First off, sorry that this commentary is a bit late but I really had to gather my thoughts before I talked about this one. Before I go on to talk about this film I should tell you this- I am very bias towards this adaptation. Very. I love every part of it. Seriously this is in my top 5 Alice adaptations.
This is, in my opinion one of the best adaptations of the second Alice book ever filmed. One of the few fully fledged adaptations, this one boasts the unique idea (Only seen again in Irwin Allen’s 1985 film) of having the same actress reprise the role as Alice. In this case, its Marina Nylova’s voice acting. I really like this idea and I wish more versions were made with this ideology.
The animation is an improvement on the last film, with the cut-out animation blending in better with the traditional animation. Unfortunately in this film we don’t see the black and white representations of Alice’s thoughts, which is a shame, although we do get some great visual representations, for example the Red Queen’s bizarre questions (like the dog’s temper one) and a interesting take on “the Jabberwocky”, complete with Alice imagining that she is the hero of the poem.
In translation to Russia things inevitably change a bit, which makes for a fascinating look at how this story is interpreted by another culture. Here the only major change is that the Red Queen becomes the Black Queen. In the last film “how doth the little crocodile” was substituted for another poem. That was also very interesting.
Aside from that the script is almost completely verbatim from Carroll, it feels like it was made by someone who loved the book very much and you can tell. From the opening shot of the snow outside Alice’s house, right to the end. The voice acting is fantastic as always, but a special mention goes to the White Knight, he is apparently a singer and he does a excellent job of singing a condensed version of “A sitting on a gate”
I’m sorry if this commentary is turning into me gushing about this version. I just love it. Its beautifully made and well adapted. The only downside is that, unlike the 1981 wonderland adaptation, it is less easier to find, especially with English subtitles. If you do ever come across a subtitled version, please watch this film. Its fantastic and deserves to be seen by Carrollians.
