Alice in Wonderland (Animated)

Total acid-trip. That is generally what most audiences take away from this film, that they had just watched something that can only be described as an acid-trip. Who can blame them? Alice in Wonderland is full of crazy characters and events that never really relent until the film finally ends.

The one main thing that makes Alice in Wonderland a bit of an iffy film is the lack of coherent plot. Our main character simply wanders along from each new character and place to the next with little rhyme or reason outside of chasing the White Rabbit. Of course, given what we learn at the end of the film, this seems perfectly natural as well since quite often our dreams don't make a lot of sense. It's a minor flaw that some people are able to look past, while it can hamper other peoples enjoyment. I tend to be more of the former since I'm enjoying what's going on so much that it doesn't slow things down for me. The largest flaw for the plot is during the Tulgey Woods scene in which all of the zany characters don't speak and Alice only then realizes she needs to find her way home. The entire scene drags on a little bit and it would have been nicer if Alice had been chasing the White Rabbit to find out how to get home in the first place.

One thing that really sets Alice in Wonderland apart is the wide variety of colourful and quirky characters that we get to meet. While Alice herself can be a bit more plain compared to the other characters, she still interacts really well with everyone in Wonderland which keeps her from being boring. This film boasts a fair number of characters and they have such a wide range of personalities from the timid King of Hearts, the volatile Queen of Hearts, the stressed out White Rabbit, to the completely insane Mad Hatter and March Hare, the latter two performing one of the most memorable songs from the film.

While the Unbirthday Song is the most memorable, all of the other songs still hold up really well on their own. A fair number of them also blend well with spoken dialogue which can be rather hard to do in musicals. The songs are all helped with the visual eye candy that Alice in Wonderland provides, all of the characters are vibrant and give the film a very nice burst of colour. The result is some very entertaining animation as a whole.

While Alice in Wonderland may have some plot troubles, it still holds up as a really enjoyable film even if it may not be everyone's cup of tea.

4/5