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Alice in Wonderland: 60th Anniversary Edition
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray ALL - America - Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Noor Razzak (27th February 2011). |
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The Film
 One of my fondest memories are a child was visiting a family friend's house once in while, their children had a vast collection of Disney video tapes, and while the parents did their thing, they left us kids in the rumpus room (or another way of saying converted basement space) and leaving us in front of a TV that played any one of the various Disney films were would watch. These were the times I discovered some of the 'lesser' known Disney animated titles like "The Black Caldron" (1985) or "Robin Hood" (1973), having seen the staples over and over again it was nice to see these films I wasn't as familiar with and "Alice in Wonderland" was one I hadn't seen prior to my initial viewing and I recall having put it off for much 'cooler' films like the aforementioned "The Black Caldron" and "Robin Hood", let's face it the thought of seeing a film featuring swords and epic scenes out-shadowed a film about a girl that falls down a rabbit hole. But then we caved, having seen the other films multiple times it was time to finally watch "Alice in Wonderland" and I remember being totally sucked into it. Years later, I haven't had the chance to revisit it, until this new Blu-ray edition landed on my front door. I'm glad to say like most Disney films of its ilk it stands the test of time and brought to light those wonderful memories of watching these films for the first time. On Afternoon, young Alice (Kathryn Beaumont) grows bored as her older sister Lorna (Heather Angel) reads from a history book, her mind begins to wander as she sees a White Rabbit (Bill Thompson) in a hurry to get somewhere. Alice follows the rabbit down a rabbit hole and finds herself in a topsy-turvy crazy mixed-up world of Wonderland. Alice encounters all manner of odd characters including The Mad Hatter (Ed Wynn) at one of his insane tea parties, the Caterpillar (Richard Haydn), the groovy and seemingly inspired by beatniks (read: incredibly high) Cheshire Cat (Sterling Holloway) among others, as she's whisked away on a map cap adventure which sees her encountering the bloodthirsty Queen of Hearts (Verna Felton) and her clumsy player card soldiers. Like many of Disney's adapted tales, "Alice in Wonderland" is an amalgamation, primarily it's based on Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" as well as elements from "Through the Looking-Glass" thrown in as well. Disney takes some creative license and includes their own take on some characters as well as the addition of a new character as well (Doorknob which was voiced by Joseph Kearns). In fact the production of this film dates back to 1923, Walt Disney has been known to have admired the story and has long wanted to produce a feature film version. In fact he planned it to be his first feature length animation but for various production-related reasons never transpired and that honor went to "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (1937). Finally in 1951 Walt was able to release his "Alice in Wonderland" the thirteenth Disney animated feature, under Walt's supervision the film was given a broader scope opening up the story to a more family oriented audience, unfortunately literary critics were not pleased about the changes and the film's British release was largely panned and was accused of "Americanizing" the work the resulting criticism led to a fairly disappointing box office take (in both the US as well as UK). It would be years (two decades in fact) and the boom of a home video market before the film was appreciated. Walt may have made some changes and alterations to the story to fit a more family friendly market, but despite this "Alice in Wonderland" still makes for a fantastical and enjoyable ride, the story itself is perfectly suited for the animated form allowing the zany characters to meet the expectations of insanity, had the film been made partly live action (as Walt originally envisioned it back in the 20's and 30's while developing the film) it would have ended up cheesy and would have dated almost immediately. fourteen years and twelves feature films since their first animated debut the animation process has taken a step up in quality and style. Making it one of Disney's most technically beautiful films in their catalogue. The film displays a wonderful whimsy that transports viewers through the world of Wonderland and populated by Carroll's incredibly memorable characters all voiced by a talented cast (the first whom received on-screen credits with the characters they each play), and peppered by music and songs by Oliver Wallace adds to the overall madcap themes of the film. "Alice in Wonderland" may not have made a box office splash when originally released but over time has amassed a big fan based and has certainly lasted the test of time. It makes for a great way to spend an afternoon.
