At the beginning of this month, Alice in Wonderland the 60th Anniversary Special Edition became available on a Blu-ray/DVD combo and a digital download. I had watched this animated classic when I was quite young, so I did not recall much aside from very few bits and pieces of the story. For this reason, I was looking forward to watching this Disney film with my children, since it would be as if we were all watching it for the first time.
There are some aspects of the movie Alice in Wonderland
that were very engaging to my children, who are 4, 4, and 7. The singing, sometimes whimsical illustrations, and zany characters, are very appealing them. On the other hand, there are things about this film that make it more suited for older children and adults. You would think that a film based on nonsense, such as unbirthday parties, would be perfect for young children, but the unpredictability and some of the less-than-friendly characters, such as the Queen of Hearts, made this film seem like what you would imagine a child's bad dream to be like. Our 4 year son described more than one of the characters to be "mean and scary."Since this Disney film does not follow the usual template of only one villain and one sidekick, but rather there is one "scary" thing after another, I do not recommend this movie for younger children. Although I do not think our 7 year old son was scared by the film, I do think he did not care for the film because too much of it did not make sense, which is ultimately the point of the film . . . to show Alice that nonsense is not always good.
The Virtual Wonderland Party bonus feature hosted by the Cheshire Cat was quite entertaining. It is a series of different games . . . a new one for each room you travel through. The games include riddles about the film, a matching card game, and a game in which your child can guess the correct order.
You can find the 60th Anniversary Edition of Alice in Wonderland
on Amazon.com, through the Disney Movie Club, and many major retailers of Disney movies.Thank you to Click-Communications for providing a complimentary product sample for us to base this review upon.
