![]() ![]() The result was a brilliant impromptu performance, but with slightly odd-sounding audio. Jerry Colonna, Ed Wynn, and Kathryn Beaumont recording for theMad Tea PartyĮd Wynn, a stage master, did most of his best work improvising during the live-action reference filming so much so, that Walt decided to use the primitive audio of those shoots instead of his pre-recorded work. The cast included huge stars like comedian Jerry Colonna as the March Hare, British actor Richard Haydn as the Caterpillar, radio veteran Sterling Holloway as the Cheshire Cat, and the famous vaudevillian actor Ed Wynn as the Mad Hatter. In fact, it was the first ever Disney film to include the names of it’s actors as a major part of its marketing, something that wouldn’t happen again until The Jungle Book. This was largely due to the voice talent, which was considered the first real all-star cast for a Disney film. Speaking of characters, Alice has some of the most memorable characters in any Disney film. #4: The Characters were Just as Fascinating Behind the Scenes (Below are side-by-side comparisons of David Hall’s concepts and Tenniel’s original illustrations for the novels) However, a background artist by the name of Mary Blair finally arrived at the tone and look that Walt was searching for a world full of vibrant colors and unforgettable characters! Apparently, it was too academic, and risked alienating the children who watched. This version was reportedly very academic in its approach. The next iteration of the story, for which Disney hired the British writer Aldous Huxley, was also a bit off the mark. He also thought the tone of Perkins’ treatment was too ‘grotesque and dark’. However, Walt, despite praising Hall’s brilliant artwork, deemed these concepts as too close to Tenniel’s drawings and called them ‘difficult to animate’. An early version, with concepts and story treatments by David Hall and Al Perkins respectively, explored a more surreal approach. #3: It Went Through A Lot of Crazy Changes Mary Blair’s cute artworkĪs you can imagine, 15 years in production caused a lot of changes to the Alice in Wonderland story. This led the film to be delayed for another 6 years, until it finally made its big screen debut in 1951. Even after the war, Disney had so much trouble adapting the books into a workable plot structure, that production became a virtual nightmare. Then the devastation of WW2 hit, putting both of Disney’s biggest projects at the time (Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan) on hold. But due to creative issues and story problems, especially with adapting the unorthodox ‘nonsense’ of the books into a script, the project slowed down significantly. He even registered the title with the Motion Picture Association of America. He revisited the idea in 1938 after Snow White proved to be an enormous success. However, Walt never forgot his dream of making his own version of Alice. The main reason was Walt’s discouragement when Paramount Pictures beat him to the punch in 1933 with their live-action version of Alice. However, the concept was dropped in favor of Snow White for several reasons. In fact, Walt went so far as to purchase the rights to Sir John Tenniel’s iconic illustrations of Alice. #2: One of the Longest Projects in Disney AnimationĪs we mentioned above, Alice in Wonderland was considered as the primary candidate for Walt’s first feature-length film. ![]() Studios (the ‘Bros.’ part referring to Walt’s lifelong partner and brother, Roy Disney), and today we know this company under its more familiar title…Walt Disney Productions! The studio was literally founded on Alice! And it would have been the subject of Disney’s first Feature-length film, if it hadn’t run into a bit of a problem! Through this deal, Walt founded his own studio in late 1923 titled Disney Bros. Winkler (distributor of Felix the Cat), contracted Walt for an entire series based on the film. He used it as a pilot to engage potential distributors into signing him on for a contract and a steady job. Walt was very fond of his film, as he had always dreamed of making a full-length film based on Alice and he believed this short to be the first step towards that goal. The film, loosely based on Lewis Carroll’s Alice books, followed a live-action girl that ventured into a cartoon world. The last film he made for that company, Alice’s Wonderland, never saw a release. But that job was doomed to fail, because the Kansas City based studio went bankrupt in 1923, leaving Walt Disney without a job. Walt Disney started his career in animation at a rather young age by working at the Laugh-O-Grams Studio in 1921. #1: It Was the Origins of the Disney Studio 5 Things You Didn’t Know About Alice in Wonderland (1951) ![]()
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