Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1972 film)

{{Short description|1972 British musical film by William Sterling}}

{{Infobox film

| name = Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

| image = alice-poster-1972.jpg

| caption = Theatrical release poster

| director = William Sterling

| producer = Derek Horne

| writer = William Sterling
Don Black (lyrics)
Lewis Carroll (novel)

| narrator =

| based_on = {{Based on|Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass|Lewis Carroll}}

| starring = Fiona Fullerton

| music = John Barry

| cinematography = Geoffrey Unsworth

| editing = Peter Weatherley

| studio = Josef Shaftel Productions

| distributor = Fox-Rank Distributors

| released = {{Film date|1972|11|20|United States|1972|12|4|United Kingdom}}

| runtime = 101 minutes

| country = United Kingdom

| language = English

| budget = £700,000Alexander Walker, National Heroes: British Cinema in the Seventies and Eighties, Harrap, 1985 p 126 or $1.5 million{{cite magazine |magazine=The Bulletin |title=The summer visitors |date=6 January 1973 |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1628029224 |page=24}}

|gross = $9.1 million{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/americanfilmdist0000dona/page/292/mode/1up|title= American film distribution : the changing marketplace|last=Donahue|first= Suzanne Mary|year=1987 |publisher=UMI Research Press |page=292|isbn= 9780835717762}} Please note figures are for rentals in US and Canada

}}

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is a 1972 British musical film directed by Australian filmmaker William Sterling, based on Lewis Carroll's 1865 novel of the same name and its 1871 sequel, Through the Looking-Glass. It had a distinguished ensemble cast and a musical score composed by John Barry with lyrics written by Don Black. In addition, make-up artist Stuart Freeborn created film visuals based on the original drawings by John Tenniel from the first edition of the novel.{{cite web |title=Alice's Adventures in Wonderland(1972) |url=https://movies.yahoo.com/movie/alices-adventures-in-wonderland/ |publisher=Yahoo movies |access-date=29 May 2012}}

At the 26th British Academy Film Awards, the film won both of its nominated categories, including Best Cinematography and Best Costume Design.

Plot

Alice is a little girl living in England. One day, she sees a white rabbit, follows it and ends up getting swept away in a rabbit hole to Wonderland, a place unlike anything she has seen before. There, Alice finds a door and realizes it is too small for her. She finds a bottle that says “Drink Me”, drinks it and starts to get smaller. However, Alice realizes she will not be able to go through the door without the key. Alice then finds a cookie that reads “Eat Me”. While eating it, Alice grows in size again, starts singing about how big she is and cries. Her tears flood the room, and she becomes small again. Alice starts to find talking animals, like the Cheshire Cat and the White Rabbit. Alice ends up at the rabbit's house and drinks a bottle to change sizes again. Alice ends up being too big for the White Rabbit, so she changes back to her regular size. She joins a tea party, with a man named the Mad Hatter, eventually gets fed up with Wonderland's inhabitants and returns home.

Cast

Fiona Fullerton - Alice
Hywel Bennett - Duckworth
Michael Crawford - White Rabbit
Robert Helpmann - Mad Hatter
Michael Hordern - Mock Turtle
Michael Jayston - Dodgson
Davy Kaye - Mouse
Roy Kinnear - Cheshire Cat
Spike Milligan - Gryphon
Dudley Moore - Dormouse
Dennis Price - King of Hearts
Ralph Richardson - Caterpillar
Flora Robson - Queen of Hearts
Peter Sellers - March Hare
Rodney Bewes - Knave of Hearts
Ray Brooks - 5 of Spades
Richard Warwick - 7 of Spades
Dennis Waterman - 2 of Spades
Julian Chagrin - Bill the Lizard
Peter Bull - Duchess
Patsy Rowlands - Cook
Freddie Earlle - Guinea Pig Pat
Freddie and Frank Cox - Tweedledum and Tweedledee
William Ellis - Dodo
Mike Elles - Guinea Pig Two
Peter O'Farrell - Fish Footman
Ian Trigger - Frog Footman
Victoria Shallard - Lorina
Pippa Vickers - Edith
Ray Edwards - Eagle
Stanley Bates - Monkey
Melita Manger - Squirrel
Angela Morgan - Lory
June Kidd - Magpie
Michael Reardon - Frog
Brian Tipping - Duck

