Armchair Commentary

Alice Through the Ages

Alice in Wonderland has been a part of pop culture long before Tim Burton gave it his quirky touch. How many times have you heard someone’s smile described as a “Cheshire Cat grin” or used the expression “I fell down a rabbit hole” to explain getting lost? As Burton’s Alice enjoys a blockbuster opening, we look back at a few other film interpretations of the Lewis Carroll classic. P.S. Has this tale ever been just for kids? 

 

• Alice in Wonderland (1903): This B&W silent barely clocks in at nine minutes which was considered a “long” time for films back then. The 107-year-old film is ravaged by scratches, but it’s still watchable here. Director Cecil M. Hepworth’s prehistoric special effects are interesting. Check out when the camera pans back for Alice to “shrink” and the table next to her is replaced with a larger one.

 

• Alice in Wonderland (1915): This silent seems to drag on at 51 minutes long but it’s worth a brief look-see if only to appreciate how filmmaking matured in the 12 years since the first Alice. Costuming and sets stepped up a notch, too.

 

• Alice in Wonderland (1933): Paramount regulars added some star luster to this version with W.C. Fields as Humpty Dumpty, Cary Grant as Mock Turtle and Gary Cooper as the White Knight. But the stars were barely recognizable in their character makeup – alas, this didn’t help sell tickets. The film’s original run time of 90 minutes was sliced in half and it was redistributed as a series of  literary classics to be shown in ’50s and’60s classrooms. Oh, oh – that means “educational.”

 

• Alice in Wonderland (1951): Alice received the Disney animated touch, but the magic didn’t pay off with awards and box office receipts. Earlier animated tales such as Dumbo (1941),  Pinocchio (1940) and  Fantasia (1940) resonated with audiences and were hailed as instant classics. This Alice was re-released in the’60s and became popular with the counterculture youth who reveled in the wink-wink-nudge-nudge drug references. As Jefferson Airplane advised in their 1967 hit White Rabbit, “Tell ’em a hookah-smoking caterpillar has given you the call.”

•  Alice in Wonderland: What is a Nice Kid Like You Doing in a Place Like This? (1966): This animated TV special from Hanna Barbera put a mini-skirted Alice into modern times. Even the Cheshire Cat (voiced by Sammy Davis Jr.) wears a beret and a hepcat goatee. Want a catchy song stuck in your head for the rest of the day? Give this cha-cha-ish number a listen in a clip from the show.

 

• Alice in Wonderland (1985): Produced by Irwin Allen, aka “Master of Disaster” thanks to his ’70s movie hits like The Towering Inferno and The Poseidon Adventure. This two-part TV special married Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. The all-star cast included Sammy Davis Jr. (again – but as the Caterpillar this time), Ringo Starr, Sid Caesar, Martha Raye, Scott Baio and Sherman Helmsley.

 

• Alice in Wonderland (1999): This three-hour TV special was pure casting genius. Check it out: Whoopi Goldberg as the Cheshire Cat, Miranda Richardson as the Queen of Hearts, Ben Kingsley as Major Caterpillar, George Wendt (Norm!) as Tweedledee, Martin Short as the Mad Hatter and Peter Ustinov as Walrus. It took home four Emmys, including a much-deserved one for special effects. See the trailer here.

Other notable Alice adaptations include:

• Alice in Wonderland (1966): Peter Sellers stars in this Alice filmed for the BBC along with John Gielgud. Music by Ravi Shankar. 
• Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1972): Some critics say this version is more faithful to the Carroll original than others. With Peter Sellers (again!) Dudley Moore, and Fiona Fullerton as Alice.
• Alice (2009): Harry Dean Stanton? Tim Curry? Yep, and add Kathy Bates to the mix in this miniseries from the Syfy cable network.

 

- Francine Ruley

Charlie & Lola: "I can't stop hiccuping"

Cute clip from Charlie & Lola, Vol. 10: I Can't Stop Hiccuping (Charlie & Lola is the BBC series also seen on Disney Channel). --David

Trailer Park: 'The Last Airbender,' 'Toy Story 3,' 'Chloe'

Here's a look at upcoming movies. (Release dates subject to change). --Ellen

The Last Airbender (starring Noah Ringer and Dev Patel; dir. by M. Night Shyamalan) --Here's that other Avatar movie, based on the popular Nickelodeon series about a child named Aang who has the power to manipulate air, water, earth, and fire. The production's already drawn criticism for casting non-Asians in the roles (the lone exception is Patel, who only got cast after singer Jesse McCartney dropped out). If you're at all familiar with the show the difference is quite noticeable. Bet M. Night is hoping this isn't the next Dragonball: Evolution (Have you seen that movie? No? I did. I just saved you 90 minutes.) (Summer)

