alice in Orchestralia* (1925)
**Reimagining**
*Alice or the Last Escapade* (1977)
*Malice in Wonderland* (2009)
*Alice Through the Looking Glass* (2016)
**Literary**
*Miyuki-chan in Wonderland*
**Video games**
*Alice in Wonderland* (2010)
*Alice: Madness Returns* (2011)