Alice in Wonderland

This week we travel to a strange land in Alice in Wonderland.

 

 

Alice in Wonderland premiered in 1951 and runs the typical Disney-length of about 75 minutes.  Alice in Wonderland is not a movie that I grew up with.  I’m not sure entirely sure why.  I’m thinking that it might have fallen in my mom’s classification of “weird movies.”  And I have to say, I definitely see how it would fall there.  The film tells the story of a presumably British young girl who would rather daydream than focus on her history lesson.  She is soon distracted from her daydream by a White Rabbit dressed in a waistcoat and running along with his very large pocket watch exclaiming that he is late!  What is Alice to do but follow him?  She soon finds herself in Wonderland where she learns that living in a world of nonsense may not be as fun as dreaming about a world of nonsense…

 

Alice in Wonderland is definitely rather thin on plot.  The plotline is essentially Alice’s pursuit of the White Rabbit and then her desire to make her way home.  I did not find myself terribly drawn into this film as it did not have an overly-likable cast of characters and there was no story or outcome that I found myself rooting for.  It was essentially a rather strange trip and I just felt like I hopped in for the ride.  (Though the Disneyland Alice in Wonderland ride itself is pretty fun. J)

 

 

 

The film hosts a very colorful cast of characters who if not precisely fun to meet are certainly interesting.  From the Cheshire Cat to the Walrus and the Carpenter, from the March Hare to Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, from the Queen of Hearts to the Mad Hatter, Alice certainly meets many an interesting character on her journey through Wonderland.  The Cheshire Cat perhaps put it best with "We're all mad here."  My favorite interesting fact that I learned in my research of the film is that the Mad Hatter is voiced by actor Ed Wynn aka Uncle Albert from Mary Poppins!  (Tea party on the ceiling anyone?  That scene suddenly makes a lot more sense...)

 

 

 

While most of the characters are a bit mad, they still say some clever (and silly) things.  Here are a few of my favorites:

• Alice: "Well, after this I should think nothing of falling down the stairs."
• March Hare: "Ah, that's just it.  If you don't think, then you shouldn't talk."
• White Rabbit: "I'm late! I'm late! For a very important date!"
• Queen of Hearts: "Off with their heads!"
• Dodo: "Ahoy, and other nautical expressions!" 
• Mad Hatter: "A very merry unbirthday to you!"

 

 

The best part of Alice in Wonderland for me is the way it impacts my life today.  You see, one of my favorite Disney pastimes is spending time with the Mad T Party Band at Disney's California Adventure.  It's a cover band with the Mad Hatter on lead vocals along with Alice, Dormouse on the electric guitar, the March Hare on base, Caterpillar on the keyboard, and the Cheshire Cat on drums.  In a word: FUN!!!  It rocks!  I highly recommend checking it out if given the opportunity.  (The typical Sunday night cast is my favorite!)

 

 

So while the movie is nonsensical, it is still funny, and it teaches two valuable life lessons.  First, the gift of imagination opens one to worlds (and lands!) of possibilities.  Dare to dream!  Secondly, it also teaches that the real world is to be appreciated.  And well lands of imagination can be great, sometimes the best place to come home to is reality.  With that I will leave you with words from the man with the gift of making imagination a reality, Walter Elias Disney:

 

We keep moving forward, opening new doors and doing new things, because we’re curious, and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.

 

 

Coming Up Next: Peter Pan

Cinderella

Yay Cinderella!!!  So much happiness!  It is beyond wonderful to get back to the Disney full-length feature films as opposed to the package films we've been going through the past month and a half.

 

Cinderella premiered in 1950 and tells the story of a young girl who through a series of unfortunate circumstances ends up becoming a servant in her own house- forced to wait on her evil stepmother and nasty stepsisters.  Through it all, Cinderella never loses hope and with the help of her friends and her resourceful fairy godmother, she is able to fulfill her dream of going to the grand ball; and as happenstance (and Disney) would have it, she meets the prince and finds true love.  Now if only they can make it to that happily ever after part...

