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Rating: [I will probably conclude my insignificant period on this excellent website with this film that I really appreciate]
I could say that Disney has recently taken the path of self-destruction since it got involved with Pixar. From Toy Story onwards, a new era begins, a banal and insignificant one that, however, has garnered much more views (I know it's strange to speak this way about a production house like Disney). But looking back at the most beautiful cartoons it produced in the '40s and '50s, this cartoon definitely deserves a spot on the podium.
Recreating in part (by significantly altering it and eliminating some characters, finally removing some of the grotesque aura that Lewis Carroll's book had, a unique book in its ingenuity) this story for addicts*, where Lewis Carroll plays with logical, linguistic, physical, and mathematical rules (which made him very famous) and readapting it in a more commercial way. Alice is perfectly portrayed as in the book, sweet, naive, and charming in her sweetness; artistically speaking, she is one of the most successful characters ever remade by Disney. Her appearance perfectly reflects her character: her blonde hair, fair skin, blue and white apron, and blue eyes perfectly match her innocuous and even somewhat silly personality.
In this cartoon, you can still see the inexperience in overthrowing the basic fairy tale for a cartoon because it remains (despite the changes from the book) original and faithful to the much earlier written story. In its simplicity and innocence, a grotesque and disturbing side can be glimpsed in the story. The journey itself is entirely hallucinogenic; take for example the Caterpillar and the Cheshire Cat, characters who are somewhat friendly and accommodating, who in their gestures and behaviors reveal something unsettling, and so it is with other characters in the film, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, whose film debut doesn't leave that sense of the creepy and bizarre that is well visible in the namesake story. The only very faithful to the story remains the White Rabbit, who in his simplicity and blandness does not leave a mark of friendship and complicity with any character in the tale. The best point in the cartoon occurs at the end, during the encounter with the Queen (who, unlike other tyrants, shows a changeable character, first friend and then bitter rival), which will later evolve into a trial against Alice where she is sentenced to death, ending (as we all know, even stones) in a pleasant, enjoyable, and successful escape for Alice.
Graphically speaking, there is a classicism all about pastels and colors, which remains unique and unrepeatable in Disney's subsequent productions; perhaps the strength of this animated film lies precisely in this, where its prime example is the opening and closing scene of the film, the indescribable and at times dreamlike meadow where Alice's sister's history lesson and the subsequent sleepiness (which sets off the story) and her awakening take place.
Unrepeatable, simple, dreamlike, grotesque, friendly, and suitable for all ages.
*I don't believe this "news" is true, but I have heard about it, and I wanted to include it...
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