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."{{cite journal |last=Scott |first=Vernon |title=What would Lewis Carroll think? Alice's musical wonderland |journal=Detroit News |date=26 December 1972 |url=https://cinefiles.bampfa.berkeley.edu/cinefiles/DocDetail?docId=3436}}

When the decision was made to audition older actresses, the director, William Sterling, orchestrated a nationwide search across Great Britain for an unknown young actress to play the title role of Alice. Over 2,000{{cite journal |last=Scott |first=Vernon |title=What would Lewis Carroll think? Alice's musical wonderland |journal=Detroit News |date=26 December 1972 |url=https://cinefiles.bampfa.berkeley.edu/cinefiles/DocDetail?docId=3436}} girls between the ages of thirteen and 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's search for the roles of Romeo and Juliet six years earlier.

Some actresses who auditioned for the role of Alice included Lynne Frederick, Rosalyn Landor, Karen Dotrice, Deborah Makepeace, and Chloe Franks. Landor,{{cite web |title=The Amazing Mr Blunden: Interview: Rosalyn Landor |url=https://scifibulletin.com/film-reviews/film-interviews/the-amazing-mr-blunden-interview-rosalyn-landor/ |website=Sci-Fi Bulletin: Exploring the Universes of SF, Fantasy & Horror!|date=11 March 2013 }} 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{{Cite web|url=http://wearecult.rocks/lynne-frederick-remembered|title=Lynne Frederick Remembered » We Are Cult|last=Edwards|first=Jonathan|date=2020-01-01|website=We Are Cult|language=en-GB|access-date=2020-01-04}} 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 film The Amazing Mr. Blunden (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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.jayrecords.com/recording/camelot/|title=Jay Records - Camelot}}https://www.loc.gov/item/smor.19331006/ {{Dead link|date=February 2022}}

Robert Helpmann had worked with Sterling several times in Australia.{{cite magazine|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|magazine=Filmink|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-australian-television-plays-half-an-hour-with-robert-helpmann/|title=Forgotten Australian Television Plays – Half an Hour with Robert Helpmann|year=2023|access-date=2 August 2024}}

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.{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068190/trivia?ref_=tt_trv_trv|title=Las aventuras de Alicia (1972)|work=IMDb}}

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 Fiona Fullerton

; Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Bat

: Lyrics by Don Black

: Music by John Barry

: Performed by Robert Helpmann, Dudley Moore

; 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

Reception

=Box office=

The film was one of the most popular movies of the year at the British box office in 1973.{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/guinnessbookofbo0000swer/page/192/mode/1up?q=%22fear+is+the+key%22+%22elliot+kastner%22|page=192|title= The Guinness book of box office hits|last=Swern|first= Phil|year=1995|publisher=Guinness Publishing|isbn=9780851126708 }}

=Accolades=

class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
Award ! Category ! Nominee(s) ! Result ! Ref.
rowspan="6"\| British Academy Film Awards \| Best Cinematography \| Geoffrey Unsworth {{small\|(also for Cabaret)}} \| {{won}} \| rowspan="2" align="center"\| {{cite web \|title=BAFTA Awards (1973) \|publisher=British Academy of Film and Television Arts \|url=http://awards.bafta.org/award/1973/film \|access-date=November 23, 2013}}
Best Costume Design \| Anthony Mendleson {{small\|(also for Macbeth and Young Winston)}} \| {{won}}

class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

Award

! Category

! Nominee(s)

! Result

! Ref.

rowspan="6"| British Academy Film Awards

| Best Cinematography

| Geoffrey Unsworth {{small|(also for Cabaret)}}

| {{won}}

| rowspan="2" align="center"| {{cite web |title=BAFTA Awards (1973) |publisher=British Academy of Film and Television Arts |url=http://awards.bafta.org/award/1973/film |access-date=November 23, 2013}}

Best Costume Design

| Anthony Mendleson {{small|(also for Macbeth and Young Winston)}}

| {{won}}