'Alice' vs. 'Alice': A Wonderland Smackdown

I caught the midnight showing of "Alice in Wonderland" Thursday night and, like many Disney fans, immediately started comparing Tim Burton's somewhat dark vision of Lewis Carroll's classic tale with the 1951 animated film. There were some revisionist improvements that Burton hit upon (the coming-of-age, sword and sorcery storyline was not one of them), but mostly it reminded me how great the story and characters were in the Disney original. So here, in a totally arbitrary head-to-head character comparison where I decide what matters and what doesn't, I give you Burton Alice vs. Animated Alice. Let's see who wins.

WARNING: Spoilers ahead!

Alice - The Alices in both films are headstrong girls escaping their humdrum everyday lives. Animated Alice deals with the madness of Wonderland with peevish impatience--she just wants to go home and these mad people won't let her. Burton Alice is pursuing her destiny, whether she wants to or not, and ultimately faces her fears while wielding a mean vorpal blade. Animated Alice, on the other hand, wouldn't be caught dead in a suit of armor. Kathryn Beaumont charmingly voiced the more iconic Animated Alice, but Mia Wasikowska creates an Alice that overcomes more adversity, takes down the Red Queen and kicks Wonderland (oops, Underland) ass.
Winner: Burton Alice.

The Queen of Hearts - Make no mistake, Burton Alice may call her the Red Queen (from "Through the Looking Glass"), but she is unquestionably the Queen of Hearts from "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland." Both the Animated and Burton Queens subscribe to the "off with their heads" school of conflict management, with the Animated Queen coming across as a deliciously psychotic bully. But, Helena Bonham Carter takes the Burton Queen an extra step, turning her into a petulant child who sends a new head into the moat every time she has a tantrum. She even offed the King, crown and all. Let's see the Animated Queen try that one.
Winner: Burton Queen, by a head.

The Mad Hatter - "Why is a raven like a writing desk?" Neither Mad Hatter knows or tells, and that's where the similarities ends in two distinctly different character interpretations. Ed Wynn voiced a broadly comic--and more entertaining--Animated Hatter much in the same manner as he portrayed the majority of his live action characters in radio, movies and TV (see Mary Poppins' Uncle Albert if you have any doubt). Johnny Depp plays an emotionally complex Hatter in Burton's version with mixed results. When's he's manic, he absolutely shines. When he becomes thoughtful and fights the good fight, he doesn't ring true. No self-respecting Hatter would ever take sides in a conflict at the expense of an unbirthday present or a good cup of tea.
Winner: Don't let's be silly! Animated Hatter.

The March Hare - Now here's a character that appreciates a good cup of tea regardless of the movie. Jittery, over the top, and, well, just plain mad, the March Hare is delightfully frenetic in both movie versions. You just have to decide whether you prefer a Scottish brogue (Paul Whitehouse in Burton's version) or a touch of crazy Italian (Jerry Colonna's animated version).
Winner: Call it a draw . . . by a hare.

CLEAN CUP! CLEAN CUP! MOVE DOWN! MOVE DOWN!

The Dormouse - Lewis Carroll said he was just sleepy. I always thought he was a bit drunk in the animated version. Tim Burton made him a female--and pretty feisty at that. So, which movie Dormouse wins? Well, both can recite "Twinkle, twinkle, little bat" with great aplomb, but the Burton Dormouse gets the nod because of her can-do spirit and her nimble ability with a sewing needle--or was it a hatpin? Either way, OUCH!
Winner: Burton Dormouse, with an eyeball to spare.

The White Rabbit - What could a rabbit possibly be late for? In the animated version, it seems just about everything, but particularly the Queen's croquet match. For Burton, it's Alice who's late and the rabbit is just there to keep her on schedule for her Frabjous Day date with destiny. That's not nearly as interesting as the harried, put-upon, no-time-to-say-hello-goodbye-I'm-late cartoon rabbit (voiced to nervous perfection by Bill Thompson). Bonus points for having your house overrun by Gigantor Alice and nearly burned down. Mary Ann!!!
Winner: Animated Rabbit.

