Alice in Wonderland
If you asked Tim Burton to make a film of Alice in Wonderland it would turn out like - - well - - Tim Burton's film of Alice in Wonderland, which I saw yesterday evening.
It had a lot of Tim Burton trademarks, such as Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham-Carter and a generally creepy, dark, dreamlike feel to it with lots of spiky tree branches.
Of course, this style is actually very suited to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. I read it many times as a child (and a few times as an adult.) This film version isn't exactly true to the novel - it's a kind of sequel - but it's very much true to its spirit - I always found the novel creepily fascinating.
The first film version of it which I saw was Jonathan Miller's 1966 television adaptation for The Wednesday Play. I'm quite amazed that I was allowed to stay up to watch it! It's atmospheric and slow-paced and there was a lot of criticism at the time as the animals of the novel were replaced by human beings - - and yet I think it highlighted Lewis Carroll's satire on Victorian society as well as bringing out the dreamlike quality..
Here's a scene or two:
It's always appealed to film-makers: here's a snippet from a 1915 version:
Going back even further, here's a 1903 version, made when the ink was only just dry on the original novel!
Of course, there was the famous 1951 Disney film, which I never liked very much: but I do like this strange version by Pogo, which is bits of the film mashed up and put together:
There's something in "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" which has wide, timeless appeal, I think: that dreamlike quality. I think that most of my dreams are directed by Tim Burton.
It had a lot of Tim Burton trademarks, such as Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham-Carter and a generally creepy, dark, dreamlike feel to it with lots of spiky tree branches.
Of course, this style is actually very suited to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. I read it many times as a child (and a few times as an adult.) This film version isn't exactly true to the novel - it's a kind of sequel - but it's very much true to its spirit - I always found the novel creepily fascinating.
The first film version of it which I saw was Jonathan Miller's 1966 television adaptation for The Wednesday Play. I'm quite amazed that I was allowed to stay up to watch it! It's atmospheric and slow-paced and there was a lot of criticism at the time as the animals of the novel were replaced by human beings - - and yet I think it highlighted Lewis Carroll's satire on Victorian society as well as bringing out the dreamlike quality..
Here's a scene or two:
It's always appealed to film-makers: here's a snippet from a 1915 version:
Going back even further, here's a 1903 version, made when the ink was only just dry on the original novel!
Of course, there was the famous 1951 Disney film, which I never liked very much: but I do like this strange version by Pogo, which is bits of the film mashed up and put together:
There's something in "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" which has wide, timeless appeal, I think: that dreamlike quality. I think that most of my dreams are directed by Tim Burton.
posted by Daphne at 7:43 pm
2 Comments:
So instead of slaving away in the office you've been 'tubeing'
Ha ! Busted.
Fascinating clips - especially the two old ones. The first "proper" book I ever had was "Alice in Wonderland" - circa 1959. It's somewhere in this house if only I could put my hands upon it!
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