Years before his 1951 animated feature adaptation of the author\u2019s work, which celebrates its 75th anniversary this month, Walt had found inspiration from the stories, as far back as 1923, for his live action\/animated silent short, Alice\u2019s Wonderland<\/em>. Ten years later, Walt looked to partner with actress Mary Pickford on a live action\/animated film based on Alice in Wonderland<\/em>, which never came to be; it was even a vehicle for his biggest star, Mickey Mouse, in 1936 for the short Thru the Mirror<\/em>.<\/p>\n After the landmark success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs<\/em> in 1937, Walt purchased the film rights to Carroll\u2019s Alice<\/em> books, in hopes that they could be adapted as a follow-up feature. British artist David Hall was hired by the Studio in 1939 and created beautiful concept art for the film.<\/p>\n It was after the challenging decade of the 40s that Alice in Wonderland<\/em> was chosen as one of the full-length features to go into production. Noted British author Aldus Huxley was hired to pen another live-action\/animated version, which never materialized. <\/p>\n Legendary Disney artist Mary Blair contributed concept art, with her unique style that partnered bright colors with a more modern look, inspiring Walt and his artists to see the possibilities of Alice in Wonderland<\/em> as a full-length animated feature. So much of what Mary created was translated to the final film.<\/p>\n Based on Carroll\u2019s 1865 novel Alice\u2019s Adventures in Wonderland<\/em> and its 1871 sequel Through the Looking-Glass<\/em>, Disney\u2019s Alice in Wonderland<\/em> centers on the title character, a young girl who, when we first meet her, sits bored during an outdoor lesson with her older sister and begins daydreaming. As she does, she spots a White Rabbit running by, stating that he\u2019s \u201clate for a very important date.\u201d Alice follows him down a rabbit hole, into Wonderland.<\/p>\n She also encounters the mischievous Cheshire Cat and crashes the Mad Hatter and March Hare\u2019s chaotic \u201cunbirthday\u201d tea party, eventually finding her way into the garden belonging to the tyrannical Queen of Hearts, who\u2019s obsessed with beheading anyone who displeases her.<\/p>\n Alice is accused of wrongdoing and put on trial that descends into absurdity, and Alice wakes up back under the tree with her sister, realizing it may all have been a dream, as the film ends.<\/p>\n Directed by Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, and Hamilton Luske, Alice in Wonderland featured a voice cast that included Kathryn Beaumont as Alice, Richard Haydn as the Caterpillar, Verna Felton as the Queen of Hearts, Bill Thompson as the White Rabbit, and J. Pat O\u2019Malley as four characters: the Walrus, Carpenter, Tweedledee, and Tweedledum.<\/p>\n (poster image via Matt Crandall)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Additionally, popular comedians Ed Wynn voiced the Mad Hatter, and Jerry Colonna as the March Hare (with the characters fashioned as caricatures of the comedians), and Disney stalwart voice Sterling Holloway as the Cheshire Cat.<\/p>\n These characters wind up contributing what has become some of the film\u2019s most memorable and iconic scenes. Many of them were thanks to tour-de-force animation from Disney Legend Ward Kimball.<\/p>\n Noted author and animation historian John Canemaker wrote, in his book, Walt Disney\u2019s Nine Old Men & The Art of Animation<\/em>: \u201cAnimating bizarre and insane Wonderland characters, Kimball was literally in his element. The Tweedles Dum and Dee, moved like water-filled balloons in patterned choreography reminiscent of an early Silly Symphony; the Mad Hatter and March Hare turn a jolly tea party into an anarchic Marx Brothers romp; and the purple, striped Cheshire Cat, speaking in a cool Peter Lorre-like monotone, with a dazzling smile pasted on his face, is perhaps the maddest of all.\u201d<\/p>\n Carroll\u2019s many other characters, from the books, were planned for Alice in Wonderland<\/em>, but never made the final film. The Mock Turtle and the Gryphon were ultimately cut, but were later brought back by Disney, appearing alongside Alice in animated Jell-O commercials.<\/p>\n Another of the film\u2019s renowned songs, \u201cA Very Merry Un-Birthday\u201d (The Unbirthday Song) was written by Mack David, Al Hoffman, and Jerry Livingston. For more on the music of Alice in Wonderland<\/em>, check out Greg Ehrbar\u2019s 2020 article<\/a>.<\/p>\n Released on July 26, 1951, in London and July 28, 1951, in New York, Walt and his Studio did quite a bit to promote the film, including making it the centerpiece of his first-ever TV project, the special, One Hour in Wonderland<\/em>. Shown on NBC on Christmas Day, 1950, it centered on the Disney Studio Christmas party, with Walt hosting, and Kathryn Beaumont as one of the guests.<\/p>\n During the special, Walt conjures up the Magic Mirror, from Snow White (played by Hans Conried), who shows scenes from Disney features and shorts, and then, at the end of the special, provides a sneak peek at Alice in Wonderland<\/em> by showing the film\u2019s Mad Tea Party sequence.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cartoonresearch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ALICE-COMEDIES-LOBBY.jpg\")
<\/a>Walt Disney and Alice in Wonderland<\/em> had such a long-standing relationship that it was inevitable that he and his artists would adapt author Lewis Carroll\u2019s books. <\/p>\n<\/a>Alice in Wonderland<\/em> continued through a slow production process that was eventually halted due to the lackluster box-office performance of Pinocchio<\/em> and Fantasia<\/em> (both 1940), as well as a loss of an overseas market, with World War II.<\/p>\n<\/a>Once there, she meets a cast of increasingly strange characters: the talking Doorknob; the Dodo; Tweedledum and Tweedledee (who relay the story of \u201cThe Walrus and the Carpenter\u201d); and the hookah-smoking Caterpillar.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>The songs in the film by Sammy Fain and Bob Hilliard included the title song, \u201cAlice in Wonderland,\u201d \u201cAll in the Golden Afternoon,\u201d and what would become one of the classics connected with Alice, the White Rabbit\u2019s \u201cI\u2019m Late.\u201d<\/p>\n