Live-Action Fairy Tales: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

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Albert Einstein: "If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales."

Fairy tales, literary nonsense, tall tales...whatever you want to call them.  I'm a sucker for a wonderfully told, beautifully presented one.  Especially when they come in live-action form.  There's something...magical when it's done right.  Some of these are taken right from the pages of a book, some are new takes on old tales.  If you get surprised by a title, stop and think about it for a second.  It'll make sense. :)  For now, let's look at Alice over the years.

Can you think of a favorite incarnation I've missed?  Let me know in the comments section.

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Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Written by Lewis Carroll, this is not considered to be a fairy tale.  Instead, it's categorized as 'literary nonsense.'  Alas, it is my list and I wish it to be added because I feel like it fits.  Therefore-yay!  I won't run this story down for you.  I'm sure you already know how it goes.

Alice in Wonderland (1933)

Probably the first very popular adaptation to feature people actually speaking (as opposed to silent films).

Alice in Wonderland (1966)

This is an adaptation from BBC's experimental 'Wednesday Plays' that includes Peter Sellers as the King of Hearts and music by Ravi Shankar.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1972)

This is a memorable version which includes plenty of song and dance!

Alice in Wonderland (1985)

I think of this one as the one with musical people in it.  We've got folks like Ringo Starr and Sammy Davis, Jr!  This cast is insane if you remember the 80s.

Alice (1988)

This is a Czech film that features live-action and stop-motion animation.  That combination along with the tone of the film make this a pretty bizarre and creepy movie.

"Adventures in Wonderland" (1992)

This was a silly little TV show that was on for a few years in my youth.  It's probably really dated, but I remember enjoying it!

Alice Through the Looking Glass (1998)

A made-for-TV movie that adapted the sequel to Alice in Wonderland with Kate Beckinsale in the role of Alice.

Alice in Wonderland (1999)

 Gene Wilder and Christopher Lloyd are among the array of famous people that take part in this movie.  I would almost recommend it just so you can see some of these actors work together.

The Matrix (1999)

While not directly based on Alice in Wonderland, it has a ton of parallels to the story as well as several blatant references.  It counts.

Resident Evil (2002)

Alice wakes up and everything is strange and different...I was surprised at this one at first.  If you think about it, The Hive is a very strange and hard-to-get-to world like Wonderland.  Not to mention her nemesis being the Red Queen...

"Alice" (2009)

I can't wait to see this one.  From all accounts, it's one of the best contemporary retellings of Alice so far.

Malice in Wonderland (2009)

Imagine if Guy Ritchie (Snatch) wrote and directed Alice in Wonderland.  This is about what you'd get.

Alice in Wonderland (2010)

Those who did not like this movie are not Burton fans.  If you're a Tim Burton fan, you know exactly what you're getting into when you see this.  If you don't like his films anymore-stop watching them.

"Once Upon a Time in Wonderland" (2013)

This is a spin-off of the ABC show Once Upon a Time.  It's based in Wonderland with an array of fairy-tale characters from other stories thrown in.  It's been cancelled, but people still like it.

Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016)

The Disney sequel to the 2010 film.  Please refer to the previous film for my thoughts on Burton.  They still stand.

This is the first in what is sure to be a very time-consuming project.  I intend to bring you live-action fairy tales in the form of several lists.  I had them all together, but it was daunting and it felt like a task just to scroll all the way through.  I've decided, instead, to separate them so that if a title has more than five adaptations, it gets its own list and you may peruse it at your leisure.  If it's less, it will go on the master list which I will publish when the rest are complete.

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Do you like fairy tales as much as I do?  Check out my other live-action lists:
Arabian Nights/1001 Nights
Beauty and the Beast
Bluebeard
Cinderella
The Frog Prince/Princess
Nutcracker and the Mouse King
Snow Queen

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