Alice in Wonderland (1903)

The first-ever film version of Lewis Carroll's tale has recently been restored by the BFI National Archive from severely damaged materials. Made just 37 years after Lewis Carroll wrote his novel and eight years after the birth of cinema, the adaptation was directed by Cecil Hepworth and Percy Stow, and was based on Sir John Tenniel's original illustrations. In an act that was to echo more than 100 years later, Hepworth cast his wife as the Red Queen, and he himself appears as the Frog Footman. Even the Cheshire cat is played by a family pet.

With a running time of just 12 minutes (8 of which survive), Alice in Wonderland was the longest film produced in England at that time. Film archivists have been able to restore the film's original colours for the first time in over 100 years.

Music: 'Jill in the Box', composed and performed by Wendy Hiscocks.

This restoration was supported by The Headley Trust and The Pilgrim Trust.

To find out more about the film, visit http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/974410/

To book tickets to 'Alice in Wonderland - A BFI IMAX 3D Experience', visit http://www.bfi.org.uk/whatson/bfi_imax/coming_soon/now_booking/alice_in_wonde...

To find out more about BFI Southbank's season of Alice in Wonderland adaptations, visit http://www.bfi.org.uk/whatson/bfi_southbank/film_programme/march_seasons/alic...

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• BFI
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• Alice
• in
• Wonderland
• Lewis
• Carroll
• Tim
• Burton
• Disney
• Silent
• Movie
• Cecil
• Hepworth
• Percy
• Stow
• Cheshire
• Cat
• White
• Rabbit
• Hole
• Queen
• of
• Hearts
• Frog
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• Mad
• Hatter
• March
• Hare
• Children
• Dog
• Restoration

[Eternalgamers1]

Kids of today might not know this but there was a time when filmmaking was an art and

Not full of fake tits and c.g.i

[MrSkate4weed]

everyone in this movie is dead, even the children

[lancsccc21]

@Eternalgamers1 Adults of today that like to generalise kids so much may not realise that there are just as many kids that appreciate this as art as there are that enjoy watching films with fake tits and cgi.

[speedmans24]

Im 14 and I think this is better than the Disney version I watched growing up.

[samriverh]

@Eternalgamers1 If you don't think people are making artful films today it's probably because the only movies you watch have fake tits and cgi.

[claireredfield79]

Always better than 2010's Alice

[andyg974]

:D ! Visit our channel please! :) Mariana & Andrea, :]

[SmilesAndCandy24]

@ArianaGlove What do you expect it was made in 1903!!!!

[Andrewsmate]

Magical. Alice was played by Mabel Clark the makers (Hepworth's) secretary.

[GmanDaGlitcha]

Alice the dead movie o_O

[MIZZUKBABY]

im a 20 year old woman and I think is absolutely breathtaking. Even more breathtaking is to see how far cinema has come today. It's great to see how cinema has evolved and I absolutely love this and how much effort evidently went into creating this silent film.

[ponomarefify]

ah from alice wonderland 2010 of 2011