Alice in Wonderland (1999)

Following the success of the 1998 Merlin miniseries, NBC picked up visual artist Nick Willing to direct a three-hour Alice in Wonderland television special that would be the first filmed adaptation to incorporate computer effects and imagery in a major way.  As with most live-action versions, several recognizable stars were cast in the supporting roles and with the three-hour runtime (with commercials), a majority of the books would finally be fully realized in a new technological way.

The special won several Primetime Emmy Awards, though it was met with mixed reviews from critics and fan alike.  Nevertheless, it so far remains to be the last major studio adaptation with live actors that is not a reimagining or continuation of the original stories.  Jim Henson's Creature Shop provided animatronics and puppetry for several of the creatures, eliminating the need for goofy animal costumes for the actors.

Original Source Breakdown

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Chapter I: Down the Rabbit Hole - MOSTLY INTACT/ALTERED
A new framing storyline is added to Alice's character.  Her parents are hosting a party with many of their upper-class friends, and have requested that Alice sing a song for their entertainment.  Alice suffers from stage fright, having to sing in front of all these strangers.  She finds a quiet spot in the garden to escape and notices an apple falling strangely.  At this point, the White Rabbit runs past her and the story follows as usual.

Chapter II: The Pool of Tears - MOSTLY INTACT/ALTERED
When Alice grows large, she cries because she gets stuck in the hall.  The Rabbit attempts to help her, but leaves before he can.  The fan and gloves magically transport to Alice's hands and the pool of tears leads her to a sewer.  She does not unintentionally insult the Mouse, and he is quite civil to her as he takes her to his chambers to get dry.

Chapter III: The Caucus-Race and a Long Tale - MOSTLY INTACT/ALTERED
The Mouse touts himself as an English professor on his way to deliver a dry lecture.  He sings a song about it to help Alice with her fear of performing.  The other birds appear out of books in his library, and they all fall asleep during his lesson.  They hold the Caucus Race afterwards and once the prizes are handed out, the animals all leave to rest, instead of Alice insulting them again.

Chapter IV: The Rabbit Sends in a Little Bill - INTACT
The whole chapter is kept in, including the giant Puppy!

Chapter V: Advice from a Caterpillar - MOSTLY INTACT/ALTERED
The Caterpillar is presented as "Major Caterpillar" and takes a very militaristic attitude during his conversation with Alice.  Much of his hostility is removed and it actually seems as if he wants to help Alice with her troubles.  Alice only recites the first verse of "Father William."  The Caterpillar turns into a butterfly during a sudden moment of enlightenment as he tells Alice about the mushroom.  The Pigeon once again does not make it into the story.

Chapter VI: Pig and Pepper - INTACT
Another fully intact chapter.  The Duchess is presented as much less of a shouter in this version, with the Cook providing all of the ruckus.  The Cheshire Cat's conversation is a bit out of order as it too tries to help Alice with her fears.

Chapter VII: A Mad Tea Party - INTACT/ALTERED
The full scene is left in with a lot of additional banter between the Hatter and Hare, including an extra song performance before "Twinkle, Twinkle," because when you cast Martin Short as your Mad Hatter, you're going to get as much as you can out of him.  He too helps Alice with her stage fright, since he enjoys being a performer.

Chapter VIII: The Queen's Croquet-Ground - INTACT/ALTERED
Nearly everything from this chapter is kept in.  The only cards that appear (besides the Spade Gardeners) are Hearts and the Kings and Queens of other suits, which is an interesting choice.  The Knave and Queen get additional lines as well (again, due to the comedic actors portraying them).

Chapter IX: The Mock Turtle's Story - MOSTLY INTACT/ALTERED
The conversation between Alice and the Duchess is once again cut short.  The Queen chats with Alice a bit about getting her back home but is then distracted by the croquet game.  Alice navigates the hedge maze and finds the Gryphon on her own who is perched in a statuary.  He introduces her to the small Mock Turtle who sits on a pedestal in front of him.  The Mock Turtle's story is also cut short.

Chapter X: The Lobster-Quadrille - MOSTLY INTACT/ALTERED
The Turtle and Gryphon sing the Lobster-Quadrille with animated sea animals dancing to it.  Alice then recites "'Tis the Voice of the Lobster" and the Turtle gives her more advice about confronting her fears.  He then sings "Beautiful Soup" in full as the Gryphon reveals the soup in the pedestal.  Alice leaves as she plans to return home, but ends up crossing into "the other book."

