World of Wonderland is a 1970 American live-action/animated fantasy musical comedy adventure film produced by Paramount Cartoon Studios. The 17th feature film from the studio, it was directed by George Burke and Lana Ponce. The film is inspired by the Alice in Wonderland stories by Lewis Carroll. In this film, it follows three 8-year-old kids who enter to the fantasitical and whimsical world of Wonderland, where they venture on a White Rabbit’s trail to the mysterious destination, while encountering Wonderland‘s other residence, and avoiding the villainous and dangerous dragon-alike monster known as Jabberwock.
It was originally been thought up at Paramount Cartoon Studios in 1965, but shipped to Paramount Animation Studios as development then began in October 1967, after Paramount Cartoon Studios shut down. It was Paramount Pictures' first animated film since A Princess Tale in 1967, as well as the studio's first animated film to be produced at its in-house feature animation studio, which was formed by a team of former employees from Kenny & Kella Young Productions, led by Bruke and Ponce, as well as other animation studios, such as Famous Studios, Warner Bros. Cartoons and Terrytoons. World of Wonderland was originally released on December 18, 1970 to generally positive reviews from critics, who praised its animation, voice acting, and story. World of Wonderland went on to gross $82 million worldwide in theaters, making it a box-office hit while produced on a modest $85 million budget. A direct-to-video sequel titled Return to Wonderland was released in 2000.
Plot[]
In present day London, Alice's family is setting up for an family picnic at the Regent's Park, but realizes that Alice is missing. True enough, outside from her house, where Alice and her pet kitten Dinah are searching through the town to look for a white rabbit that she saw last night, until her family shows up to her and they all drove to the park.
While arriving at the park for a picnic, Alice spots the white rabbit and chases after him to a rabbit hole, until she and Dinah get bumped by two boys she met earlier, American-native Phillip and Irish-native Robert, and fall down into the rabbit hole to other world, where the kids continues to follow the rabbit’s trail, only to seeing him leave through a tiny mousehole-like door, whose guardian, a mouse, advises them to shrink to an appropriate height by drinking from a bottle marked "Drink Me". Upon entering, they get swept away through the ocean until got saved by the mouse and take them to a fantasy world named Wonderland, where they meet Pat the Dodo, who leads a Caucus Race where animals run everywhere to dry themselves. As Pat feeds the kids with a cookie labeled "Eat Me" to grow them back to normal size, Alice and the gang journey off for search the white rabbit, only to being warned about a monster known as the Jabberwock by Pat.
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Cast[]
- Pamelyn Ferdin as Alice, the main protagonist of the film.
- Billie Mae Richards as Philip, an American boy who moved to from United Sates.
- Danny Bonaduce as Robert, an Irish boy who moved to from Ireland.
- Alan Young as the White Rabbit
- Don Knotts as the Mouse
- John Cleese as Pat the Dodo
- Will Ryan as Bill the Lizard
- Sammy Davis, Jr. as the Cheshire Cat
- Dom DeLuise as the White Knight
- John Hurt as the Caterpillar
- Tim Curry as the Jabberwock
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Production[]
Development[]
The idea for World of Wonderland started at Paramount Cartoon Studios in 1965, under the original title Wonderland. However, the idea of the film was never began in production until October 1967, while being shipped to Paramount Animation Studios, after Paramount Cartoon Studios was shut down. Lewis Carroll's well-known children's novels Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass were two of Lana Ponce's favorites books as a young girl, and she and George Burke was also funded with the film adaptations of the books, including Walt Disney's 1951 classic animated film Alice in Wonderland and Hanna-Barbera's 1966 animated television special Alice in Wonderland or What's a Nice Kid Like You Doing in a Place Like This?.
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Fliming and animation[]
The film was mainly animated at the main Paramount Animation Studios facility located in Los Angeles, California, United States.
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Casting[]
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Soundtrack[]
- "Wonderland" (sung by David Bowie)
- "I Wonder" (sung by Alice, voiced by Pamelyn Ferdin)
- "That's a Weird Place" (sung by Alice, Philip and Robert, voiced by Pamelyn Ferdin, Billie Mae Richards and Danny Bonaduce, respectively)
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Release[]
The film was released to theaters on November 20, 1970, by Paramount Pictures in the United States.
Home media[]
World of Wonderland was released on VHS, Betamax and Laserdisc by Paramount Home Video. It was later released under Paramount Home Entertainment brand on VHS and Laserdisc in 1988. A 25th Anniversary VHS edition was released on April 4, 1995, alongside a Laserdisc release. This was followed by another VHS release under the Paramount Family Favorites label on October 1, 1996. On May 2, 2000, a 2-disc DVD set called the "30th Anniversary Edition" was released and included special features such as audio commentary from both individuals and an interview featurette. The film was also released on VHS and DVD under the Paramount Animation Collection label on January 15, 2002.
On July 6, 2010, a two-disc DVD was released for the film's 40th anniversary, featuring much of the bonus material from the 2000 DVD as well as newer features.
World of Wonderland will be re-released on HD and 4K digital download on March 24, 2020 for the film's 50th anniversary, with a physical media re-release on Blu-ray and Ultra HD Blu-ray on April 14, 2020, as part of the Paramount Signature Collection.
On March 4, 2021, World of Wonderland, along with other Paramount Animation films, was available on Paramount+.
Reception[]
Reception of World of Wonderland was well-received by critics. Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 81% based on 64 reviews with an average rating of 6.7/10. The website's consensus reads, "World of Wonderland a fresh feature-length debut for Paramount Animation that remains classic to this day." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 64 out of 100 points, based on 32 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Sequel[]
- Main article: Return to Wonderland
A direct-to-video sequel titled Return to Wonderland was released in 2000. The sequel takes place 29 years after the original film.
Transcripts[]
Main[]
To see the main transcript of the film, click here.
Trailers[]
To see the transcript for the trailers of the film, click here.