Video
Presented in the film's original ratio of 1.33:1 this image is presented in HD 1080p 24/fps and mastered in AVC MPEG-4 compression codec. The film's ratio means black bars on the left and right of the screen preserving the original image. Disney have done an incredible job restoring their masterpieces onto Blu-ray and "Alice in Wonderland" is no exception, the image looks excellently rendered, the first impression are beautifully lush colors that pop off the screen. Line detail remains solid and the backgrounds and environments look even better in this format. There are limitations to the original hand drawn animation method, many of which have to do with adding fine detail, but with this film we got a lot of really nicely drawn detail, from the outrageously kitsch costumes for these characters and the psychedelic environments. The frame-by-frame restoration cleans up any damage and dirt leaving a pristine picture without hardly a flaw onscreen that makes it hard to believe this film is 60 years-old. Disney have delivered an excellent image set to high standards that only their most classic of films deserve.
Audio
Disney has offered four audio options in English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround mixed at 48kHz/24-bit as well as an English Dolby Digital 5.1 track enhanced for home theaters, a French and Spanish DTS 5.1 surround are also included. For the purposes of this review I chose to view the film with its newly mixed DTS-HD audio track. The dialogue is clear and distortion free, with music taking up a lot of the surround activity once they kick in, but as for environmental and direction effects they also make themselves known in the surround channels offering up a greater depth than I had initially though this 60 year-old film would have. Color me a little surprised, it's not going put your home theater through a rigorous test, but the audio track is wonderfully balanced and perfectly suitable to immerse viewers in the world in which Alice finds herself in. Optional subtitles are included in English for the hearing impaired, French and Spanish.
Extras
A vast array of supplements have been presented on this new release including an interactive feature, several featurettes, a deleted song and deleted material, a series of cartoons, vintage TV show and short film are included as well as a collection of theatrical trailers, introductions and excerpts, an art gallery, reference footage, pencil tests, an interactive game, bonus trailers and included with this set is a DVD edition of the film. Below is a closer look at these features. DISC ONE: BLU-RAY "Reflections on Alice" is a featurette runs for 13 minutes 26 seconds, a retrospective originally produced for the DVD edition of the film this clip takes a look at the development and animation challenges the entire crew faced while producing this film. It offers a nice background to the film but the interactive feature (reviewed below) does a much better job. "Operation Wonderland" featurette runs for 11 minutes 8 seconds, a rare look behind-the-scenes of the animation department in the 1950's as the animators create the characters and scenes that will eventually be married into animated form. This is a neat look at the process that I wish was much longer. There's a newly discovered Cheshire Cat song entitled "I'm Odd", this deleted song runs for 3 minutes 56 seconds and was also featured on the previous DVD release. The disc also features the 1936 Mickey Mouse cartoon short "Thru the Mirror" running for 8 minutes 49 seconds. Mickey features in this "Alice" inspired short, it's a very cool cartoon that tells its story mostly with visuals and music and hardly any dialogue, quite clever. "One Hour in Wonderland" is a vintage TV show running for 59 minutes 25 seconds, is a 1950's presentation brought to you by Coca-Cola, the ultimate in product placing specials, the clip is a curious look at how films were promoted and sold to audiences through the medium of television, as Disney himself and the cast get together to tell you about the film and how magical and fun it will be. "Alice's Wonderland" is a 1923 silent short film that runs for 8 minutes 6 seconds, Virginia Davis and a 21 year-old Walt go on a tour of the animation studio, later Virginia dreams of her own adventures in a cartoon land. There are a collection of two theatrical trailers, they are the 1951 release theatrical trailer