The first filmed adaptation of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was produced by British director Cecil Hepworth and runs approximately 9 minutes. The best surviving copy of the film is under the ownership of the British Film Institute and can be viewed on their Youtube channel here. Despite noticeable wear and tear on the film as well as some missing frames, the film is very watchable in its restored form.
As a silent film that runs less than ten minutes, there will of course be extreme edits to the original story, as most of this version is told through visuals with a few title cards that set up each sequence.
Original Source Breakdown:
Chapter I: Down the Rabbit Hole - MOSTLY INTACT
Alice chases the Donnie-Darko-esque White Rabbit down a long rabbit hole and winds up immediately at the small door where she changes her size with the "Drink Me" potion and the "Eat Me" cake.
Chapter II: The Pool of Tears - MOSTLY REMOVED
Alice changes her size one more time with the help of the fan (although it doesn't seem to be the Rabbit's fan) and then she is able to go directly through the door to the garden.
Chapter III: The Caucus-Race and a Long Tale - REMOVED
Chapter IV: The Rabbit Sends in a Little Bill - ALTERED
Noticeable missing frames are found here. Alice briefly plays with the giant puppy at the beginning of the scene, rather than the end. With the help of a title card, she appears instantly as a giant in the Rabbit's house and causes no damage and bothers no one, shrinking again with the fan (rather than the pebble-cakes).
Chapter V: Advice from a Caterpillar - REMOVED
Chapter VI: Pig and Pepper - MOSTLY INTACT
Alice interacts with the Frog Footman outside the door of the Duchess's house, then travels inside to find the Duchess, Cook, Baby, and Cheshire Cat. After escaping with the Baby who turns into a Pig, she converses with the Cheshire Cat who tells her where the Hatter lives.
Chapter VII: A Mad Tea Party - MOSTLY INTACT
In a very rushed version of the tea party, Alice shows up, exchanges brief words with the March Hare and Hatter, they moved down the table, and then Alice gets offended and leaves as the duo unsuccessfully tries to stuff the Dormouse into a teapot.
Chapter VIII: The Queen's Croquet-Ground - ALTERED
Alice arrives on the Queen of Hearts's grounds just in time to see the procession of cards (and a few of the previous characters are present as well). She offends the Queen who calls for the Executioner. Alice manages to escape and run away from the Executioner and the rest of the cast when she wakes up from her dream back where she started.
Chapter IX: The Mock Turtle's Story - REMOVED
Chapter X: The Lobster-Quadrille - REMOVED
Chapter XI: Who Stole the Tarts? - REMOVED
Chapter XII: Alice's Evidence - REMOVED
Through the Looking-Glass - NOT INCLUDED
Review:
For what this film is, it's surprisingly not bad and even managed to get a chuckle or two out of me. I knew going in that there would be many changes, but it was clear that the creators tried to stick as close to the source material as they could with their limited supplies. Most scenes (The Small Door, the Rabbit's House, the Duchess's Kitchen, and the Mad Tea Party) are all angled, framed and shot to mimic the appearance of the original Tenniel illustrations found in the book.
There is an amateur cheapness throughout the whole thing, as props and costumes are obviously fake, but this sometimes lends to charming moments, like the hilarious stuffed puppet thing that was the Dormouse. And seeing all of the marching cards played by kids was cute. It felt like the whole cast and crew really cared about the original source material and just wanted to have a lot of fun.
The main focus of this particular film was to show off the special effects that only a film adaptation of Alice in Wonderland would be able to do over a stage adaptation. Alice's shrinking and growing was cleverly handled with superimposing an image of Alice getting closer and further away from the camera over the set. But the star of the show was the Cheshire Cat who would fade in and out. It was adorable because it was a real, non-grinning cat who seemed to have other things on its mind besides acting in a film that day.
Obviously, this isn't going to be the most faithful or groundbreaking Alice movie. But it was a great way to kick off her journey through film.
3.5 out of 5 Cheshire Cats
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