Alice in Wonderland (1999)

Did you people see the same film I saw?

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

A lot of people are awfully hard on this version. I thought the Tim Burton movie was just great, but I like this better. For one thing it's more faithful. Tim Burton's movie really wasn't the book at all where this is basically a straight adaptation with only a few adjustments made and liberties taken. For Carroll purist I say this, adaptation always involves change of some sort. That's in the definition of adaptation. Change. What works well in written word doesn't always work well in film, which is the reason why so many of the more cinematic of the 'Alice' films tend to rework Carroll's story. If you want a faithful word by word adaptation, there are stage productions available that do just that. But as good as they are they are not cinema they are stage bound.The acting here is outstanding, especially the fantastic Miranda Richardson as a ear piercingly screechy Queen of Hearts. The marvelous actor who plays her King of Hearts also deserves note for his whimsically daft performance. Whoopi Goldberg is surprisingly cute and funny as the little Cheshire puss( i thought she'd be miscast),and Martin Short is simply hilarious as the Mad Hatter, although he is just a shade too frenetic. The Hatter singing a song called "auntie's wooden leg"(not from the books)is almost hard to watch because it's so freaky and funny. Gene Wilder is wonderful, as is Christopher Lloyd and the rest of the mostly English cast.The production values are really good for television, with lots of nice touches. One particularly charming scene includes Alice opening up a giant sized pop-up book that opens to the little White Rabbit house. The special effects are also very good for television. Martin Short's over-sized head definitely pre-dates Helen Bonham Carter's big headed Queen by almost a decade.Some people don't like what director Nick Willing does with 'Wonderland'. I do. I certainly thought the syfy 'Alice' was pretty bizarre and silly, but it was very hip and very entertaining. But this film is much better. Carroll purist that scoff at this adaptation should note that it was scripted by respected British playwright Peter Barnes. Also it's pretty funny and cool that Alice is played by the same teen-ager from 'Napoleon Dynamite'.

This may be one of the great unknown or under-appreciated films. I am a big fan of Lewis Carrol's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There", and for near perfect translation of the former, this is the only live-action film to compete with Disney's "Alice in Wonderland" and to do so more faithfully to the book without glaring omissions and amalgamations between the two works. The cast is marvelous featuring Tina Majorino as the titular character (you may know her most famously from Napoleon Dynamite) with perhaps the film's best performance from a perfect Mad Hatter played by Martin Short. The special effects are impressive for a 1999 TV movie and the imaginative sets and costumes are clearly inspired by the original Sir John Tenniel sketches, going as far as including the heads-to-large-for-their-bodies proportions. I would be remiss to neglect mentioning the astounding work of Jim Henson's Puppet Studio to masterfully bring Carrol's creatures to life, from the White Rabbit to the Gryphon. I give a ten without a hint of hyperbole, for as far as a live action film adaption of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland goes, I eagerly await Tim Burton's attempt to see if this can be topped.

Alice in Wonderland. (1999) Jim Henson's Creature Shop and Hallmark followed up the first rate Gulliver's Travels and Merlin with this TV version comprised of Lewis Carrol's Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass. Any weaknesses in this production are not in the visual department. Alice has never looked this good at any time in history. Full of eye-catching color and splendid visual effects including the strikingly effective warping of several actors to make them appear cartoonish, while still retaining their facial features. Martin Short becomes the mad hatter while Whoopi Goldberg and her big pearly whites get turned into the wide-smiling Cheshire cat. Excellent stuff! All of this visual pleasure is preserved on DVD nicely (and cheaply).Now, there are some soft, mushy spots on this otherwise firm & meaty mushroom. The all star cast comes off as hit or miss. Alice is played very well by the young girl from Kevin Cosner's Waterworld Tina Majorino. She even looks a bit like the famous illustrations from Carroll's book and is capable of pulling off some very animated facial expressions just perfect for this. The Alice role is the most important and I believe they filled it with a competent young actress. The most talked about had to be Martin Short, and he is excellent! The mad hatter tea party has always been my favorite part of the material, book or movie, and it's very well represented here by Short and a couple of very well done animated Henson characters. The march hare is of special note, an excellent effect! I just read on IMDb.com that the Alice actress was afraid of the thing. Heh! Miranda Richardson of Black Adder and Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow fame plays the Queen of Hearts role with an insanity above and beyond what was needed. I prefer a more restrained method since that gives it a real world edge while hopefully retaining the insane satire. But Richardson is fun to watch and her makeup is splendid. As for Whoopi Goldberg, all you can do is scratch your head and wonder how they turned her into a kitty cat. Her teeth were sure perfect for the character and that little cat body with her head on it is a trip! I like Whoopi in this. The rest of the cast range from memorable (Gene Wilder as the mock turtle) to lazy and forgettable (sorry George Wendt, your Tweedledee is beneath Robbie Coltrane's Tweedledum). Many actors just needed to inject more energy like Short, Goldberg and Richardson were doing. But nothing railroads this fine production. It's one of my favorite versions and well worth the cost and running time. In fact, I recommend all of the Henson productions mentioned in this review as well as the Henson TV show called The Storyteller. Top quality TV that doesn't get mentioned enough on the net. It's all available cheaply. 8/10

The story will be familiar to most. 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, Napolian Dynamite) plays Alice with all the good graces but mostly wanders through strange, hallucinogenic journeys that take her to strange places, has her shrink and then grow very large, and leads her to meet all sorts of surreal characters...Carroll's tale of whimsical, illogical adventures is a field day for designers, the costumes and makeup are extremely well done, and the special effects are of the usual high standard you would expect from Jim Henson's Creature Shop. But this production is all dressed up without anywhere worthwhile to go. Influenced by Time Bandits and Labyrinth, the film has a splendid array of effects, many dealing with multiple perspectives...The highlights are Whoopi Goldberg as the Cheshire Cat, a seamless mix of cat and comic. Martin Short as the Mad Hatter. And Mirandra Richardson as the Queen of Hearts, who has put a memorable, if not piercing, personal stamp on the line, "Off with his head". She must say it sixty times during the movie...The show is not for all tastes, particularly if your idea of Alice in Wonderland is solidly fixed upon Disney's very different if unjustly maligned 1951 animated feature. If you're in the right frame of mind, however, Miller's Alice works wonderfully well….