Alice with the country of the wonders (film, 1949)

Alice with the country of the wonders is a Franco-British cartoon film with Marionnettes of Marc Maurette, Dallas Bower and Louis Bunin, left in 1949.

The career of this film - one of the multiple adaptations of the tale - turned short under the pressure of Walt Disney Pictures which wanted to protect the imminent exit from their own feature-length film, Alice to the country of the wonders , in 1951.

Synopsis

This adaptation would be one of most faithful to the novel.

Data sheet

alternate Title: Alice in Wonderland
Realization: Marc Maurette, Dallas Bower and Louis (Lou) Bunin
Scenario: Edward Eliscu, Henry Myers and Albert Lewin, according to Alice with the country of the wonders , the book of Lewis Carroll
Country: The United States, the United Kingdom, France
Lasted: 96 minutes
Colors: Anscocolor
Coming out date: May 13rd, 1949 (France)

Distribution

Carol Marsh .... Alice (the only actress of film)
Stephen Murray…. Lewis Carroll/voice of the knave of hearts
Pamela Brown…. the Victoria queen/voice of the queen of heart
Ernest Milton…. the vice-chancellor/voice of white rabbit
Felix Aylmer…. Doctor Liddell/voice of the cat of Cheshire
Joyce Grenfell…. the unpleasant duchess/Dormouse the dormouse
David Reed…. the Prince Consort/voice of the King of hearts
Joan Paves…. Edith
Elizabeth Henson…. Lorena
Raymond Bussières…. the tailor/voice of the insane hatter

Comments

According to several testimonys, this adaptation would be rather close to the novel, a hardly buckled satire of the England of the 19th century century, in which one can recognize the Reine Victoria, the Prince Albert, the chancellor of Oxford, the senior of Christ Church College in Oxford or Lewis Carroll itself in the role of the knave of hearts.

The prolog is turned in catches of real sights and, in all film, Carol Marsh is the only actress. She initially interpreted her role only on a plate, the puppets were added in the second time.

The production lasted from January 5th to September 11th 1948. Most of film was produced in France by the American marionnettist Lou Bunin. The scenes of the beginning were carried out by Dallas Bower and were filmed in Oxford, where not the only Lewis Carroll but also Alice Liddell lived, that which had inspired its character to him. In fact the proper garden of Liddell was used for turning. The illustrations of John Tenniel for the editions of the book constituted a source of privileged inspiration.

Two versions were turned simultaneously, one in French, the other in English.

According to the rumor, Walt Disney would have tried to delay the exit of film to avoid the interferences with its own feature-length film, exerting a true blackmail on the laboratories and the owners of rooms, and threatening them to entrust to them never again of Disney product. Supported mainly by the British investors, Bunin persevered, but the copies were drawn in a laboratory from second order and the quality of the colors suffered from it.

The film was projected in the United States only in 1951, for a limited number of projections. It was eclipsed by the Disney version, left one month later. But the version in video will give him one second chance.

For the ones, the Franco-British film would be more imaginative, more ambitious, more daring and merrier. For others, this version would be rather odd and would miss charm completely, the puppets would be ugly and the badly faggoted actress. Useless, the exit in the United States would have been decided to only benefit from the repercussions of the Disney film, “infinitely higher”.

Apparently Alice in wonderland would have been the first film to use the technique of the incrustations of images, using many scenes where the characters are filmed on neutral bottom (today blue or green) then encrusted on animations and decorations.

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