The last time she saw them, they were trying to put the Dormouse into the teapot

[sovay]

Discovery that will improve some day of mine as soon as I can afford it: Jonathan Miller's Alice in Wonderland (1966) is finally out on DVD in a region I can watch. One of the extras is Dennis Potter's Wednesday Play Alice (1965), essentially his first version of Dreamchild (1985). My thanks go out to Tim Burton for providing the timely excuse: I had just been planning to pine for the BFI's Alice series. Now if only someone would get around to releasing a real DVD of Dreamchild.

Comments

[nineweaving.livejournal.com]

I've been wanting the Jonathan Miller Alice since 1966, when I saw a story on it in a magazine.

I really want Dreamchild as well, but one reviewer says the DVD-R won't play in the disk drives of PCs, which is all I have. Ack!

Nine

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I didn't know the 1933 film existed. Cary Grant as the Mock Turtle, Gary Cooper as the White Knight- how very extraordinary!

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

It's interesting and curious that Alice in Wonderland has such a history in film. Why is it? Is it just that the dreamlike scenarios that Lewis Carroll created lend themselves to film, or is there something more to it than that, I wonder.

From the way my kids described the Tim Burton Alice in Wonderland (which they didn't like very much), I think I'd hate it. The BFI's Alice--at least the clips available on YouTube, is very cool.

[deliasherman.livejournal.com]

I'd love to see the Jonathan Miller Alice, and am waiting for a watchable Dreamchild DVD myself. As long as you're collecting Alices, here is a link to a 1915 version that has some truly surreal moments in it: http://www.archive.org/details/AliceinWonderland1915

[strange-selkie.livejournal.com]

I have Dreamchild saved on my DVR because I thought it would be an excellent thing to watch the next time you visited.

Excellent.

And I am still writing the thing, btw, but new parts are all in my head because the baby has a cold.

[ap-aelfwine.livejournal.com]

Interesting. I'd not known of that particular film version. I'm glad it's available, and I hope you're able to get yourself a copy soon.

[stephen-dedman.livejournal.com]

It's actually mentioned in Dreamchild (and, IIRC, The Annotated Alice).

I have a VHS copy of Dreamchild, and am considering copying it to DVD for watching until a real DVD comes out.

[sovay]

Cary Grant as the Mock Turtle, Gary Cooper as the White Knight- how very extraordinary!

Edward Everett Horton as the Mad Hatter!

[sovay]

I have Dreamchild saved on my DVR because I thought it would be an excellent thing to watch the next time you visited.

You DVR'd it! When was it on television? Awesome.

And I am still writing the thing, btw, but new parts are all in my head because the baby has a cold.

That is wonderful, too. I look forward to the baby's health and new words.

[sovay]

I've been wanting the Jonathan Miller Alice since 1966, when I saw a story on it in a magazine.

I hope by now you have a copy!

I really want Dreamchild as well, but one reviewer says the DVD-R won't play in the disk drives of PCs, which is all I have. Ack!

I'm still holding out hope that Criterion will do a Dennis Potter set. They really have no excuse not to.

[sovay]

and am waiting for a watchable Dreamchild DVD myself.

Maybe we should start a letter campaign.

As long as you're collecting Alices, here is a link to a 1915 version that has some truly surreal moments in it

I'm good with truly surreal. Thank you!

[sovay]

Is it just that the dreamlike scenarios that Lewis Carroll created lend themselves to film, or is there something more to it than that, I wonder.

I think it's partly the fact that beloved books tend to inspire adaptations—look at how many versions there are of A Christmas Carol, for example, or Pride and Prejudice—but I agree that there's something about the imagery that people keep returning to; the unpredictability, the satire that is pure silliness until you grow up to it (and then it's no less silly, it's just more significant), the atmosphere of logical nonsense that the reader (like Alice) can never quite work out ahead of the characters. There's a lot there, and I think everyone wants their own chance to work with it. Filmmakers as well as writers as well as artists as well as . . .