The story of the Disney movie - Alice in Wonderland

The animated film "Alice in Wonderland" by Walt Disney, was released in theaters on July 28, 1951, but did not have the hoped-for success. The animated feature film was directed by Clyde Geronimo, Wilfred Jackson and Hamilton Luske and is an adaptation of Lewis Carroll's book. Alice's dream is a wonderful fantasy that seems to have been invented precisely for animated drawings. Disney in this film rediscovers its splendid and imaginative vein and draws from the book the maximum visual suggestion, which it had already faced twenty years earlier, for a short black and white short film, inspired by the blonde dreamer girl.
The film begins with Alice's sister explaining the story to him, while she is lying on the lawn and bored, thinking about something else while playing with her kitten Oreste.

Alice meets the White Rabbit

At one point he sees a strange white rabbit, characterized by a bodice and a pair of glasses, looking at his pocket watch, repeating to be in a hurry, then sneaks inside a tree trunk and disappears.

Alice is intrigued by the White Rabbit and decides to follow him, but when she enters the trunk she falls into an endless chasm. Fortunately, his fall is cushioned by the opening of his skirt, which acts as a parachute. Alice continues to follow the rabbit, but this does not stop for a single moment. The curious child arrives at a very small box and is about to open the door, when the lock complains of having been grabbed by the nose. Alice also has some difficulty in entering, as the door is very narrow, but the lock invites her to take the bottle she finds on the table in the room.

Alice shrinks

Alice, albeit with some hesitation, drinks the contents of that bottle and suddenly begins to shrink. Once inside, he is asked to eat a biscuit and when Alice tastes it it starts to get so big that her head touches the ceiling of the house. Alice is desperate because she realizes that, being unable to get out of the door, she will be trapped inside that house, so she begins to cry so much, that the whole house is flooded. She decides to take another sip from the bottle and so she returns as a child. Now, however, she must be careful not to drown in the sea of ​​tears that she herself has produced, but luckily she manages to get out through the keyhole.

Captain Libeccio

Once out of the house Alice meets three strange birds, headed by Captain Libeccio, to whom she asks uselessly for help from the waves that overlook her. Luckily the waves lead her to dryness after drying her clothes, running in circles (as the birds suggest) Alice sees the White Rabbit again and then resumes following him.

Pinco Panco, the Walrus and the Carpenter

Arriving in the woods she meets two strange individuals called Pinco Panco and Panco Pinco, who stop her to tell her the strange story of the Walrus, the Carpenter and the curious oysters. One day (or one night) a Walrus and a Carpenter walking along the beach wanted to eat some tasty oysters. Armed with flute and stick, they tried with music to attract the oysters to get them out of the sea. The oysters, happy to go out, were eaten in a flash by the Walrus, which sent the Carpenter into a rage and the two began to quarrel. The story fills Alice with sadness, who in any case must resume chasing the White Rabbit.

Alice in the house of the White Rabbit

Finally she arrives at the house of the hasty rabbit, who orders her to take her gloves calling her Marianna. Alice enters the White Rabbit's house to look for the gloves, but cannot find them. In their place is a box of cookies with the words "Serve" on it. Forgetting the previous effect, Alice tastes one and so it begins to grow out of all proportion, so much so that her arms come out from the windows and her feet from the walls. The White Rabbit mistakes Alice for a frightening monster, so he asks Captain Libeccio for help, who orders the house to be set on fire. Before the foolish ones start their plans, Alice thinks she tastes something else to shrink, so with her long arms, she manages to taste a carrot that was standing in the garden. Said and done Alice shrinks and resumes chasing the White Rabbit.

Alice meets the Caterpillar

Now, however, it is too small to keep up with the rabbit and it loses sight of it. In the woods he meets some beautiful flowers that dance and sing and later, sitting on a mushroom, he meets the Caterpillar who, smoking a strange pipe, draws smoky clouds in the shape of vowels. The Caterpillar asks Alice: << Who are you? >>. Alice is disoriented and would like to return to her normal size, so the Caterpillar suggests to eat a piece of mushroom, if she eats it on one side it could grow, while if she eats it on the other side it could shrink. Alice eating a random piece of the mushroom, guesses the side to make it grow, so as to get her hair caught in the branches of the trees and infuriate a mother bird. Alice eating the other piece of mushroom shrinks and finally takes on a normal size. Once back on the path Alice finds signs indicating different directions and does not know which one to take. Thus a strange cat appears to her, called Cheshire Cat.

Alice meets the mad hatter and the leap hare

Alice asks him for news of the White Rabbit and he sends her to the Mad Hatter and the Leap Hare. Arriving at their home she sees the two strange individuals celebrating their non-birthday, singing and drinking lots of cups of tea. Alice affirms that she too does not have the birthday of that day and so the two also celebrate the non-birthday of the blonde girl, with a beautiful cake. Tired of all that nonsense, Alice decides to take the path that will take her back to her home, but suddenly the road disappears, obliterated by a strange broom-shaped animal.

Alice meets the Queen of Hearts

Alice cries with desperation, feeling alone in that strange world, but at a certain point Cheshire Cat reappears and shows her a path, which will lead her to the Queen of their world. In the royal garden, he finds soldiers in the shape of playing cards, who, armed with pails and paint, are intent on coloring the white roses to turn them red. Alice also sees the White Rabbit, who with a trumpet blast announces the arrival of the Queen of Hearts and her little king. The burly Queen invites Alice to play croquet, using birds as clubs. The birds are so terrified of the Queen that they go to great lengths to make Alice lose. The Cheshire Cat comes to her aid, who plays a bad joke on the Queen of Hearts, causing her to end up upside down, but the furious sovereign accuses Alice and orders the soldier cards to have them beheaded.

The little King manages to convince the Queen that he can do her at least one trial. Needless to say, at the trial, all the charges are against her and so to be heard, Alice decides to eat the two pieces of mushroom she had in her pocket. Alice begins to become gigantic and to frighten both the Queen and her soldiers, who run away in terror. At a certain point, however, the other piece of mushroom also begins to take effect, making it smaller and so she finds herself chased by the Queen and the soldier cards. After a breakneck run, chased by all the characters of that strange world, Alice finally finds the door through which she had entered, but the lock tells her that it is still locked. When they are all on her now, Alice wakes up from that incredible dream and finds the kitten Oreste, sleeping in her arms.

by Gianluigi Piludu

All Alice in Wonderland characters and images are copyright Walt Disney and rights holders. they are used here for cognitive and informative purposes.