Alice VS Alice
Alice is such a well known character, why? I believe the reason is because she has been around for quite some time and the stories have been adapted and then adapted again into several different mediums like movies, video games, dolls and toys etc. Most Disney movies are now considered children’s classics and they are seen by many children hence the characters are often introduced to a new generation again and again. The Disney movie “Alice in Wonderland” was made in 1951 and is very different from another movie adaptation “Alice” created by director Svankmajer in 1988. The only similarity between these two adaptations is that they are based on the famous novels of Lewis Carroll.
The Disney version is very child friendly. “Alice in Wonderland” has all the classic elements of a children’s fairytale, meaning its vibrant color scheme, the dancing, the singing, the silly characters, and it’s animated. The Svankmajer version of “Alice” is dark and the setting is dirty and grubby. There are no happy elements for example there is no singing or background music it’s just Alice talking, the characters are robot like, hardly moving and not speaking, nothing in this movie is inviting it is scary and unnerving. Each of these movies has strong points, the Disney version is kid friendly and leaves you with a happy feeling and the Svankmajer version is not kid friendly it’s meant to be I think a statement piece. The characters scenes and motions are repetitive and they are meant to grate on your nerves and freak you out. Svankmajer wanted to focus on the dark and serious elements of the story and skip the wonderment and joy. Svankmajer picked up on the darker side of Carroll’s story and Disney focused on the lighter and happier side of Carroll’s story.
In class a lot of time was spent analyzing the tea party scenes. First the Disney version of the tea party scene is silly and colorful. The characters, the Mad Hatter and the Hare are singing about un-birthdays, asking Alice riddles, and everything at the table is moving. The characters in the Disney version have smooth movements and the characters in Svankmajer film are very robot-like, they don’t talk and there is no sound it’s just the same thing over and over. While watching the film I thought to myself how many more times could they repeat the loop of motions? The motions being the Hare’s eye falls out, the Hatter drinks his tea, and they move around the table to the next seat over and the rabbit rolls over to the next seat over and the rabbit rolls over to the next chair always going around the long way, then whenever his eye comes loose he just pulls the string and tightens it just to have it come loose again, and I really dislike when the animal (ferret?) would slither on to the table and lick clean the dirty teacups…gross! I couldn’t believe that Alice just stood in the doorway and watched, I would have been out of there quick! Both movies have a scene towards the end of the tea party where the rabbit appears with his watch and the Hare and Hatter attempt to fix it while actually breaking it. In the Disney version the White Rabbit just seems flustered and then upset and then runs off, while in the Svankmajer version the White Rabbit is livid and on the way out wipes the butter on his hands off on Alice’s socks. The biggest difference between the two movies is the characters and their personalities.
As far as Alice goes she couldn’t be more different in each movie. In Disney’s she is smart and level headed because she questions things. Plus she is emotional happy, sad, scared, homesick et cetera throughout the movie. In the Svankmajer film she is very docile, she talks for the characters and the camera does a close up of her mouth, but other than that she is very unemotional. Another noticeable thing about her disposition is that she doesn’t ever get very involved in a scene she is more of an observant presence, she is somewhat curious just like the Disney Alice. The visual interpretation of her character is very different in each film, in the Disney film she is very clean and is wearing a blue dress with a white pinafore and in the other film she is wearing a pink dress and she is dirty and her hair looks un-brushed. There is also a distinct age difference in the characters for instance the Disney Alice looks older and the Svankmajer Alice look way younger. I think that the difference in the clothing and age is the fact that one movie is focusing on the whimsical and the other is focusing on the sinister elements of the story. I also believe that each director focused on specific parts of Alice’s character that was described in the book and that is why the characters are similar and dissimilar.
Overall Disney’s version isn’t as faithful as Svankmajer’s, for example it focused on both of Carroll’s wonderland books where as Svankmajer just focused on the first book. Svankmajer kept the pig pepper scene and Disney did not. On the other hand Svankmajer did add the character in the tea party scene that would clean out the cups and Disney did not. As for their similar qualities Disney and Svankmajer both got rid of the wine.
These movies are truly adaptations because they are making a statement about the original meaning the book. The directors and screenwriters pick and choose the different parts of the book(s) that they want to include and then translate them into film. Each movie includes new elements and they also take out elements and even take parts and storylines from both books. By doing this each film is different. In general Disney focused on both books and portrayed the fun and lighter side of the books and Svankmajer focused only on one book and then portrayed the grim and darker side of the books. Each movie has something very special to offer its audience.
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