About two months ago, I
ruined all Alice stories for me forever. I read this magnificently written
book, Alice I Have Been, by Melanie
Benjamin. Why would reading this book forever ruin all Alice in Wonderland type
stories? Because the book, while fictional, is based on letters and first-hand
accounts of the relationship between Mr. Dodgson, aka Lewis Carroll, and Alice
Liddel, the little girl whom both Alice titles refer to.
According to these accounts, Alice’s relationship with
Mr. Dodgson was not appropriate. Nothing happened—this was Victorian England,
after all—but regardless, it is still disputed if he proposed. In any case,
Alice Liddel was forever colored as ‘ruined’, despite her chastity. She most
likely fell in love with Prince Leopold, who most likely loved her back, as
each named one of their children after the other. Because of Alice’s
relationship with Lewis Carroll, Queen Victoria would not give her blessing for
Alice to be married to Prince Leopold. He died quite young, as he was a
hemophiliac, while she married another and lost two of her sons during World
War I. Not nearly a happily ever after for either of them.
And now, both the beloved children’s classic and Walt’s
re-imagining of Alice’s adventures are tainted for me with the knowledge of the
lives not quite fully lived and the abandoned love between Alice and Leopold.
Curse myself and my love for historical fiction.
Anway. The movie version. Very funny, very pretty, and
the perfect voice actress for Alice. Walt was so enchanted by her voice—not
quite British, not quite American, but enough of each to appeal to both
audiences—that he also had her play Wendy Darling in Peter Pan. The styling of the famous Mary Blair is clear and
present, and it makes the film lovely. It was lovely, and had I not been
distracted by the dark story behind the real Alice, I would have loved it. It
made me laugh, it made James laugh (which, let’s be honest, is much more
difficult than making me laugh). I thought the Red Queen was terrifying and I
really wanted to put her in a time out (well, she was acting childish). My only
complaint was that I knew precisely when Alice was about to wake up, thus I
didn’t feel the suspense at all.
The influence of artist Mary Blair—who first joined
Disney in the early 40’s and was one of the artists on the South American
trip—is very clear and very beautiful. She has a certain way of using color
that is very stylized and clear. The constant presence of music, and the way
it’s used, is also excellent. If I hadn’t read that dang book, I would have
loved it.
What’s
most exciting to me is what Walt’s Alice
represents to me. I’ve gone down my own rabbit hole, watching these 50 films.
And Alice—she’s number 25. My
halfway-point. As a reward (to myself for getting here and you for accompanying
me) the following video is the one that inspired this whole project: the Disney
50 animated films countdown. Enjoy—I know I am.
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