Movie review - "Alex in Wonderland" (1951) ***1/2

Those who dismiss Disney's post-war output as bland whitebread Eisenhower-era sentimentality should check out this, an amazing trip. It's freewheeling, anarchic and totally insane - the original story provided a great source material which seems to have really inspired the filmmakers. This is not one of Disney's beloved cartoons, due perhaps to the character of Alice - although she starts off like a Disney heroine, singing in a field whiles birds come twittering to her, she's not as sympathetic as Cinderella or Snow (there is no real villain except for the Queen and she's not against Alice personally), and lacks heart. It's a shame the filmmakers couldn't have fixed up the first bit, which just has Alice following the white rabbit because she finds it interesting. She needed stronger motivation. Also there is little sense of danger and Alice's desparation to get home - it wouldn't have been hard to add that - and the scene towards the end where Alice realises she's been selfish or something doesn't have that much impact. And I loathed the ending where it was all a dream (don't care if its faithful to the source - if its a dream then we've been cheated). It's a shame because her adventures are wonderfully trippy and intense with a gallary of amazing characters: the rabbit, Tweedledum, the mad hatter, the queen, etc. If they'd fixde up the beginning and end a little this would have been a masterpiece. As it is, I think it deserves its cult.