The Caterpillar - The Animated Caterpillar stays truer to Carroll's text: An impatient schoolmaster answering questions with questions and demanding absurd recitations. The Burton Caterpillar goes in a different direction and is the best revisionist take on any of the Alice characters. He's a prickly guru, a testy blue Yoda with the gravitas (courtesy of Alan Rickman) to ask, "Who are you?" and have it mean something. His gradual morphing into a butterfly serves as the perfect, albeit obvious, metaphor for Alice's own personal transformation. Still, the Animated Caterpillar does teach Alice how to properly consume a magic mushroom. How's THAT for a metaphor?
Winner: Animated Caterpillar, for every child of the 60s who listened to Jefferson Airplane.

The Cheshire Cat - Clever, devious and as cool as the other side of the pillow, the Cheshire Cat is my favorite Alice character. In Burton's hands, he ultimately becomes a hero, helping save the Hatter from the executioner's ax and returning the royal crown of Underland to its rightful owner. I like my grinning kitties more subversive, however, so props to the Animated Cat for always following his own agenda for his own amusement. Watching him mock the Queen and taunt Alice at the same time is an evil guilty pleasure, especially for those of us who aren't all there.
Winner: Animated Cat.

CAN YOU STAND ON YOUR HEAD?

Tweedledum and Tweedledee - The Tweedles in Burton's Wonderland are not terribly bright, but they are earnest, well-meaning and brave. They're kind of cute and cuddly, too. The Animated Tweedles are also not terribly bright, but they are...well...they're pretty annoying, actually. They do spin a good "Walrus and the Carpenter" tale, however. This time, though, cute and cuddly wins over annoying. That's manners.
Winner: Burton Tweedles.

The Talking Flowers - No contest here. The Animated Flowers talk, sing and banish Alice for being a common weed--and they do it all in a golden afternoon. By comparison, Burton's Flowers are given precious little to do, other than to question whether Alice is the real Alice they're looking for. A terrible waste of floral finery.
Winner: Animated Flowers, petals and stems above the rest.

While they each have their qualities, neither movie is perfect. Animated Alice suffers from trying too hard to be like Carroll's book, a deliberately episodic story that, for all its sublime silliness, has never translated well to film. Alice just wanders from mad character to mad character, waiting to wake up. Disney's original has plenty of inspired scenes, the mad tea party among them, but never a cohesive beginning, middle and end. Tim Burton and screenwriter Linda Woolverton tried to get around this by introducing an entirely new story, but sadly settled into a routine CG-heavy adventure fantasy right out of Hogwarts and Narnia that misses most of their charms and all of their originality.

Given the choice, I'll take Animated Alice anytime. 'Tis brillig!

Final Score: Animated Alice 5 1/2, Burton Alice 4 1/2.

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A Conversation with Richard Benefield with the Walt Disney Family Museum

When it comes to Walt Disney, Richard Benefield could really do without the urban legends. "We don't really talk about the fact that some people think he's frozen," he says. "We just state the fact that he's buried in Forest Lawn Cemetary in Glendale."

Not frozen after death, check. But, what about Walt's alleged anti-Semitism?

"It's an absolutely preposterous notion. That one still baffles all of us."

When you're the founding executive director of the Walt Disney Family Museum, there's more to your job than just preserving and showcasing the artifacts of one man's lifetime in entertainment. You're also tasked with protecting and defending his legacy.

"There are a few, weird, isolated rumors that no one seems to know exactly how they got started," says Benefield. "I met (Disney composer) Richard Sherman last December. I had lunch with him and with (retired Imagineer) Marty Sklar together in Los Angeles. Richard just looked at me from across the table and he said, 'Look, I just want to tell you something. This thing about Walt being an anti-Semite, look at us'--talking about him and Marty--'We're two of the biggest Jews in Hollywood! We loved him and we knew him, and he loved us and knew us, and we loved working with the man. So I don't know where that came from.'"

As the Walt Disney Family Museum begins its third month of operation in San Francisco's Presidio, it continues fulfilling its mission of revealing the man behind the myth. To some, it even proves that--SURPRISE!--Walt Disney was an actual person. Benefield says, "(The Disney family) learned through some market research and surveys that there was a whole generation of people who thought 'Walt Disney' was a made up name and it was just part of the brand name of the company. I think that this museum makes it really clear that there was a person behind it through every step of it, and that he really was the mastermind behind all that he oversaw."

