Alice in Wonderland Adaptations

Everyone seems Alice in Wonderland crazy at the minute with the release of Tim Burton's long awaited 3D version of this Lewis Caroll classic and The British Film Institute are no exeption.

To celebrate the Tim Buton release at IMAX, The British Film Institute are showing the following adaptations; the 1933 Paramount version, Dennis Potter's 'Alice' (1965), Jonathan Miller's BBC adaptation (1966), 'Dreamchild' (1985 - made using Jim Hensen's Creature Shop creations) and Jan Svankmajer’s 'Alice' (1988).

They have also released the recently restored, footage of the very first Alice in Wonderland film from 1903 (screen grabs above) created just 37 years after the the novel was written. Donated to the BFI in the early 60's the film was in a very poor condition, but it's still really interesting to watch...



"Directed by Cecil Hepworth and Percy Stow, and was based on Sir John Tenniel's original illustrations. With a running time of just 12 minutes (eight of which survive), this 1903 film was the longest produced in England at that time and it represented a major investment for the pioneering Hepworth Studios that produced it. Some might venture to say it was the Avatar of its day."

There was no sound on the original film, so the piano accompaniment, 'Jill in the Box' was added after restoration to compliment the story. Read more about the restoration here.

All images and film copyright The British Film Institute.
Via Notcot and Cakehead Loves Evil.