which runs for 2 minutes 2 seconds as well as the 1974 re-release theatrical trailer which runs for 1 minute 53 seconds. A collection of Walt Disney's TV introductions are also featured, they include: – From 1954 in black and white and runs for 1 minute 20 seconds. – From 1964 runs for 1 minute 9 seconds. "The Fred Waring Show" is a TV excerpt which runs for 30 minutes 57 seconds, originally aired March 18, 1951. This segment focuses on the song featured in the film as the voice actors are paraded onscreen. There's a series of deleted materials that include: – "Pig and Pepper" runs for 3 minutes 12 seconds and features directors John Musker and Ron Clements as they re-enact a lost sequence with storyboards. – "From Wonderland to Never Land: The Evolution of a Song" is a featurette that runs for 6 minutes 49 seconds, takes a look at the deleted song "Beyond the Laughing Sky". – "Alice Daydreams in the Park" storyboard sequence runs for 2 minutes 1 second, is an alternate version of the opening scene for the film. – Original song demos feature six songs: – – "Beware the Jabberwocky" running for 2 minutes 15 seconds. – – "Everything Has a Useness" running for 1 minute 18 seconds. – – "So They Say" running for 1 minute 54 seconds. – – "Beautiful Soup" running for 1 minute 27 seconds. – – "Dream Caravan" running for 2 minutes 33 seconds. – – "If You'll Believe in Me" running for 3 minutes 1 second. An extensive art gallery features a collection of 81 images. The disc also includes a series of bonus trailers for: - "Winnie the Pooh" - "Bambi: Diamond Edition" - "Disney Blu-ray 3D" spot - "Anti-smoking" spot - "Disney Movie Rewards" spot - "Disney Parks" spot - "Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2" - "Tangled" - "Dumbo: 70th Anniversary Edition" - "Spooky Buddies: The Curse of the Howlloween Hound" - "The Incredibles" The disc features some high definition exclusive features, the first and most impressive of these is the "Through the Keyhole: A Companion's Guide to Wonderland" interactive feature which runs for 76 minutes 15 seconds, this feature includes an introduction by voice actor Kathryn Beaumont, as we get a look into the production process for this film. This picture-in-picture experience runs along side the film as we get a look into the Disney archives for "Alice in Wonderland", accompanied with rare photographs and footage, as well as a look at author Lewis' Carroll's inspiring tale this feature delves deeply into the process of bringing to life this animated film and offers viewers a keen insight into the challenges of the productions. This feature is certainly worthy of your time and is a great asset to this disc. "Reference Footage: Alice and the Doorknob" clip runs for 1 minute 32 seconds, and can be played with optional audio commentary by Kathryn Beaumont, this clip is live action footage shot for animator's reference when drawing. "Pencil Test: Alice Shrinks" is as the title suggests, a pencil test which runs for 53 seconds, is a rough test by animator Ollie Johnston, it's raw but looks nearly finished. This clip could have used an optional audio commentary. "Walt Disney TV introduction" from 1959 in color, is another introduction that runs for 1 minute 14 seconds. "Painting the Roses Red" is a new interactive game, paint the white roses red and advance through the game. The disc also includes a "Disney View" viewing option. DISC TWO: DVD This disc is a DVD edition of the film and features the extras, "Reflections on Alice" featurette, "Pig and Pepper" deleted scene, "Through the Mirror" cartoon short, "I'm Odd" deleted song. As well as the "Virtual Wonderland Party" is a TV show running for 27 minutes 6 seconds and is a made-for-TV feature. The disc also includes the "Adventures in Wonderland" interactive game, a fairly simple game that is played using your player remote. Rounding out the disc's supplements are a series of bonus trailers for: - "Winnie the Pooh" - "Bambi: Diamond Edition" - "Disney Blu-ray" spot - "Anti-smoking" spot - "Disney Movie Rewards" spot - "D23" spot - "Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2" - "Tangled" - "Dumbo: 70th Anniversary Edition" - "Spooky Buddies: The Curse of the Howlloween Hound" - "Beauty and the Beast: Belle's Magical World" - "The Incredibles"
Packaging
Packaged in a 2-disc Blu-ray case housed in a cardboard slip-case.
Overall
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