Greatest Film Scenes
and Moments



Alice in Wonderland (1951)

 



Written by Tim Dirks

Title Screen
Movie Title/Year and Scene Descriptions
Screenshots

Alice in Wonderland (1951)

In the animated Disney musical classic (based upon Lewis Carroll's 1865 tale Alice's Adventures in Wonderland) that told about a madcap world known as Wonderland where Alice ventured during a fanciful dream sequence:

  • in the film's opening set in England's Victorian era, young and immature Alice (voice of Kathryn Beaumont) was resting by a flowery river bank while listening to her older sister (voice of Heather Angel) read a "history lesson" from a boring book; her mind drifted to fanciful thoughts about her own private Wonderland world; Alice explained to her small, confused pet kitten Dinah (voice of Clarence Nash): "If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn’t. And contrariwise, what it is, it wouldn't be, and what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?"; she then sang: "A World of My Own" to describe her nonsensical world
Alice on the Riverbank with Her Sister and Kitten Dinah
  • Alice caught a glimpse of a White Rabbit (voice of Bill Thompson), with a waistcoat and a large pocket watch, racing by and singing "I'm Late" ("I'm late, I'm late for a very important date. No time to say hello, goodbye. I'm late, I'm late, I'm late") and comically quipping: "Don't just do something, stand there!"; Alice and Dinah followed the rabbit to a hole, where she tumbled downward into a dark tunnel

Alice Tumbling Down the Rabbit's Hole

Alice Floating Downward in a Vertical Tunnel

Talking Doorknob

"Drink Me" Bottle To Shrink in Size

A Shrunken Alice at Locked Door

Growing Larger after Eating Cookie - Her Head Struck the Ceiling
  • at the bottom of the hole, Alice pursued the Rabbit through a series of increasingly-smaller doors into a larger room, where the talking Doorknob (voice of Joseph Kearns) suggested that for Alice to follow the Rabbit through his tiny door, she could drink from a bottle that magically appeared on a table marked "Drink Me"; she shrank down, but then couldn't enter because the door was locked (and the key was unreachable on the tall table); the Doorknob then advised her to consume a cookie in a box labeled "Eat Me"; now, she immediately grew larger and her head struck the ceiling
  • disturbed by everything, Alice began crying and her copious tears flooded the room; Alice again drank the few remaining drops from the small "Drink Me" bottle, became smaller again, and dropped inside the bottle; on the sea of her own tears, the bottle floated and navigated through the Doorknob's keyhole (mouth) and onto dry land
  • there, she watched a Dodo Bird (voice of Bill Thompson), dressed like a sea captain, and other animals in a "jolly caucus race" supervised by the Dodo standing on a rock: ("♪ Backward, forward, outward, inward Bottom to the top ♪ Never a beginning There can never be a stop ♪ Skipping, hopping, tripping Fancy free and gay ♪ Started it tomorrow but will finish yesterday")
  • after briefly the White Rabbit into a forest, Alice encountered the fanciful and very fat twin brothers Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee (voice of J. Pat O'Malley) who halted her chase, and danced as they recited the short narrative poem of "The Walrus and the Carpenter" (a poem in Carroll's own 1871 sequel Through the Looking-Glass) (aka "The Story of the Curious Oysters") - the curious young oysters were convinced to leave their offshore beds and follow the predatory Walrus, not knowing that they would be eaten

Dodo Bird

The Jolly Caucus Race

Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum
  • after chasing the White Rabbit into his house, Alice again grew in size after eating a cookie and she became stuck inside; when the Dodo threatened first to expel Alice with the help of Bill the Lizard (voice of Larry Grey), and then proposed burning the house down ("We'll smoke the Blighter/Monster out"), Alice took a bite out of a garden carrot and became three inches in height to escape
  • in the outdoor garden, Alice gazed at welcoming Talking Flowers in a flower-bed and other strange insects (i.e., a Rocking Horse Fly) - who sang "All in the Golden Afternoon," but then turned against her when they thought she was a weed, and forced her to leave: ("She's nothing but a common mobile vulgaris.... To put it bluntly, a weed....Don't let her stay here and go to seed...We don't want weeds in our bed. Move along")