Chloe (starring Julianne Moore, Amanda Seyfried & Liam Neeson dir. by Atom Egoyan)-- I spent most of the trailer wondering what the hell Julianne Moore and Liam Neeson were doing in something that looks like a cross between The Hand That Rocks the Cradle and Fatal Attraction. Then I remembered that it's directed by Canadian auter Egoyan (The Sweet Hereafter), and plus those other two movies (Moore had a memorable death in Cradle) were actually pretty good genre films, so you never know. (Mar. 26)

Toy Story 3 (voices by Tom Hanks and Tim Allen dir. by John Lasseter): Remember in Toy Story 2, when Kelsey Grammer posited what would happen to the toys when Andy went off to college? Well, that's answered here, where the toys go to a donation center (complete with day spa!), Ken meets Barbie, and Woody is determined to make his way back home. Also, running pre-schoolers. Who isn't excited about this? (Jun. 18)

Trailer Park: "Diary of a Wimpy Kid," "Percy Jackson"

I just ran across two trailers, one for Diary of a Wimpy Kid, opening April 2. I'm a fan of the books so I'm looking forward to seeing if the movie can re-create their distinctive personality. Another is Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, opening in theaters February 12, which looks like Clash of the Titans for teens. --David

What's your holiday movie or TV tradition?

One movie we always try to find time for during the holiday season is Eloise at Christmastime, a made-for-TV Disney movie about a precocious kid who lives at the Plaza Hotel in New York. Before that sets off your Suite Life of Zack and Cody alarm bells, Eloise at Christmastime is based on the book by Kay Thompson and has a great cast that includes Sofia Vassilieva in the title role, the ever-endearing Julie Andrews as Nanny, and Sara Topham and Gavin Creel as two of Eloise's friends that the 6-year-old tries to unite.  This scenario could be annoying or cloying or both, but the movie strikes a nice balance and delivers a good message.  There's a great musical number too.

Of course there are many other movies and TV specials without which the holidays would not be the holidays.  Just a few of my favorites:

• A Charlie Brown Christmas and How the Grinch Stole Christmas!: Two absolute classics that I associate together for whatever reason.  How many decades have I been watching these?
• Santa Claus Is Coming to Town, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and The Little Drummer Boy: Three others that all seem like part of a whole, I guess because of their similar Rankin-Bass stop-motion style.  Frosty the Snowman is a different style of animation, but it belongs with this group as well
• It's a Wonderful Life: This one still gets me every time!
• Raymond Briggs' The Snowman: Sort of a refined British version of Frosty, it's an utterly charming special that's wordless except for the song "Walking in the Air," which is becoming a Christmas standard.
• Holiday Inn: I know a lot of people prefer White Christmas, but I like this black-and-white musical vehicle for Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire (WC was Bing's semi-remake years later).

What do you have to watch every year?  A Christmas Story?  The Year Without a Santa Claus?  Miracle on 34th Street?  Christmas Vacation? The Santa Clause?  The list goes on... --David

Was "A Charlie Brown Christmas" cut for TV broadcast?

A friend just sent me a post from dorktower.com entitled "An Open Letter to ABC from my friend, Leon."  According to Leon, ABC's Tuesday broadcast of A Charlie Brown Christmas cut a number of classic moments (I'm quoting him here):

• Gone was Sally's materialistic letter to Santa, which finally sends Charlie screaming from the room when she says she will settle for 10s and 20s.
• Gone was Schroeder’s miraculous multiple renditions of "Jingle Bells" from a toy piano, including the one that sounds distinctly like a church organ.
• Gone was Linus using his blanket as an improvised slingshot to knock a can off the fence no one else can hit, complete with ricochet sound effect.
• Gone were the kids catching snowflakes on their tongues and commenting on their flavor.
• Gone even was poor Shermy's only line. He thought he had it bad because he was always tasked to play a shepherd. He had no idea.

Is this true?  I didn't watch the broadcast myself, but if I look at the DVD and Blu-ray details, both list the special as having a run time of 25 minutes.  Then I watched the Hulu stream below, which lists a run time of only 21:45.  And sure enough, all those moments are missing.  I guess I shouldn't complain about a free broadcast and a free stream, but what about people who don't have this classic on home video? Will those kids grow up thinking this is the real version? Leon goes on to say:

And why were all these classic scenes cut? To plug more ads into the show, of course. To sell burgers and greeting cards — and to relentlessly plug the insipid-looking new Disney "soon to be a classic" show immediately following. (I didn’t watch the new show, by the way. I was laid far too low by what had just happened.)

