Musicals On TV - Alice In Wonderland (Or What's a Nice Girl Like You Doing In a Place Like This?)

ABC, 1966

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.

YouTube

Dailymotion

My Lucky Star

20th Century Fox, 1938

Starring Sonja Henie, Richard Greene, Joan Davis, and Cesar Romero

Directed by Roy Del Ruth

Music by Harry Revel; Lyrics by Mack Gordon

We go back to school with Sonja Henie and return to her vehicles with this hit from late 1938. Henie's settings to this point were mostly in her native Norway or typical resorts. Fox at least tries to vary things slightly by first tossing her into a department store, then higher education. How do the two settings fit into one story about a clerk who becomes the belle of a northern college? Let's start at the department store with George Cabot Sr. (George Barbier) as he wonders where his son George Jr. (Romero) is and find out...

The Story: George Junior is a playboy who gets married every other week. His current wife Marcelle (Gypsy Rose Lee) is suing him for divorce. Hoping to make his father's department store more profitable, he suggests they send women out to college campuses as living models and encourage the co-eds to buy their clothes. He suggests sports clerk Krista Nielsen (Henie), who helped him home when he was drunk. They send her to Plymouth College to model winter sportswear.

The girls think she's being stuck-up at first, with her constant changes of clothes, but she wins over handsome student Larry Taylor (Greene). He convinces her to stay when the boys make fun of her clothes horse tendencies at the tryouts for their Winter Carnival, and her amazing performance there does the rest. She doesn't want to leave when George Junior wants her to move to Florida to model swimwear, but ends up being suspended after she's implicated in Marcelle and George Jr.'s divorce. Larry goes with her to convince Marcelle to give up her suit...and then to find a way to make everyone happy, including George Sr. 

The Song and Dance: The college and department store settings at least makes this one stand out slightly, along with a nice supporting cast. Fox borrowed Buddy Ebsen from MGM to play off sarcastic Joan Davis. She's a teacher who wishes the school's sleigh driver would pay less attention to his pregnant horse and more to her. I'm actually glad they don't play Gypsy Rose Lee's role as the villain. She doesn't mean Krista any harm. She just wants her husband to pay attention to her. They really get creative with the ice ballets here, too, especially the nifty Alice In Wonderland Ballet in the finale. Bringing in Roy Del Ruth from Warners, where he did many of their best musicals, helped too. He gives the film a fair pace and a nicely playful tone. 

Favorite Number: The first song in the movie doesn't come until nearly 15 minutes in, but it's our introduction to the Plymouth University students, their "Marching Along." "This May Be the Night," everyone declares as they're driven in Buddy's sleigh to the big skating rally. The boys make fun of Krista's constant clothes changing, dressing in drag to show how "Classy Clothes Chris" looks rather silly to them. Krista's offended, until Larry convinces her to ignore them and give a great performance. She does, wowing them all over with her simple polished solo. The University chorus kicks in again when she leaves with the "Plymouth Farewell Song," performed in the background as Krista's forced to leave the college.

The big one is the Winter Carnival in the finale, held at the remodeled department store. Arthur Jarrett performs the hit "I've Got a Date With a Dream" with the ladies of the chorus and Ebsen and Davis. Henie picks it up with the male chorus on the ice. Ebsen and Davis do some clowning in fancy dress to "Could You Pass In Love?" which is also picked up by Henie and the chorus. "The Alice In Wonderland Ballet" lets Henie in fairy-tale ruffles and bonnet cavort with skaters dressed something like the characters from the famous book. 

What I Don't Like: The setting may be novel, but the story's just plain silly. It's supposed to be college, but you never once see anyone in a classroom or even studying. George Junior's model idea is so ridiculous and unrealistic, no wonder the student body made fun of Krista. Larry has a point that the kids are more likely to be struggling to pay their tuition than buying her fancy clothes. Greene has a charming English accent, but he's mostly dull alongside the adorable Henie, and Ebsen and Gypsy Rose Lee could have more to do. 

The Big Finale: Worth checking out for the skating sequences alone if you're a fan of Henie, ice shows, or Alice In Wonderland adaptations. 

Home Media: DVD only from the 20th Century Fox Cinema Archives. 

DVD

Family Fun Saturday - Alice's Adventures In Wonderland (1972)

Joseph Shaftel Productions, 1972

Starring Fiona Fullerton, Michael Crawford, Flora Robson, and Robert Helpmann

Directed by William Sterling

Music by John Barry; Lyrics by Don Black

The story of little Victorian girl Alice and her wild adventures in the uninhibited underground world known as Wonderland has been adapted for just about every media possible, from video games to animation. This version from its native England came out in 1972 and was a major hit, thanks to its game cast of popular British character actors and comedians. How does it look today on the US side of the pond? Let's begin on a golden afternoon in the Victorian countryside as two professors have a picnic with a trio of curious pre-teen girls and find out...

The Story: Alice (Fullerton) is getting very tired of laying around and listening to Dodgson (Michael Jayston) tell stories. She follows the White Rabbit (Crawford), a nervous fellow wearing a waistcoat and carrying a watch, into a huge rabbit hole. She falls down the hole and into Wonderland, encountering many strange creatures and beings along the way. Some are silly and only confuse her, like the Mad Hatter (Helpmann), March Hare (Peter Sellars), and their nutty tea party. Others, like the Queen of Hearts (Robson), are far more menacing. And then there's the Cheshire Cat (Roy Kinnear), who pops in and out as he pleases and gives Alice some very strange advice indeed about how to wind her way through the strangeness that is Wonderland.

