''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' is a 1972 British musical film 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 sequ ...

'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 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, OBE, 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 best known for his work on films such as Stanley Kubrick's '' 2 ...

, and Best Costume Design, won by Anthony Mendleson. 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 poli ...

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 - Alice * Hywel Bennett -

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'' a ...

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 ( ...

- Mad Hatter *

Michael Hordern Sir Michael Murray Hordern Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE (3 October 19112 May 1995)Morley, Sheridan"Hordern, Michael Murray (1911–1995)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, online e ...

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 - Mouse *

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 Musketeer ...

- Cheshire Cat *

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 Colonial India, where he spent his ...

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 ...

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 Jeeve ...

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 - Caterpillar *

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 *

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, : "T ...

* Rodney Bewes - 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 th ...

- 2 of Spades * Julian Chagrin - 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 o ...

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 ranke ...

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 * 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 - 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, j ...

* Stanley Bates - Monkey * Melita Manger - Squirrel * Angela Morgan - Lory * 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 ...

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 i ...

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'' 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, Deborah Makepeace, 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 nomination during his acting career. Early life Jeffries was born in ...

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 Fiona Fullerton 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'', 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 Cheshire Cat, 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 : 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 : 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 kind ...

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