Chapter XI: Who Stole the Tarts? - INTACT/ALTERED
The entire jury is made up of guinea pigs now.  And Alice sits with the Duchess, who takes over the Gryphon's lines.  Everything else is as it is in the book, with the usual additional dialogue.

Chapter XII: Alice's Evidence - MOSTLY INTACT/ALTERED
The trial plays out as it should (with some additional dialogue) with Alice using this as her opportunity to get over her stage fright.  The creatures of Wonderland feel that it is time for her to wake up and she returns to her family's party.  She gets up to sing for her guests and instead chooses to sing the Lobster-Quadrille, much to the audience's enjoyment.

Through the Looking-Glass

Chapter I: Looking-Glass House - REFERENCED

There are a couple mirror moments, such as in the Rabbit's house and, more explicitly as Alice walks into the Queen's garden from the Hall of Doors, as she must walk through her own reflection.  When Alice enters the Looking-Glass part of the story, however, she walks through a giant book.

Chapter II: The Garden of Live Flowers - MOSTLY REMOVED

After meeting the White Knight, Alice encounters a patch of ground with the Talking Flowers.  She has her conversation with them from the books, minus references to the Red Queen who is not in this version.  She asks for help in finding her way home as she leaves them.

Chapter IV: Tweedledum and Tweedledee - INTACT/ALTERED

The full chapter remains intact, even the sleeping Red King is featured.  Dum and Dee have more dialogue and they present "The Walrus and the Carpenter" like a little puppet theater show (with live miniature actors).

Chapter VII: The Lion and the Unicorn - REFERENCED

Alice guesses that the Queen of Hearts's password is "Lions and Unicorns."

Chapter VIII: "It's My Own Invention" - MOSTLY INTACT/ALTERED

Alice encounters the fighting Knights as soon as she enters the book.  The scene plays out though the White Knight's conversation is shorter and doesn't involve his "Aged Man" poem.  He does teach Alice one more time to be brave as he rides away on his horse.

Review:

1999 was the first year that I actually sat down and read the complete Alice in Wonderland books.  So I was fully prepared to see this adaptation.  I had grown up on the Disney version only, and I wanted to see what a more intact and accurate version could be like.  So, unlike many critics, this became my second favorite version.  I really enjoyed and appreciated it.

Seeing it again now after so many versions, I must say that it mostly holds up.  Some of the special effects are a little cheesy and the humor is a little corny, but there is a lot of authenticity and fun to be found in this version.  This version doesn't feel like it's a hokey dress-up party.  Every actor is giving their all and bringing their signature routines to their characters.  I know Martin Short's schtick isn't for everyone, and Miranda Richardson's Queenie character is irritating on purpose, and Whoopi Goldberg as the Cheshire Cat just sounds like a joke, but I thoroughly enjoyed all of their takes on these characters.

My favorite scene may just be the Mock Turtle scene because, at the time I first read the book, I was surprised that there were these two funny characters that were completely foreign to me.  Alice meets a Gryphon and a Mock Turtle?!  I want to see that.  The Gryphon is a Henson creation, but the Mock Turtle is Gene Wilder in an awkwardly designed turtle suit.  And he really owns that character.  It's Gene Wilder being Gene Wilder of course, playing everything with a sly wink as to how absurd he's being, but it adds a genuine layer of humility to the scene and the movie as a whole.

The aspect of this version that never really worked for me was Tina Majorino as Alice.  She's about 14-years-old, but she doesn't act her age.  I think what works against her is that her main character impetus is to "get over stage fright," which is a hard character motivation to maintain for over two hours.  I like the whole getting over one's fears thing in theory, but this is not a particularly frightening Wonderland.

This is the friendliest version of Wonderland I've seen.  Every character pauses to help Alice along at some point, toning down their hostile rudeness from the books.  There is still nonsense and logic battles, but it just feels like a bunch of friendly cartoon characters have come to help out their friend.  It's a sweet ending and a fine change, but it takes away a lot of the driving force behind the story.

That being said, I do like the little touches that gives this version its own voice.  Like The Wizard of Oz, we see the real-life counterparts of all the Wonderland characters at the Liddell garden party.  It doesn't overstay its point and it works much better than other versions I've seen.  I also enjoy a lot of the extra dialogue.  The jokes feel very Carollian with some modern aspects.  During the trial, the Knave remarks that he hasn't spoken for "several pages" which is an excellent observation (the Knave barely speaks in the book, which is a real shame).

While this version may no longer be my second favorite, I do greatly appreciate it still, and I think it may be the best straight-forward live-action adaptation that we are likely to see in this post-Burton world.

4 out of 5 Henson Creatures