Alice in Wonderland [VHS]

Alice in Wonderland [VHS]

Category: (Video)

41 new, starting at $0.40

51 used, starting at $0.09

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Editorial Reviews

This is an impressive-looking version of Lewis Carroll's story originally produced for NBC-TV. Dreading a singing recital at her parents' lavish home, Alice falls into a strange world in pursuit of a large White Rabbit. The talented child actor Tina Majorino (Corrina, Corrina) plays Alice with all the good graces but mostly wanders through the story unquestioningly. Carroll's tale of whimsical, illogical adventures is a field day for designers Roger Hall and Alan Tomkins, costumer Charles Knode, Jim Henson's Creature Shop, and director Nick Willing (Photographing Fairies. Influenced by Time Bandits and Labyrinth (the latter also designed by the Henson company), the film has a splendid array of effects, many dealing with multiple perspectives as Alice constantly changes sizes. The highlight is Whoopi Goldberg as the Cheshire Cat, a seamless mix of cat and comic. Martin Short as the Hatter and Mirandra Richardson as the Queen of Hearts seem to be having the times of their lives. This is not the definitive version of Carroll's tale, and, like the popular Disney animated version, combines some elements of Carroll's sequel, Through the Looking Glass. It is perhaps better viewing for the fan that has seen another version of the tale or read the book. --Doug Thomas

Customer Reviews

Alice in Wonderland

Reviewed by P. Gardner, 2010-02-13

This was an old rendition of it and we couldn't find it anywhere. It is my daughter's favorite. It has martin Short and gene Wilder in it. We ere thrilled to find it here. It came early and was in excellent condition

Loved it

Reviewed by F. Sheriff, 2010-02-07

I love this movie. This one is my favorite one from all the ones made including the new one of "2010".

ANOTHER VERSION OF ALICE

Reviewed by Laurel-Rain Snow "Rain", 2010-01-09

My DVD finally arrived, and today I had the opportunity to watch it. This Alice in Wonderland movie version came out in 1999, and stars a number of familiar actors. Whoopi Goldberg plays the Cheshire Cat, Miranda Richardson is The Queen of Hearts, Ben Kingsley fills the role of Major Caterpillar, Martin Short is the Mad Hatter, and Tina Majorino is Alice.

Tina's Alice was a departure from the cartoon version of Alice. While the Disney rendition showed a very happy-go-lucky Alice, cavorting and enjoying the adventures, Tina's Alice is more realistic, I think. First of all, this actor has a very expressive face, and as each unexpected event occurred in the movie, her eyebrows reflected every emotion--from fear, to concern, to puzzlement. As she met the characters, there was a certain amount of skepticism conveyed in her expression, as she tried to make sense of it all.

I won't go into the plot or story, as these are familiar to everyone by now. I will say, though, that I enjoyed this version a lot more than the cartoon...maybe that's due to my age. Cartoons can be fun, but to really capture the viewer, the "live action" presentation is so much better, in my opinion.

As the film concludes, we see that Alice's Adventures have served a purpose. When she followed the White Rabbit initially, she was trying to escape having to sing at a family event. When she returns from Wonderland, her experiences there have served a very important purpose. She now can sing without fear, and displays a newly discovered courage.

A fun, worthwhile plunge into Alice's world.

Better than expected

Reviewed by P. Iannello, 2010-01-04

Amazing effects, color and music. It takes liberties with the story to produce its own background plot, but its still an interesting film and unlike some reviewers I think the lead actress is very good. Martin Short is bery funny as well.

Kids Love It

Reviewed by PAMom, 2009-07-11

My 4 year old daughter saw this on TV a few weeks ago and hadn't stopped talking about it since she saw "Alex in Wonderland". She likes it but not really my cup of tea (pun intended)