Voices of Janet Waldo, Allan Melvin, Howard Morris, and Daws Butler
Directed by Alex Lovy
Music by Charles Strouse; Lyrics by Lee Adams
Though Hanna-Barbara is mainly known nowadays for their shorts and TV shows revolving around goofy animal characters like Yogi Bear or for sitcoms like The Flintstones, they made a far wider variety of programming than comedies and funny animal cartoons. This is one of their lesser-known ones, a take on Alice In Wonderland with an all-star cast and music by Broadway vets Strouse and Adams. How does this very modern Alice's travels through Wonderland look today? Let's begin with Alice (Waldo) outside, playing with her dog Fluff (Don Messick), as her father (Melvin) calls her inside to do homework and find out...
The Story: Alice would rather be playing with Fluff, but when she throws the ball one last time, Fluff follows it into the TV set. Alice jumps in after him and finds herself in a very unique Wonderland, populated with two-headed cave-caterpillars (Mel Blanc and Alan Reed), glamorous Hungarian Queens of Hearts (Zsa Zsa Gabor), and scatting hipster Cheshire Cats (Sammy Davis Jr.). All Alice wants is to find Fluff and get home, but the White Rabbit (Morris) is too obsessed with games to help her, the White Knight (Bill Dana) is too shy, and the Mad Hatter (Harvey Korman) and March Hare (Daws Butler) too involved with hats and tea to be of much use. Alice first has to deal with being on trial for her life after the Queen lies about her taking tarts, and then escaping prison with the help of Humpty Dumpty (Melvin).
The Animation: Typical of the Hanna-Barbara cartoons in the 60's, it doesn't really look so hot nowadays. There's some minor effects with the Cheshire Cat's quick changes and Hedda Hopper and her hats, but it generally looks as cheap as it is. The characters move well enough, but there's little detail on the backgrounds, even in Wonderland. This isn't helped by the washed-out copy currently on YouTube, which makes this look a lot less colorful than it likely was.
The Song and Dance: The music and some funny performances carry the day here. Waldo is a charming and adorable mid-60's Alice, especially dealing with the White Rabbit and his games and point system known only to him. Reed and Blanc are a riot as Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble, the only familiar characters who appear, as a two-headed caterpillar singing "They'll Never Split Us Up." Charles and Adams created a decent score, too, with the opening number "Life's a Game" also standing out.
I also appreciate the relative fidelity to the story. This is one of the few Alice adaptations that limits additions from its sequel Through the Looking Glass to Humpty Dumpty showing up at the very end in prison. Otherwise, it's a pretty decent condensed, modernized version of the first book.
Favorite Number: We open with that "Life's a Game" number, as the White Rabbit explains to Alice why he treats everything like a game, including finding Fluff. Sammy Davis Jr. sings "What's a Nice Girl Like You Doing In a Place Like This?" as he separates into two, disappears, and appears again. Two-headed caterpillar Fred and Barney do their vaudeville hat and cane routine as they explain to Alice why "They'll Never Split Us Apart." Alice tries to show the gloomy White Knight that "Today's a Wonderful Day" as she romps with small animals around a lovely meadow. Hedda Hopper talk-sings about how different and special all her "Hats" are. Alice despairs of ever being able to say "I'm Home" in the end.
Trivia: There's a record retelling of this story, with Scatman Crothers taking over as the Cheshire Cat, Don Messick as the White Rabbit, Mel Blanc as the March Hare, Daws Butler as the Mad Hatter, Henry Cordon as Fred Flintstone, and Janet Waldo as the Queen of Hearts along with Alice. Apparently there was a one-sided soundtrack with the original cast as well, sold in limited quantities at the drug store chain Rexall that sponsored the show.
What I Don't Like: You can't get much more mid-60's than this. This was likely supposed to be a spoof of TV in 1966, with voices by familiar celebrities of the time...but it's dated rather badly. Of the celebrities and voice actors heard here, Davis, Korman, and to a degree Gabor are probably the only ones even mildly recognizable to audiences today. Fred and Barney are the only familiar characters, making it all the more ironic that their one number pretty much steals the show. Waldo is the only one who gets anywhere near them.
The Big Finale: Really cute way to pass an hour if you're a fan of the Flintstones or want to see a really different Alice In Wonderland retelling.
Home Media: Never on disc or streaming, the only place you can currently find this one is in a washed-out copy floating around online that admittedly does include the original animated plugs for Rexall and Coca-Cola. The copy on Dailymotion is better, but lacks the plugs.
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