Friday, September 15, 2017

My Experience With.... Alice in Wonderland (Part 3) -- The Disney Version

This week has been crazy for me, but hopefully, you all are doing well.


Alright, we’re week 3 in our Alice series, and this next item I’m reviewing may seem a mite familiar.


If there were any movie adaptation perfect for re-telling the classic tale, it would be the 1980s version. But Disney definitely comes in at a close second. Well, at least the old version does.

I was not one of those kids who grew up watching a whole lot of Disney movies. That definitely came in when I hit my 20s. I watched them to one extent or another, but I wasn’t attached to a whole lot of them. I think my favorites might’ve been Pinocchio, Dumbo, and Bambi. Bambi turned out to be way more dramatic and depressing than I remembered, Dumbo seemed more racist than I remembered (I’ll give it a pass, it was the 50s, and it’s no worse than some cartoons of that era), and Pinocchio – Daddy, I love you, but what were you thinking, letting me watch that? No wonder Mom made me stop watching it. How was I not scarred for life?

Anyway, Alice in Wonderland was definitely not on my Disney list until I was much older. As I grew up, I caught up with my Disney folklore from TV movies and the Library. I think I caught Alice in Wonderland on TV somewhere.

I think that Disney took this story to a very nutty extreme. This really shouldn’t be surprising, since classic Disney movies thrive on insane dynamics. I mean, look at Fantasia! It tells its stories through music and visuals the way an interpreter uses hand gestures and facial expressions. Things are often exaggerated to make a point come across.

By the way, that is not a knock on the deaf / hard-of-hearing community. I
am speaking from experience in watching ASL interpreters for local plays.
It’s fascinating to watch, really.
Even more fun than the actual show sometimes!

One thing I found fascinating about this Disney version of Alice in Wonderland was that they actually blended elements of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass. Where they didn’t have the mock turtle or the Gryphon (heck, the 1980s version even left him out!), they had the Tweedles, the talking flowers, the poem about the walrus and the chef, and even the Cheshire Cat (voiced by the Winnie-the-Pooh guy) sang the opening/closing of Jabberwocky. And what would a Disney movie be without it’s songs? I still sing the song from the flowerbed sometimes to this day! It’s gorgeous!

So… my opinion of the original Disney version? I love it. It’s a very calming, very zany, very colorful and fun interpretation of the original novel. Would the Queen of Hearts strike fear into a little youngster? Maybe. If that happens, just tell them she’s not real. Then make them act a similar role. Works almost every time.

Next week, you’ll see why I kept saying original Disney version…. ugh.

Plugging time! YouTube Page.

What’s your second-favorite obscure holiday?


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Friday, September 8, 2017

My Experience With.... Alice in Wonderland (Part 2) -- The Novels

If you haven't already, be sure to read these posts. If you have, and you want to re-read them, I don't blame you. ^_^

Alice Series:


Since I've written about the wonderfully surreal 1988 VHS version of the classic story, I may as well tell you about the actual novels!

Trust me, it's not gonna be that long, mainly because everyone knows the story already.

I'm pretty sure I was a teenager when I actually sat down and read the novels. I'd heard of Alice in Wonderland via the 1988 version and the old Disney version, and I heard of the somewhat-sequel from Between the Lions, but I finally got the time to read it for myself. My overall thoughts:


I dunno! I really don't know.

It's okay, I suppose. It sure seemed to reek of insane charm, but maybe it was somewhat lost due to its visual re-tellings.

However, the books are amazing, and you definitely should read them, because books are much better than movies 9.99/10 of the time. Alice trying to figure out capitols was especially hilarious. Maybe Wacko should've taught her.

By the way, I hope you liked the Yakko gif I worked on.

To be fair and honest, I personally prefer Through the Looking-Glass to Alice in Wonderland. This seems to capture more of what a wonderland fever dream / daydream would be. Not to mention, it contains Jabberwocky, which I remember memorizing in 6th grade.

That's it!

Check out my YouTube Page. I put up a video rather recently. ^_^

What sequel did you like better than an original of something?
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Friday, September 1, 2017

My Experience With.... Alice in Wonderland (Part 1). It's not what you think!

It's September now, and I feel like doing a series. Since most of us are either going back to school or back in school, how about something related to literature?


Some of you may recognize this title screen, and to help you with what sound is supposed to go with this barely nostalgic classic, here you go:


You may recall the first time I'd seen this classic story in theatrical form (if you've read my first year's blog posts), but this version is the absolute first time I've ever encountered this tale.

Looking back on it now, it looks like someone's final project they barely got a B- on, but back then, it really seemed to capture the essence of Alice in Wonderland that was palatable for my 3-year-old self. My mom was not the biggest fan of Disney interpretations of classic stories (you'll find out how I encountered that later!), plus I think this might've been just a good thrifty deal at some obscure video store. You really can't underestimate a good deal!

The story starts off with Alice studying Calculus.

Okay, she's not even a teenager.
We really need to beef up our education, America.

She seems bored with Calculus after studying it. I don't know why, Calculus is really fun. But, I guess even I would get sick of it after several hours. In Alice's case, she's so bored that chasing a rabbit seems to be sweet relief for her. As per the popular story, the rabbit has a waistcoat, and a pocket watch, and is late for some appointment. Instead of singing it, he simply goes into a mini panic attack. Alice marvels at this sight and continues her pursuit when he takes off. She falls slowly down a slightly trippy hole, attempts to drink some marmalade, and inevitably falls on her bum.

Alice then walks down a hall of doors, all of which are locked, except one tiny door, which reveals a beautiful garden -- Alice's obsession for a good part of the movie -- and a weird little filler scene involving a race of different woodland creatures, including a snail who somehow wins.

This is not in any other version
I've encountered, and I thought for
sure it was canon for YEARS.

Come to think of it, that was slightly
trippy. In fact, the whole thing was trippy.

Alice wants to go through the door really badly, and eventually comes across the drink me / eat me goodies (back then even I knew that was crazy) that materialize out of nowhere. She shrinks too small to get the key, grows too big to fit through the door (she should've conserved some of the stuff, just in case she needed evidence or experimentation), and cries a literal ocean. The white rabbit comes in and freaks out at Giant Alice, and takes off, leaving his gloves... which somehow end up shrinking Alice.


Why use words when gifs exist?

She swims, along with a field mouse, ashore (again, how)? And they meet up with a dodo and a duck, and they all have a race.

I was going to keep going and explain this, but it's getting harder and harder to understand as I write. You will definitely need to watch this though. That's right. I'm not recommending that you don't watch it.

Like many other movies of my youth, certain scenes and lines hold dear memories to my and my mother. Another reason I liked this movie so much was that it was the perfect essence of a cinematic translation of Lewis Carroll's literary work. It may not necessarily be as wacky or dynamic, or even as saturated in color, like Disney's version (THE CARTOON), but I think that's what makes this so special. Children's media in the 80s had a certain charm about it. It could've been the residuals of the 60s and 70s, but it seemed like everything had a wonderful dreamlike daze about it. This version of Alice in Wonderland is no exception. Its atmosphere does its best to mimic the most realistic of nonsense dreams, and I think Carroll would've been flattered by it.

Now that you've read about the original play and the 1988 VHS, you can get ready to read next week's report of the books I've read!

Me? I'm gonna go ahead and find that tape.
I know I have it somewhere. It's one of my
Mom's best purchases, and I'm sure as heck
not letting it go anytime soon!

Plugging time! YouTube Page.

Enjoy the cartoons below!


Happy Labor Day!

Tell me about your #LaborDabor2017!




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