You know, it’s kind of a wonder Disney movies became as great and successful as they did, considering the studio really didn’t have many hits in the beginning. Sure, it’s first three movies (Snow White, Pinocchio, and Fantasia) were all fantastic, but after that it really didn’t have many great movies. It featured the likes of Dumbo, Bambi, and a slew of sub-par “package” films (consisting mostly of shorts), with the only real one of note being The Three Caballeros. They kind of lost the magic that made their first few movies special, and while 1950’s Cinderella helped get the studio back on track, for me Alice in Wonderland was the first one to start recapturing the magic that makes Disney movies special.

The plot takes elements of Lewis Carroll’s Alice books and adapts them into a movie. It’s a pretty basic story, centering on Alice, who is bored of her history lessons and wants to go on an adventure. She spots a peculiar white rabbit and follows him down into a rabbit hole. She ends up in a world unlike any other, with many strange and colorful creatures along the way. Alice makes her way through Wonderland, where she encounters things she never has before, and eventually experiences so much chaos that all she wants is to return to her normal, boring life.

Really, though, Alice in Wonderland is rarely ever about the actual story. The movie is more like a series of segments, featuring Alice coming across the many weird people in Wonderland. Some of these characters, like the Mad Hatter and the Cheshire Cat, have become very famous, but Alice’s whole journey is really fascinating. Obviously some parts are better than others, but you never know what new and interesting thing you’ll find around the next corner in this movie.

The reason why I like Alice in Wonderland as much as I do is because it’s easily one of Disney’s most visually interesting movies. I know a common complaint for certain movies is that the filmmakers focused on “style over substance,” but for a movie like Alice in Wonderland where the style is so impressive, I don’t really mind that the substance takes a back seat. The whole film is aesthetically pleasing, and it’s so impressive what the animators were able to do with it. Nothing on screen is ever uninteresting because of how amazing the visuals are.

I do acknowledge that this might not be everyone’s thing though. And don’t get me wrong, I do normally get annoyed when a film goes for style over substance, but in the case of Alice in Wonderland I think it’s an accomplishment. This movie really pushed animation forward in my opinion, and it set a great precedent for the kinds of visually interesting worlds that animators can create.

One other thing I think is worth mentioning is that this was a clear passion project for Walt Disney himself. This movie actually went through a long history before actually getting made, going all the way back to the early 20s where Walt Disney created an Alice in Wonderland short. This was actually on track to be the first Disney movie, even before Snow White, but the film was just too complicated and winded up being shelved for a while. It went through many changes, most notably originally being conceived as a live-action/animation mix before eventually becoming the full animated feature that was released. Either way, this was a project that Walt Disney had a clear passion for, and it really shines through in the film.

I don’t necessarily consider Alice in Wonderland to be one of my favorite Disney movies of all time, but I definitely consider it to be one of the best in their early catalogue of movies. To me, it reinvigorated the magic that was lost in a lot of their films of the 1940s. I think it’s watching for the visual component alone, as the animation is just as stunning today as it was back then.

4.5/5