There were soooo many things that I enjoyed about Cinderella that it's hard to know where to begin.  Well, first of all this movie has a plot!  It was lovely to experience a story and not just be entertained with snippets.  The music of the film was also a return to the classic Disney magic.  From the opening "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes" to the iconic "Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo," Disney musical mastery was once again on the scene (or should that be scenes?).

 

What also makes Cinderella so great is the supporting cast of characters.  Cinderella's stepmother is wickedly cruel and thus easy to hate.  She is clearly a "bad" character (as in not nice)- there is no "gray area" of well maybe she had a bad childhood and her motives might be more understandable if you think about them while standing on your head nonsense.  Cinderella's fairy godmother is a real scene-stealer in "Bibidi Bobbidi Boo."  You just have to love her.  :)  The stuffy Grand Duke paired with the boisterous king makes for some very comedic scenes and interactions.  And last, but not least, are the mice.  Jaq and Gus.  Oh my goodness!  They are so cute!  And heroic!  And funny!  Love them!

I think my favorite part of the whole movie though is the actual character of Cinderella.  She is truly beautiful inside and out.  She remains gentle and kind in the face of blatant disparity and hardship.  She continues to hope even when the situation seems bleak.  She has gratitude for the gifts she is given (Thanks fairy godmother!).  She is real with her emotions.  She doesn't stuff her feelings.  She is not a gold digger.  She sings first thing in the morning.  She rocks the classic "black flat" as a shoe decades before the advent of fashion blogs. I like her.  I think we'd be good friends.  Now if only I could find directions to the castle...

It was such fun to revisit this classic!  I'm really looking forward to the upcoming films on this journey!

And with that I'll leave you with an opening quote from Cinderella:

And yet, through it all, Cinderella remained ever gentle and kind, for with each dawn she found new hope that someday her dreams of happiness would come true.

Coming Up Next Week: Alice in Wonderland

The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad

Alas, we have come to our final package film.  Yippee!  The last compilation film on this historic Disney movie journey is The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad.  The film premiered in 1949 and runs just over an hour and is broken into two stories (much like Fun and Fancy Free).

 

 

 

First up it’s “Mr. Toad.” (Because the second half of the title should definitely be the first part of the movie…)  Mr. Toad is based on the famed The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame and tells the tale of a wealthy toad with steadfast friends and a penchant for overspending on his "manias."  The segment opens by showcasing Toad's current mania of racing a yellow gypsy cart about the town (causing all sorts of damage) with his trusty stead, Cyril Proudbottom.  This mania is soon replaced by the MOTORCAR.  Toad must have one.  Of course as he is all but bankrupt with no sense of responsibility whatsoever, it is up to his friends to lock him in his room in the hopes that this mania will soon pass.  Alas, it does not.  Cue a bedroom escape, a nasty deal made with weasels, a stolen motorcar, a guilty verdict from the judge, a jail sentence, a jail escape, and a desperate attempt to prove Toad's innocence and save Toad Hall.

  

I was rather looking forward to The Wind in the Willows portion of the film as "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride" at Disneyland is based on the story; however I didn't end up enjoying it much at all.   I thought the story would have a familiarity to it seeing as I've ridden Mr. Toad's Wild Ride several times, but the ride greatly differs from the movie.  In fact, you see very little of Toad in an actual motorcar throughout the entire film segment...  And the ride and movie end very differently; neither one very well might I add.  I think the disappointing part for me about The Wind in the Willows is that Toad doesn't show any real growth in the film.  He learns nothing from his mistakes, and despite the love and support of good friends, he continues his maniac ways even at others' expense.

 

This would normally be the time when I point out what I liked about the film... unfortunately Ichabod's story was not very likable either.  The Ichabod segment tells the story of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washinton Irving.  The best part of this segment was Bing Crosby's narration and character voices.  Sleepy Hollow tells the tale of Ichabod Crane, a tall, bookish, gluttonous, greedy school teacher and his unfortunate encounter with the "Headless Horseman."  This segment didn't go well as I found I don't like Ichabod.  I don't like Kat (the woman he falls in love with... sort of).  And I don't like Brom (the villain). 