Cramming all of these ads into the 30-minute broadcast of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" required major edits to a cartoon that has spent 44 years now trying to remind us that Christmas is supposed to transcend crass commercialism.

Do you have no sense of irony?

Did you see the broadcast? What do you think? --David

Harry Potter Ultimate Editions Years 1 and 2

Timed for today's release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince are new Ultimate Editions of the first two movies in the series, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, both available on Blu-ray and DVD. The editions include both the extended and theatrical editions of the films (the first movie is seven minutes longer, the second 13), two parts of the documentary Creating the World of Harry Potter (watch below), photo books, and character cards. Want more Potter?  Watch an exclusive video "The Theme of Friendship" for free courtesy of Amazon Video On Demand.  --David

Blu Monday: "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince"

Arriving on Blu-ray tomorrow is Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the sixth movie in the series. See below for a preview of the Blu-ray features, including information on the Live Community Screening taking place with Daniel Radcliffe and director David Yates on December 12. The disc will also include an advance look at the next movie in the series, part 1 of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Note: The Blu-ray combo with DVD and Digital Copy will be available for a limited time only. --David

George Feltenstein Blu-ray interview: "The Wizard of Oz," "Gone with the Wind"

We recently had the pleasure of speaking with George Feltenstein, Senior Vice President of Theatrical Catalog Marketing for Warner Home Video. He's well-known on sites like highdefdigest.com for being the guy in charge of what films from the huge Warner catalog get released on DVD and Blu-ray, and the guy who knows what's coming up. He talked to us about the Ultimate Collector's Editions of The Wizard of Oz and Gone with the Wind, including how they were restored for Blu-ray and the various bonus materials in each set. He also gives us some tips on what to expect in 2010.  --David

Sesame Street Celebrates 40 Years

In case you have missed the headlines and Google's homepage for the past week, today marks the 40th anniversary of the iconic children's television show, Sesame Street. Originally intended as an educational tool for inner-city children, Sesame Street first aired on November 10, 1969. Through song and dance the show has taught kids not only about the alphabet and math; but about morals, manners, and life lessons. 

While somewhat revolutionary at the time, today's Sesame Street does look a bit different than back then- 122 Emmys and countless celebrity guest appearances later, the brownstone at 123 Sesame has gone green; Cookie Monster's diet is a little more balanced; new characters have been introduced (most notably Elmo and Abby); and children now wear helmets while riding their bikes.

Now available in more than 140 countries and made into T-shirts, toys, costumes, books, and more; Sesame Street is arguably one of television's most successful and beloved programs, constantly evolving to remain a favorite among school aged children. The show's ability to stay relevant especially during 4 very different decades in our history is why we will most likely see another 40 years of sunny days...

 

The original theme song:

Sesame Street then:

Sesame Street today:

Below is a clip from the 40th Anniversary episode featuring special guest, Michelle Obama, who teaches the kids and Elmo about growing your own food:

10 Things You Might Not Know About Sesame Street:

1. Big Bird is 8'2" tall.
2. Some old Bert and Ernie skits showed Ernie having his own bedroom instead of sharing a bedroom with Bert. 
3. The Count was born on 9 October 1,830,653 B.C.
4. Oscar the Grouch's fur was orange in the first season. In the second season, it was changed to green.
5. Linda (Linda Bove) was the first deaf regular character on American television.
6. "Sing a Song" (later released as a single by The Carpenters) was originally to be the show's opening theme song.
7. In 2004, Cookie Monster revealed that, before trying cookies for the first time, his name was Sid.
8. Possibly the only topic that has never been dealt with on the show is divorce. The producers have tried several times, but couldn't come up with a story that didn't lead children in test audiences to fear their own parents were planning to divorce.
9. The highest number of the day as of 2009 has been 21, the lowest number of the day has been 0.
10. To answer the immortal question, here is how to get to Sesame Street: Take the "R" or "V" train to Steinway Street. Stay on back of train. Walk west on 34th Avenue, three blocks to 36th Street. Turn left on 36th Street. The entrance to Kaufman Astoria Studios in Queens is mid-block (between 34th & 35th Avenues).

Want to remember 40 Years of Sunny Days? The Collector's Edition is now available on DVD and for a limited time, you can get select Sesame Street DVDs for as low as $6.99.

--Amanda