''Alice in Wonderland'' is an

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n 51-minute

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy was p ...

animated film Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...

from Burbank Films Australia originally released in 1988. The film is based on

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequel ...

's classic English novel, ''

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland), Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a ...

'', first published in 1865, and was adapted by Paul Leadon. Unlike many other adaptations of the novel, this one did not borrow elements from its sequel, ''

Through the Looking-Glass ''Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There'' (also known as ''Alice Through the Looking-Glass'' or simply ''Through the Looking-Glass'') is a novel published on 27 December 1871 (though indicated as 1872) by Lewis Carroll and the ...

'' (1871), combined into one film. Burbank Films Australia produced a 73-minute adaptation of the second novel the year before, in 1987, entitled ''Alice: Through the Looking-Glass''. This film was produced by Roz Phillips and directed by Rich Trueblood. Quite uncommon among Burbank Films Australia's adaptations of classic literary works, ''Alice in Wonderland'' featured one original theme song, composed by

Mark Isaacs Mark Isaacs (born 22 June 1958, London) is an Australian classical and jazz composer and pianist. Isaacs has also composed and conducted music for film, television and the theatre, as well as writing songs, including lyrics. Discography Fi ...

and sung by

Kerrie Biddell Kerrie Agnes Biddell (8 February 19475 September 2014) was an Australian jazz and session singer, as well as a pianist and vocal teacher. Life and Career Born in Kings Cross, New South Wales, the only child of Irish-Catholic parents Kathleen, a ...

. The

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...

in this film is now owned by Pulse Distribution and Entertainment and administered by digital rights management firm

NuTech Digital NuTech Digital, Inc. was a company that licensed and distributed karaoke products, general entertainment films (action-adventure, horror, and comedy), and children's animated films. In 2005, Nutech became focused on producing and distributing ...

.BTECH
article on NuTech and Pulse distribution agreement.

Plot summary

Alice is sitting by the riverbank all alone reading her book entitled ''The Principles of Logical Calculus'' when she decides she simply could not stand to read any further. She's bored and she hates being stuck in that "horrible place", as she refers to her beautiful outdoor garden. Suddenly out of nowhere, a talking white

rabbit Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit speci ...

wearing a

waistcoat A waistcoat ( UK and Commonwealth, or ; colloquially called a weskit), or vest ( US and Canada), is a sleeveless upper-body garment. It is usually worn over a dress shirt and necktie and below a coat as a part of most men's formal wear. I ...

and a

pocket watch A pocket watch (or pocketwatch) is a watch that is made to be carried in a pocket, as opposed to a watch, wristwatch, which is strapped to the wrist. They were the most common type of watch from their development in the 16th century until wr ...

appears, and Alice sees that he is in a big hurry. Running with curiosity, Alice follows the white rabbit down his rabbit hole, and the girl soon finds herself falling deep into the hole. Amazingly, her dress balloons out and she begins to float down past shelves and cupboards, mirrors and other curious objects, which are lined up on shelves. Alice continues to float until she lands and is then in a place called Wonderland. Inside a hall with many different passages, Alice opens a tiny door leading to what she believes is the most beautiful garden she could have ever imagined. In the distance, Alice spots a very curious sort of race, a caucus race, and watches the animals cheer as a small

snail A snail is, in loose terms, a shelled gastropod. The name is most often applied to land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. However, the common name ''snail'' is also used for most of the members of the molluscan class Gastro ...

defeats the other animals. During her day in Wonderland, Alice questions all of the interesting characters she meets, including the Duchess and her

Cheshire Cat The Cheshire Cat ( or ) is a fictional cat popularised by Lewis Carroll in ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' and known for its distinctive mischievous grin. While now most often used in ''Alice''-related contexts, the association of a "Ch ...

about the beautiful garden and how to get there. The girl attends a very extraordinary

tea party A tea party is a social gathering event held in the afternoon. For centuries, many societies have cherished drinking tea with a company at noon. Tea parties are considered for formal business meetings, social celebrations or just as an afternoon ...

with two very unusual characters, the

Mad Hatter The Hatter is a fictional character in Lewis Carroll's 1865 book ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' and its 1871 sequel ''Through the Looking-Glass''. He is very often referred to as the Mad Hatter, though this term was never used by Car ...

and the

March Hare The March Hare (called Haigha in ''Through the Looking-Glass'') is a character most famous for appearing in the tea party scene in Lewis Carroll's 1865 book ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''. The main character, Alice, hypothesizes, : "Th ...