Talking (and Singing) Flowers

Caterpillar

Caterpillar: "Who...Are...You?"
  • Alice's next encounter was with a blue Caterpillar (voice of Richard Haydn), smoking a hookah and singing: "A-E-I-O-U (The Caterpillar Song)" while exhaling smoke in the shapes of vowels; he breathily asked the 3-inch tall Alice: "Who... are... you?" and answered her questions with cryptic and confusing statements; after turning into a butterfly, he also offered advice about the mushroom Alice was sitting on; he told her to nibble on one side or the other in order to alter her size; this caused Alice to eventually return to her original height (but she disturbed a Nesting Mother Bird (voice of Queenie Leonard) who accused her of being a nest-egg eating "serpent"), before another bit reduced her size again

Alice Debating Which Mushroom Piece to Eat

Growing Larger and Disturbing a Nesting Mother Bird

Cheshire Cat
  • Alice's next encounter was with a grinning, mischievous Cheshire Cat (voice of Sterling Holloway) with purple stripes that faded in and out ("Most everyone's mad here. You may have noticed that I'm not all there myself"), who gave Alice cryptic directions that might lead her to the White Rabbit
  • in the garden, she came upon a fancy tea table covered with steaming and tooting teapots during the celebration of a wacky "Unbirthday" tea party; the celebration was attended by the Mad Hatter (voice of Ed Wynn), a very confused March Hare (voice of Jerry Colonna), and a small Dormouse (voice of James MacDonald), who sang "The Unbirthday Song"; the Mad Hatter explained to Alice: "Now statistics prove, prove that you've one birthday.... But there are 364 unbirthdays"; Alice became frustrated with continual interruptions and the frequent changing of the subject

The Mad Hatter

The March Hare

Dormouse
  • when Alice decided to leave - she had become exasperated: "This is the stupidest tea party I've ever been to in all my life"; she departed to pursue the White Rabbit, but she became lost in the dark Tulgey Wood forest, where she was confronted by many strange birds and a colorful group of Mome Raths (bipedal, flower-like creatures without arms) who directed her to a pathway home; however, when the path was swept away, Alice lost hope and was about to give up her chase ("Now I shall never get out"), and she tearfully sang to herself: "Very Good Advice"; she was saved when directed by the Cheshire Cat on how to escape through a short-cut
  • Alice entered into the high hedge maze garden of the Queen (and King) of Hearts, where she met a jolly group of Playing Cards (known as The Mellomen) painting white roses red and singing: "Painting the Roses Red"; she was startled when the White Rabbit announced the arrival of the blustery, domineering Queen of Hearts (voice of Verna Felton), the diminutive King (voice of Dink Trout), and her marching Playing Card army; the Queen was incensed that her roses had been sloppily painted red in the royal flower garden and had three Playing Cards dragged away as she bellowed: "Off With Their Heads!"
  • Alice was invited by the Queen to play a strange game of croquet using flamingos as mallets, hedgehogs as balls, and card soldiers as curved wickets

The Queen Bellowing: "Off With Their Heads!"

Game of Croquet

The Chase After Alice Following the Trial
  • the prankster Cheshire Cat fooled the Queen into losing her temper and blaming Alice - while constantly bellowing: "Off with her head!" and urged Alice to be executed immediately; instead, the King suggested a trial; witnesses were called, including her friends at the tea party, but she was poorly defended until the Cheshire Cat reappeared and disrupted the trial proceedings
  • Alice escaped momentarily by eating a piece of the mushroom she had stashed in her apron, and she grew to an enormous size; with the tables turned, Alice scolded the Queen for a few moments until her giant size quickly wore off; the Queen reordered Alice to again have her head chopped off, and a chase ensued through the garden maze
  • Alice ran off and returned to the Doorknob room, where she looked through the keyhole and saw herself sleeping by the riverbank; she was awakened (and saved from the mob chasing after her) by her sister's voice calling out: "Alice, wake up! Please wake up, Alice!"; they returned home in time for afternoon tea

The White Rabbit: "I'm Late"


Alice Floating Through the Doorknob's Mouth in a Bottle on Her Sea of Tears


The Walrus and the Carpenter



The Walrus Coaxing the Curious and Young Oysters to Leave Their Beds - to be Eaten



The Rabbit's House - Enlarged Alice Inside


"All in the Golden Afternoon" - Alice with Singing Flowers



The Mad-Hatter's Tea Party

Alice's Pursuit of the White Rabbit at the Tea Party


Playing Cards Painting the Roses Red in the Queen's Hedge Maze Gardens

The Queen's Marching Army of Playing Cards


The Queen of Hearts

The King


Alice's Escape Back to the Doorknob

Chased

Keyhole View of Alice Sleeping - Before Awakening


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