Review of Alice in Wonderland (1951) by Jessica H — 30 May 2016

Animated Disney movies played a big part in my childhood, every time I watch one it always makes me feel like a little kid. It was mainly the ones that came out in the '90s and early 2000s, not so much the ones that came out when Walt Disney was around. But there were some exceptions, and ALICE IN WONDERLAND is one of them. As a kid, I enjoyed the movie mainly for its fun characters and bright colors, just something that always kept my attention.

But watching now, it's a lot better than I remember it. Probably the thing I appreciate most about this film now is how there is no story, but it's not supposed to. It's meant to be totally surreal and crazy with everything not making a lick of sense. This allows the creators to take advantage of this idea to fully utilize their imaginations, to be as creative as they can. They go all the way with it and it's so much fun to watch.

It's even more fun when you add these very memorable, likable, fun, and weird characters. You know them all: Alice, the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, the White Rabbit, the Cheshire Cat, the list goes on. All of them have very entertaining personalities. I think Alice is especially likable because we can easily relate to her. You can tell that she's been through a lot of boring and tedious things in her life and has led her to dream of living in a world of surrealism. And because she has always lived in a world of logic and suddenly being thrown into a world where there is no logic, she's completely bewildered, and so are we. She's just adorable watching her reactions to everything she sees around her, as we would probably react the same way, and how she tries to join in the fun.

And, of course, the animation is fantastic. It's very clever how the foreground is very bright and colorful, but the background is very dark. This captures that surrealism of Wonderland even more as this is not how it naturally looks in the real world. And because the characters are meant to be insane and illogical, it really shows with the cartoony movements they make and their imaginative designs.

So yeah, I love this movie a lot. It's definitely one of my favorite animated Disney films mainly because of how weird and crazy it is, and I love movies that can be like that, especially animated films. It's a chance for the creators to let their imaginations run wild, to create something so entertaining that it would last for years and years, and that's exactly what ALICE IN WONDERLAND does.

Grade: A.