, and is finally invited for a game of

croquet Croquet ( or ; french: croquet) is a sport that involves hitting wooden or plastic balls with a mallet through hoops (often called "wickets" in the United States) embedded in a grass playing court. Its international governing body is the Wor ...

with her

majesty Majesty (abbreviated HM for His Majesty or Her Majesty, oral address Your Majesty; from the Latin ''maiestas'', meaning "greatness") is used as a manner of address by many monarchs, usually kings or queens. Where used, the style outranks the st ...

, the

Queen of Hearts The queen of hearts is a playing card in the standard 52-card deck. Queen of Hearts or The Queen of Hearts may refer to: Books * "The Queen of Hearts" (poem), anonymous nursery rhyme published 1782 * ''The Queen of Hearts'', an 1859 novel by ...

. When the Knave of Hearts is unjustly accused of stealing some of the queen's

tart A tart is a baked dish consisting of a filling over a pastry base with an open top not covered with pastry. The pastry is usually shortcrust pastry; the filling may be sweet or savoury, though modern tarts are usually fruit-based, sometimes with ...

s, Alice confesses the truth and tells the

jury A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence and render an impartiality, impartial verdict (a Question of fact, finding of fact on a question) officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a sentence (law), penalty o ...

that it was really she who took the tarts when they had been offered to her. Thus ends Alice's day in Wonderland, and upon finding herself once more in her own garden, Alice for a moment believes to have at last found the beautiful garden she had sought; only then does she realize that she's really at home. After a long day of nonsense and topsy-turvy madness, Alice embraces her book on "logical" calculus and smiles back at the wonderful world she had the pleasure of visiting, if only in a dream.

Cast

* Olivia Martin – Alice * Philip Hinton –

/ King Phillip of Hearts/ Bill the Lizard/Card Painter * Paul Johnstone –

Chef A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the director or head of a kitche ...

The Dormouse The Dormouse is a character in "A Mad Tea-Party", Chapter VII from the 1865 novel ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' by Lewis Carroll. History The Dormouse sat between the March Hare and the Mad Hatter. They were using him as a cushion whil ...

Mock Turtle The Mock Turtle is a fictional character devised by Lewis Carroll from his popular 1865 book ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''. Its name is taken from a dish that was popular in the Victorian period, mock turtle soup. ''Alice's Adventures in ...

/ Mr. Mouse/Duck/Card Painter *

Moya O'Sullivan Moya O'Sullivan Macarthur (8 June 1926 – 16 January 2018) was an Australian-born actress who worked both locally and briefly in the United Kingdom. She was best known for her long-running role as the popular character Marlene Kratz in the soap ...

–

Duchess Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranked ...

* Keith Scott –

White Rabbit The White Rabbit is a fictional and anthropomorphic character in Lewis Carroll's 1865 book ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''. He appears at the very beginning of the book, in chapter one, wearing a waistcoat, and muttering "Oh dear! Oh dear! ...

Dodo The dodo (''Raphus cucullatus'') is an extinct flightless bird that was endemic to the island of Mauritius, which is east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. The dodo's closest genetic relative was the also-extinct Rodrigues solitaire. The ...

/Card Painter

References

External links

* *
''Alice in Wonderland''
at the

Big Cartoon DataBase The Big Cartoon DataBase (or BCDB for short) is an online database of information about animated cartoons, animated feature films, animated television shows, and cartoon shorts. The BCDB project began in 1997 as a list of Disney animated featu ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alice in Wonderland (1988 Film) 1988 animated films 1980s English-language films 1988 fantasy films Australian children's animated films Animated films based on Alice in Wonderland Direct-to-video animated films Direct-to-video fantasy films 1988 direct-to-video films 1980s Australian animated films