Alice in Wonderland (1999) (TV)

Director:

Nick Willing

Writers (WGA):

Lewis Carroll (novel)
Peter Barnes (teleplay)

Release Date:

28 February 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Family | Adventure | Fantasy

Plot:

The wizards behind "Merlin" and "The Odyssey" combine Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass" into a three-hour special that just gets curiouser and curiouser.

Plot Keywords:

Humor | Cat | Fantasy Life | Cards | Parallel Universe

Awards:

Won 4 Primetime Emmys. Another 1 win & 6 nominations

Cast

Robbie Coltrane	...	Ned Tweedledum
Whoopi Goldberg	...	Cheshire Cat
Ben Kingsley	...	Major Caterpillar
Christopher Lloyd	...	White Knight
Pete Postlethwaite	...	Carpenter
Miranda Richardson	...	Queen of Hearts / Society Woman
Martin Short	...	Mad Hatter / Chinless Idiot
Peter Ustinov	...	Walrus
George Wendt	...	Fred Tweedledee
Gene Wilder	...	Mock Turtle
Tina Majorino	...	Alice
Ken Dodd	...	Mr. Mouse
Jason Flemyng	...	Sir Jack, the Knave of Hearts / Cad
Sheila Hancock	...	Cook
Simon Russell Beale	...	King of Hearts / Society Man

Also Known As:

Alice im Wunderland (Germany)

Runtime:

Finland:131 min (TV) (2 parts) | USA:150 min | 65 min (2 episodes) | USA:129 min (VHS version)

Country:

UK | USA | Germany

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Australia:G | UK:U | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Babelsberg International Film Produktion

Trivia:

Sigourney Weaver was originally cast in the film, but had to drop out due to a conflicting schedule.

Goofs:

Continuity: At the end of the movie when Alice is singing, in between shots her hair changes from being behind her shoulders on both sides to being in front on one side.

Quotes:

Queen of Hearts: I am NOT in the habit of talking to myself.
[aside]
Queen of Hearts: Even though it's the only way I can get a decent conversation around here.

Movie Connections:

Version of Alice in Wonderland (1985) (TV)

Good visuals, but American accents spoil it at times.

Visually the film is done beautifully overall. The script is alright, with a few nice jokes thrown in and some songs.

As for the acting, I can sum it up as follows:

Tina Majorino - Alice. I thought she was English at first but later I read this young actress is American. Well done, with the accent, the mimicry and she can sing too. She may not look much like the classic pictures of Alice but at least she's not blonde!

Whoopi Goldberg - The Cheshire Cat. Odd choice, considering Jim Henson's creature shop could have easily made a cool animatronics cat, and I always imagined The Cheshire Cat as a male. She does have the fat grin though.

Miranda Richardson - The Queen of Hearts. She seems to like doing weird voices. I had to get used to her interpretation of Queen Mab in Merlin, but I actually got fond of that role. Her Queen is quite a hysterical one, screaming "off with their heads" with an awfully high voice. I would have liked a darker Queen with a less "comic" personality but here they obviously chose for as much surreal humour as possible.

Martin Short - The Mad Hatter. My favorite! This guy is great! He looks so funny with his small body and big head with the mad hat. Best performance of the film.

Ben Kingsley - The Caterpillar. I imagined the Caterpillar differently, more of an intellectual smug. I thought Kingsley's performance was a bit bland.

Christopher Lloyd - The White Knight. After Martin Short he was the best. I've never disliked him in any movie and here he's just as goofy and clumsy as ever. In a league of his own.

Robbie Coltrane - Tweedledum. Great casting choice! He IS tweedledum with the funny larger-than-life outfit. Perfect actor for light, slightly absurd comic roles as this one. George Wendt - Tweedledee. He speaks with an American accent here, shame, shame, shame!! I like him in other movies,but here I think the director should have instructed him better because obviously he didn't care about the accents, which I find odd since the story has so much focus on language.

Gene Wilder - The Mock Turtle. Also an American accent! Such a shame, however, Wilder does compensate this with his natural charm and singing ability.

Pete Postlewaithe - The Carpenter. A very small role, a good actor like him would have deserved some more dialogue.

Peter Ustinov - The Walrus. He's alright, just another good performance from this versatile personality.

The film was definitely not dull but it was too long. I would have liked a bit more pace overall and I think it was the songs that slowed it down. Also, it was a bit too true to the novels at times. I respect the novels as classics but only really like them for introducing such wacky and colorful characters and for it's creative use of the English language. As a story, it's obvious that it's not much of a whole, more like packed-together small little tales without clear beginnings and endings. I think the books are not much of a parable as they could have been. They're just too silly most of the time. Which is fine, but causes a lack of "deeper" meaning.

Of all Alice incarnations, I adore American McGee's Alice the most, by far. Yes, it's a computer game. So what? It simply has the best designs, the best story and the most pace! I really still hope they'll make a movie of it.

Overall this TV film was ok but not as good as Gulliver's Travels or Merlin.

7 out of 10.