  

Ichabod flirts his way into the hearts of the women of Sleepy Hollow who then show their affection by feeding him (and believe me, he loves to eat!).  When the lovely daughter of the wealthiest man in town crosses Ichabod's path, he is smitten.  With her money!  He has a daydream about her and it's all about how her father's money will make his life happy and allow him to gorge himself on the fat of the land.  On top of all this, he is superstitious and a scaredy cat.  Kat, the daughter of the wealthiest man in town, loves attention and enjoys having the men in town follow her around mooning after her and catering to her every whim.  She ends up leading Ichabod on just to make Brom jealous.  Brom is the stereotypical town bully/hero.  He thinks he's all that and a bag of chips and likes to pick on the little people.  He's not overtly cruel; he's simply egotistical and shallow.

 

Clearly, I enjoyed this film a lot...  Or not.  It was missing the heart.  There were no heroes.  No great triumphs.  No love won.  No lessons learned.  It was missing the Disney magic.

 

Next week we head to (arguably) Disney's most iconic film: Cinderella (and this film bursts with Disney magic).  Thank goodness!

 

This week I'll leave you with a quote in anticipation of Cinderella next week:

 

A dream is a wish your heart makes

when you're fast asleep.

In dreams you will lose your heartache,

whatever you wish for you keep.

 

 

Coming Up Next Week: Cinderella

Melody Time

Sigh.  Another compilation film.  Can I just say that I am super looking forward to the feature length Disney animated films?  Two weeks until Cinderella!  :)

Melody Time is Walt Disney’s 10^th Animated Classic.  It premiered in 1948 and once again clocks in at just over an hour.  As with the other compilation/package films, I found that I enjoyed some of the segments while others I could very much live without.  On a whole, I found the film rather forgettable…  None of the segments particularly warmed my heart or tickled my funny bone. (Well, except maybe one... but we'll get to that later.)  Nevertheless, it's part of this journey so we will soldier through!

 

 

 

Melody Time is comprised of seven segments/shorts.  The artistic segments include: “Bumble Boogie” (involves a bumble bee, trumpeting flowers, and villainous piano keys, “Trees” (<cricket, cricket>  I got nothing... but there was a tree in it…), and “Blame it on the Samba” (once again features Donald Duck and Jose Carioca, but I feel like we’ve very much been there, done that between Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros).

 

 

 

 

Three of the segments told a story, and those I found much more watchable.  First up, we have "Johnny Appleseed"- the beloved tale of an apple farmer who heads west, planting apple trees as he goes and befriending the woodland creatures.  The second story segment was "Little Toot"- the story of a little tugboat who dreams of growing up and working hard like his dad but ends up in all sorts of trouble instead.  The Andrews Sisters once again provided the vocals; however the story is not as lovely as "Johnny Fedora and Alice Bluebonnet."  The film ends with a cowboy story about "Pecos Bill."  As with most cowboy stories, it is not a happily-ever-after sort of tale.  I found this story engaging, but I did not like the ending.

 

 

My favorite segment from Melody Time is "Once Upon a Wintertime."  This is the only segment that I have seen previously as it was part of a Disney Christmas videocassette compilation movie that I had growing up.  This short is cute, funny, and heart-warming.  It follows a young couple's wintry ice-skating excursion that doesn't turn out quite as expected... but all's well in the end.  (Good endings and great stories go rather hand-in-hand for me.)

 

 

 

This week I find it fitting to leave you with the words of Johnny Appleseed's song.  (Growing up, this is one of the prayers I would sing before mealtimes with my family.):

 

Oh, the Lord is good to me,

And so I thank the Lord

For giving me the things I need

The sun and the rain and the apple seed.

The Lord is good to me!

 

 

 

 

Thanks for sticking with me through this journey!

 

Coming Up Next Week: The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad