''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' is a 1972 British

musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as breaks ...

based on

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequel ...

's 1865 novel of the same name and its 1871 sequel, ''

Through the Looking-Glass ''Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There'' (also known as ''Alice Through the Looking-Glass'' or simply ''Through the Looking-Glass'') is a novel published on 27 December 1871 (though indicated as 1872) by Lewis Carroll and the ...

'', directed by Australian television producer-director William Sterling. It had a distinguished

ensemble cast In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that is composed of multiple principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast to ...

with a musical score by John Barry and lyrics by Don Black. In 1973, the film won the BAFTA Film Award at the BAFTA Awards Ceremony for Best Cinematography, won by

Geoffrey Unsworth Geoffrey Gilyard Unsworth, Order of the British Empire, OBE, British Society of Cinematographers, BSC (26 May 1914 – 28 October 1978) was a British cinematographer who worked on nearly 90 feature films spanning over more than 40 years. He is b ...

, and Best Costume Design, won by

Anthony Mendleson Anthony Mendleson (7 February 1915 – 5 September 1996) was a British costume and set designer. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design in 1972 for ''Young Winston'', and in 1976 for ''The Incredible Sarah''. He was born on ...

. Stuart Freeborn created make-up for the film based closely on the original

John Tenniel Sir John Tenniel (; 28 February 182025 February 1914)Johnson, Lewis (2003), "Tenniel, John", ''Grove Art Online, Oxford Art Online'', Oxford University Press. Web. Retrieved 12 December 2016. was an English illustrator, graphic humorist and pol ...

drawings in the first edition of the novel.

Plot

Alice lives in England, when suddenly a white rabbit appears, Alice follows the rabbit and ends up getting swept away in a rabbit hole to a place called Wonderland. Alice finds a door and realizes it’s too small for her, She finds a bottle that says “Drink Me”. She drinks and changes to small size. The youngster Alice won’t be able without the key. Alice finds a cookie that reads “Eat Me”. As she eats it, she changes super big, and starts singing about how big she is and starts crying, she floods the room and changes into small size back. Alice finds curious little animals and people like the Cheshire Cat and the White Rabbit and more. Alice ends up at the rabbit’s house, She drinks a bottle for her size. Alice ends up being really big for the White Rabbit, Alice changes to normal amount, With the characters all mad, she joins a tea party, with characters named the Mad Hatter, Alice gets fed up with the people and returns home.

Cast

Fiona Fullerton Fiona Elizabeth Fullerton (born 10 October 1956) is a British actress and singer, known for her role as Alice in the 1972 film ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' and as Bond girl KGB spy Pola Ivanova in the 1985 James Bond film ''A View to a ...

- Alice *

Hywel Bennett Hywel Thomas Bennett (8 April 1944 – 24 July 2017) was a Welsh film and television actor. He had a lead role in ''The Family Way'' (1966) and played the titular "thinking man's layabout" James Shelley in the television sitcom '' Shelley'' (1 ...

Duckworth Duckworth may refer to: * Duckworth (surname), people with the surname ''Duckworth'' * Duckworth (''DuckTales''), fictional butler from the television series ''DuckTales'' * Duckworth Books, a British publishing house * , a frigate * Duckworth, W ...

Michael Crawford Michael Patrick Smith, (born 19 January 1942), known professionally as Michael Crawford, is an English tenor, actor and comedian. Crawford is best known for playing both the hapless Frank Spencer in the sitcom ''Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em'' an ...

White Rabbit The White Rabbit is a fictional and anthropomorphic character in Lewis Carroll's 1865 book ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''. He appears at the very beginning of the book, in chapter one, wearing a waistcoat, and muttering "Oh dear! Oh dear! ...

Robert Helpmann Sir Robert Murray Helpmann CBE ( Helpman, 9 April 1909 – 28 September 1986) was an Australian ballet dancer, actor, director, and choreographer. After early work in Australia he moved to Britain in 1932, where he joined the Vic-Wells Ballet (n ...

Mad Hatter The Hatter is a fictional character in Lewis Carroll's 1865 book ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' and its 1871 sequel ''Through the Looking-Glass''. He is very often referred to as the Mad Hatter, though this term was never used by Car ...

Michael Hordern Sir Michael Murray Hordern CBE (3 October 19112 May 1995)Morley, Sheridan"Hordern, Michael Murray (1911–1995)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, online edition, May 2009, accessed 22 July 2015 was ...

Mock Turtle The Mock Turtle is a fictional character devised by Lewis Carroll from his popular 1865 book ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''. Its name is taken from a dish that was popular in the Victorian period, mock turtle soup. ''Alice's Adventures in ...

Michael Jayston Michael James (born 29 October 1935), known professionally as Michael Jayston, is an English actor. He played Nicholas II of Russia in the film ''Nicholas and Alexandra'' (1971). He has also made many television appearances, which have include ...

- Dodgson *

Davy Kaye Davy Kaye MBE (born David Kodeish, 25 March 1916 – 3 February 1998) was a British comedy actor and entertainer. Early life Born in Mile End Road in the East End of London to Jewish parents Koppel and Dora Kodeish, Kaye was so small at birth t ...

Mouse A mouse ( : mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...

Roy Kinnear Roy Mitchell Kinnear (8 January 1934 – 20 September 1988) was a British character actor. He was known for his roles in films such as The Beatles' ''Help!'' (1965), Clapper in ''How I Won the War'' (1967) and Planchet in ''The Three Musketeers ...

Cheshire Cat The Cheshire Cat ( or ) is a fictional cat popularised by Lewis Carroll in ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' and known for its distinctive mischievous grin. While now most often used in ''Alice''-related contexts, the association of a "Ch ...

Spike Milligan Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish actor, comedian, writer, musician, poet, and playwright. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Raj, British Colonial India, where h ...

Gryphon The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (Ancient Greek: , ''gryps''; Classical Latin: ''grȳps'' or ''grȳpus''; Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a legendary creature with the body, tail, and back ...

Dudley Moore Dudley Stuart John Moore CBE (19 April 193527 March 2002) was an English actor, comedian, musician and composer. Moore first came to prominence in the UK as a leading figure in the British satire boom of the 1960s. He was one of the four writ ...

Dormouse A dormouse is a rodent of the family Gliridae (this family is also variously called Myoxidae or Muscardinidae by different taxonomists). Dormice are nocturnal animals found in Africa, Asia, and Europe. They are named for their long, dormant hibe ...

Dennis Price Dennistoun Franklyn John Rose Price (23 June 1915 – 6 October 1973) was an English actor, best remembered for his role as Louis Mazzini in the film ''Kind Hearts and Coronets'' (1949) and for his portrayal of the omnicompetent valet Jeeves ...

King of Hearts The king of hearts is a playing card in the standard 52-card deck. King of Hearts may also refer to: Games * The King of Hearts Has Five Sons, card game that may have been a precursor to Cluedo Books * King of Hearts (''Alice's Adventures ...

Ralph Richardson Sir Ralph David Richardson (19 December 1902 – 10 October 1983) was an English actor who, with John Gielgud and Laurence Olivier, was one of the trinity of male actors who dominated the British stage for much of the 20th century. He wo ...

Caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sym ...

Flora Robson Dame Flora McKenzie Robson (28 March 19027 July 1984) was an English actress and star of the theatrical stage and cinema, particularly renowned for her performances in plays demanding dramatic and emotional intensity. Her range extended from q ...

Queen of Hearts The queen of hearts is a playing card in the standard 52-card deck. Queen of Hearts or The Queen of Hearts may refer to: Books * "The Queen of Hearts" (poem), anonymous nursery rhyme published 1782 * ''The Queen of Hearts'', an 1859 novel by ...

Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show'', featured on a number of hit comic songs ...

March Hare The March Hare (called Haigha in ''Through the Looking-Glass'') is a character most famous for appearing in the tea party scene in Lewis Carroll's 1865 book ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''. The main character, Alice, hypothesizes, : "Th ...

Rodney Bewes Rodney Bewes (27 November 1937 – 21 November 2017) was an English television actor and writer who portrayed Bob Ferris in the BBC television sitcom ''The Likely Lads'' (1964–66) and its colour sequel ''Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?'' ...

- Knave of Hearts * Ray Brooks - 5 of Spades *

Richard Warwick Richard Warwick (29 April 1945 – 16 December 1997) was an English actor. He was born Richard Carey Winter, the third of four sons, at Meopham, Kent, and made his film debut in Franco Zeffirelli's 1968 production of ''Romeo and Juliet'' in the r ...

- 7 of Spades *

Dennis Waterman Dennis Waterman (24 February 1948 – 8 May 2022) was an English actor and singer. He was best known for his tough-guy leading roles in television series including ''The Sweeney'', ''Minder'' and ''New Tricks'', singing the theme tunes of the ...

- 2 of Spades *

Julian Chagrin Julian Chagrin (born 22 February 1940) is a British-Israeli comedy actor. He is the husband of actress and comedian Rolanda Chagrin. Biography Chagrin was born in London. His father was the composer and conductor Francis Chagrin, who was born t ...

- Bill the Lizard *

Peter Bull Peter Cecil Bull, (21 March 1912 – 20 May 1984) was a British character actor who appeared in supporting roles in such films as '' The African Queen'', '' Tom Jones'', and ''Dr. Strangelove''. Biography He was the fourth and youngest son ...

Duchess Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranked ...

Patsy Rowlands Patricia Amy Rowlands (19 January 1931 – 22 January 2005) was an English actress who is best remembered for her roles in the ''Carry On'' films series, as Betty Lewis in the ITV Thames sitcom '' Bless This House'', and as Alice Meredit ...

Cook Cook or The Cook may refer to: Food preparation * Cooking, the preparation of food * Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food * Cook (professional), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry * ...

* Freddie Earlle - Guinea Pig Pat * Freddie and Frank Cox -

Tweedledum and Tweedledee Tweedledum and Tweedledee are characters in an English nursery rhyme and in Lewis Carroll's 1871 book ''Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There''. Their names may have originally come from an epigram written by poet John Byrom. The ...

* William Ellis -

Dodo The dodo (''Raphus cucullatus'') is an extinct flightless bird that was endemic to the island of Mauritius, which is east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. The dodo's closest genetic relative was the also-extinct Rodrigues solitaire. The ...

* Mike Elles - Guinea Pig Two * Peter O'Farrell - Fish Footman *

Ian Trigger Ian Trigger (30 September 1938 – 6 January 2010) was a British actor of stage, film and television who had a successful career in the United States. A diminutive actor, Trigger's long career saw him working in the West End, on Broadway and ...

- Frog Footman * Victoria Shallard - Lorina * Pippa Vickers - Edith * Ray Edwards -

Eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...

Stanley Bates Stanley Kevin Bates (born 8 October 1942 in East Finchley, London) is a British actor and screen writer best known for the role of Bungle, and as a scriptwriter, in the children's television programme, ''Rainbow'' between 1973 and 1989, series 2 ...

- Monkey * Melita Manger - Squirrel * Angela Morgan -

Lory Loriini is a tribe of small to medium-sized arboreal parrots characterized by their specialized brush-tipped tongues for feeding on nectar of various blossoms and soft fruits, preferably berries. The species form a monophyletic group within the ...

* June Kidd - Magpie * Michael Reardon - Frog * Brian Tipping -

Duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form t ...

Production

Casting

It was originally intended to cast an actress who was close to the age of Alice in the original book. They began their search looking for girls who were between seven and ten years old. This concept was later scrapped when they realized that most girls of that age "lose their teeth, lisp a great deal, and have short attention spans." When the decision was made to audition older actresses, the director, William Sterling, orchestrated a nationwide search across

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

for an unknown young actress to play the title role of Alice. Over 2,000 girls between the ages of thirteen to seventeen auditioned for this highly sought after role. This search had been considered to be one of the biggest in the UK since

Franco Zeffirelli Gian Franco Corsi Zeffirelli (12 February 1923 – 15 June 2019), was an Italian stage and film director, producer, production designer and politician. He was one of the most significant opera and theatre directors of the post-World War II era, ...

's search for the roles of ''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...

'' six years earlier. Some actresses who auditioned for the role of Alice included

Lynne Frederick Lynne Frederick (25 July 1954 – 27 April 1994) was an English actress, film producer, and fashion model. In a career spanning ten years, she made over thirty appearances in film and television productions. Known for her classic English rose b ...

Rosalyn Landor Rosalyn Landor (born 7 October 1958) is an English film, television and stage actress and audio book narrator. Early life Landor was born in Hampstead, London, the daughter of English actor and radio presenter Neil Landor and of an Irish mother. ...

Karen Dotrice Karen Dotrice ( ; born 9 November 1955) is a British actress. She is known primarily for her role as Jane Banks in Walt Disney's '' Mary Poppins'', the feature film adaptation of the '' Mary Poppins'' book series. Dotrice was born in Guernsey i ...

Deborah Makepeace Deborah Makepeace (1957, Buckrose, Yorkshire, England – 2 February 1999, Bromley, London, England) was a British television, theater, and voiceover actress. Biography Prior to her acting career, she originally aspired to become a ballerin ...

, and

Chloe Franks Chloe Franks (born 1 September 1963) is a British actress, best known for her appearances as little girls in British films of the 1970s. Franks was born in London, England. Career Her best remembered role was as Jane Reid, the young, witchcraf ...

. Landor, who had just turned thirteen at the time, impressed everyone at her audition and was asked back a few times, but the producers and director ultimately decided that she was too young. Frederick was nearly eighteen at the time of her audition, and after doing a few screen tests was deemed too sophisticated and mature for the part. Landor and Frederick were later cast in the

Lionel Jeffries Lionel Charles Jeffries (10 June 1926 – 19 February 2010) was an English actor, director, and screenwriter. He appeared primarily in films and received a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, Golden Globe Awa ...

film ''

The Amazing Mr. Blunden ''The Amazing Mr. Blunden'' is a 1972 British family mystery film involving ghosts directed by Lionel Jeffries. It was based on the 1969 novel ''The Ghosts'' by Antonia Barber. It stars Laurence Naismith, Lynne Frederick, Garry Miller, Rosaly ...

'' (1972), which came out the same year as ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1972). Fifteen year old

was ultimately cast as Alice. For the role of Alice, Fullerton had her long hip length brown hair dyed chestnut blonde. Fullerton would later star on stage in London's West End in the musicals ''Camelot'' and ''

Nymph Errant ''Nymph Errant'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter and book by Romney Brent based upon the novel by James Laver. The somewhat controversial story concerned a young English lady intent upon losing her virginity. Porter considered t ...

'', singing on both productions' cast recordings.

Possible Deleted Scenes

Two songs appear on the film's soundtrack but are not in the final cut of the film: "I've Never Been This Far Before" performed by Alice when she enters the garden outside the Queen of Heart's palace, and "The Moral Song" sung by the Duchess to Alice during the Croquet Game."Alice's in Wonderland Original Motion Picture Soundtrack re-released by FSM Silver Age Classics, liner notes by Jon Burlingame A dialogue scene was filmed between Alice and the

, with the latter perched in a tree. Although some stills survive, the footage itself was cut from the final print and may no longer exist.

Soundtrack

; The Duchess Is Waiting : Lyrics by Don Black : Music by John Barry : Performed by Michael Crawford ; Curiouser And Curiouser : Lyrics by Don Black : Music by John Barry : Performed by Fiona Fullerton ; You've Got To Know When To Stop : Lyrics by Don Black : Music by John Barry : Performed by Davy Kaye ; The Royal Processions : Music by John Barry ; The Last Word Is Mine : Lyrics by Don Black : Music by John Barry : Performed by Michael Crawford and Fiona Fullerton ; Digging For Apples : Lyrics by Don Black : Music by John Barry : Performed by Freddie Earlle ; There Goes Bill : Lyrics by Don Black : Music by John Barry : Performed by Freddie Earlle and Mike Elles ;

How Doth The Little Crocodile "How Doth the Little Crocodile" is a poem by Lewis Carroll which appears in chapter 2 of his 1865 novel ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''. Alice recites it while attempting to recall " Against Idleness and Mischief" by Isaac Watts. It describ ...

: Lyrics by Don Black : Music by John Barry : Performed by Fiona Fullerton ; Dum And Dee Dance (Nursery Rhyme) : Lyrics by Lewis Carroll and Don Black : Music by John Barry : Performed by Fiona Fullerton ; From The Queen, An Invitation for the Duchess To Play Croquet : Lyrics by Don Black : Music by John Barry : Performed by Peter O'Farrell and Ian Trigger ; The Duchess's Lullaby : Lyrics by Lewis Carroll and Don Black : Music by John Barry : Performed by Peter Bull and Patsy Rowlands ; It's More Like A Pig Than A Baby : Lyrics by Don Black : Music by John Barry : Performed by Fiona Fullerton ; I See What I Eat : Lyrics by Don Black : Music by John Barry : Performed by Robert Helpmann, Peter Sellers, Dudley Moore and Fiona Fullerton ;

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Bat "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Bat" is a poem recited by the Mad Hatter in chapter seven of Lewis Carroll's 1865 novel ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''. It is a parody of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". Text Context The Hatter is interrupted in ...

: Lyrics by Don Black : Music by John Barry : Performed by Robert Helpmann, Peter Sellers ; The Pun Song : Lyrics by Don Black : Music by John Barry : Performed by Robert Helpmann, Peter Sellers, Dudley Moore and Fiona Fullerton ; Off With Their Heads : Lyrics by Don Black : Music by John Barry : Performed by Flora Robson ; The Croquet Game : Music by John Barry ; Off With Their Heads (Reprise) : Lyrics by Don Black : Music by John Barry : Performed by Flora Robson ; I've Never Been This Far Before : Lyrics by Don Black : Music by John Barry : Performed by Fiona Fullerton ; The Moral Song : Lyrics by Lewis Carroll and Don Black : Music by John Barry : Performed by Peter Bull ; The Me I Never Knew : Lyrics by Don Black : Music by John Barry : Performed by Fiona Fullerton ; The Lobster Quadrille (The Mock Turtle's Song) : Music by John Barry ; Will You Walk A Little Faster, Said A Whiting to a Snail : Lyrics by Lewis Carroll and Don Black : Music by John Barry : Performed by Michael Hordern and Spike Milligan ; They Told Me (Evidence Read at the Trial of the Knave of Hearts) : Lyrics by Lewis Carroll and Don Black : Music by John Barry : Performed by Michael Crawford

Home media

The film has been released on VHS and

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

several times.

References

External links

* *
Miscellaneous sites for ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''

External reviews for ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1972 film) 1970s fantasy films 1970s musical films 1972 films British fantasy films British musical films British children's films Films based on Alice in Wonderland Films about size change Films scored by John Barry (composer) Films based on multiple works of a series 1970s children's films 1970s English-language films Cultural depictions of Lewis Carroll Films directed by William Sterling (director) 1970s British films