With ten galleries chock full of Disney history and family memorabilia, the museum leaves no doubt that Walt was a real live boy, a creative, ambitious and complex person of many accomplishments. Benefield gives much of the credit for the look and overall flow of the galleries to the late Disney Imagineer Bruce Gordon, who was a consultant with the museum in its early development stages. "The ramp that takes you from the second floor down to the first floor through Gallery 9 was originally his idea," says Benefield. "Many, many of his ideas have just lived on through the project. It's a great testament to his imagination and his own storytelling ability, and Diane (Disney Miller, Walt's daughter) is always very careful to give him credit for that."

As the former deputy director of Harvard University Art Museums, Benefield came to the Walt Disney Family Museum more as an art historian and curator than a Disney historian. Like most of us, though, he still grew up exposed to Disney films and entertainment. The first movie he remembers seeing as a child is "Old Yeller," and "Pinocchio" remains one of his all-time favorites. "I'm just astounded every time I watch it at how incredibly beautiful it is just to look at," he says.

His artistic eye gives him a special appreciation of the museum's collection. "I came into this job from an art museum background in terms of how you care for original works of art and artifacts of all kinds, really, and how you manage the public aspect of the museum. But, I find some of the original animation art--things like the scene paintings, the concept drawings--are the things that I find absolutely the most fascinating."

Benefield is reluctant to name an item in the collection that is his favorite--it's an unfair question, really--but press him on the matter and he'll concede to having a preference for the work of Mary Blair. "I tend to gravitate a little bit more towards the original works of art that are in the collection," he says. The artwork that stands out most for him is a concept piece Blair did for "Peter Pan" showing the children flying over moonlit London. "I just think that it's a glorious work of art."

To mark the holidays, the museum will present in its theater "Christmas with Walt Disney," a film showing Walt at home and at work, celebrating the festive season. Narrated by Diane Disney Miller, it includes clips from Christmas-themed animated shorts and television programs. "The really great thing about the film," says Benefield, "is we have Walt's home movies from Christmas with his family. All of that has been artfully put together and culminates with an amazing reworking of 'The Nutcracker Suite' from 'Fantasia.'" "Christmas with Walt Disney" premieres at the museum on November 27th and will be shown six times daily most days through January 4th.

"Christmas with Walt Disney" is the latest in a series of monthly film presentations at the museum. In January, the museum will screen "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" followed by February showings of "Lady and the Tramp." Apropos for St. Patrick's Day, "Darby O'Gill and the Little People" will be featured in March. Says Benefield, "We've got some really great public programming going on along with this great museum."

Visit www.waltdisney.org for more information about the Walt Disney Family Museum and its many public events.

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Scrooge of Christmas Carol Past: BFI's 1901 Gem

I've yet to see Disney's latest take on "A Christmas Carol" with all of Robert Zemeckis' performance-capture 3D gewgaws. Part of it is because it's just not close enough to Christmas for me to catch the spirit--I'm definitely a post-Thanksgiving Yuletide reveler. The other part is I'm leery of any new film version of Dickens' tale that dares to tread where Alastair Sim (Best. Scrooge. Ever.) and Albert Finney (Most. Underrated. Scrooge. Ever.) have already gone. I've also got a soft spot for the animated Mr. Magoo version (the first great Christmas special on TV--it predated "A Charlie Brown Christmas" by three years) and, yes, 1983's "Mickey's Christmas Carol." There's another "Christmas Carol" out there, however, that's suddenly being discovered by a whole new audience and is definitely worth a look.

To coincide with the London premiere of "Disney's A Christmas Carol" this month, the British Film Institute posted on its YouTube channel the silent 1901 film "Scrooge, or Marley's Ghost." Just under 3 1/2 minutes of the original 5-minute movies survives, but what remains is in remarkable shape and features some pretty snazzy special effects for its time.


I'm thinking I have another favorite Scrooge to add to my holiday list. Looks like Jim Carrey will have to wait a little longer.

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