The Song and Dance: I've seen very few adaptations of Alice that were truer than this one. It's pretty much the book as written, other than sneaking in Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum from the sequel Through the Looking Glass. The entire cast enjoys the tongue-twisting antics, from sweet Fullerton and her gentle little voice to Crawford as the stuffy White Rabbit, Robson as the demanding Queen of Hearts, and Kinnear as the ever-grinning Cheshire Cat. The costumes and minimal sets also do a fine job of bringing the wacky world of Lewis Carroll's creations to life.

Favorite Number: Alice sings the lilting "Curiouser and Curiouser" throughout the film, notably in the beginning when she first arrives in Wonderland. Davy Kaye as the Mouse Alice meets in the Pool of Tears admonishes her that "You Have to Know When to Stop," before you cry so much, you wash half of Wonderland away. The White Rabbit insists that "The Last Word Is Mine" when demanding that Alice brings him his fan and gloves, though she keeps insisting that she's not who he thinks she is. The Hatter, Hare, and Doormouse serenade Alice with "I See What I Eat," "Twinkle Twinkle Little Bat" and "The Pun Song" at the Mad Tea Party.

What I Don't Like: First of all, someone in England badly needs to take a crack at restoring this. The copy I watched at the Roku Channel is soft, rough around the edges, and very washed out, especially in the opening and closing sequences at the Victorian picnic. Barry's music and score are all right, but not especially memorable. Some of the special effects and makeup don't look so great nowadays, either, often coming off as creepy or too weird, even for Wonderland. There's also the fact that the make-up covers most of those famous faces. I had no idea half these people were in this unless I checked the credits. 

The Big Finale: Faithful and charming version is well worth the time for families and fans of the cast or the original book. 

Home Media: Easy to find on DVD and streaming.

DVD

Amazon Prime

Animation Celebration Saturday - Alice In Wonderland (1951)

Welcome to Animation Celebration Saturday! On Saturdays, you get a review of an animated (or live-action family) musical to brighten your weekends. Sit back with a big bowl of cereal and enjoy the show!

Alice In Wonderland
Walt Disney, 1951
Voices of Kathryn Beaumont, Ed Wynn, Sterling Holloway, and Verna Felton

The Story: Alice (Beaumont) is getting bored, sitting by the river and listening to her sister (Heather Angel) read. She's daydreaming in a field of flowers when she sees a rather nervous white rabbit (Bill Thompson) hurrying into a rabbit hole. She follows him, falls down the hole, and finds herself in a fantastic underground world. The kid is curious to know where the Rabbit is going at first, but after her tea party with the Mad Hatter (Wynn) and March Hare (Jerry Colonna) gets out of hand, she just wants to get out of this weird place and go home.

After being lost in a dark wood, she's directed to the Queen of Hearts by the odd Cheshire Cat (Sterling Holloway). The Queen (Verna Felton) turns out to be a bad-tempered biddy who screams "off with your head" at anyone within firing range. Now Alice has to figure out how to get back to where she started while her head is still on her shoulders.

The Song and Dance: There's other versions of Alice that are probably closer to the book in letter...but I think this one at least has the right spirit. Beaumont is the perfect foil for a collection of beloved radio and early TV actors who are having a fine time hamming it up as Lewis Carroll's crazy creations. Thompson, probably best-known as the original voice for Droopy the Dog, is a perfectly hen-pecked White Rabbit, while Ed Wynn carries his original "Perfect Fool" persona from radio and the stage to animation as a hilarious Mad Hatter.

The Animation: This is some of the most creative work Disney ever put on-screen. The images are often so surreal, the film became surprisingly popular on college campuses in the 70's. The slanted lines and brilliant colors were the work of Disney artist Mary Blair, who also did the Donald Duck In Latin America anthology films and Cinderella and would later do the designs for the It's a Small World ride. There are odd monsters that you won't see anywhere else, like the cage-bird and walking glasses in Tulgey Wood.

Favorite Number: While the most famous song from this is probably "The Unbirthday Song" at the mad tea party, my personal favorite is Alice's introductory number, "In a World of My Own." Alice's longing as she sings of finding a special "wonderland" of her own is as touching as it is lovely. It perfectly sets up all the lunacy that comes after it.

What I Don't Like: This is not the Disney movie for you if you're looking for a typical boy-meets-girl romance or a more linear story. It's pretty much just Alice bouncing around from kooky character to kooky location. The extras on my 2-disc DVD set from 2004 indicate that a lot more characters and songs were considered and discarded. Despite having worked on it since the 30's, I don't think Disney quite knew what to do with it. Many literary critics then and now have complained about it being "Americanized" and about the deviations from the books.

The Big Finale: Walt Disney thought this film lacked "heart"...but what it lacks in a heartfelt storyline, it makes up for with creative animation, unique characters, an all-star cast, and some fun songs. Those college kids in the 70's were right - this is a fun experience, and one of my top-10 favorite Disney films of all time.