Alice in Wonderland (1951 film)

Alice in Wonderland
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Ben Sharpsteen Clyde Geronimi Wilfred Jackson Hamilton Luske
Story by	Winston Hibler Ted Sears Bill Peet Erdman Penner Joe Rinaldi Milt Banta Bill Cottrell Dick Kelsey Joe Grant Dick Huemer Del Connell Tom Oreb John Walbridge
Based on	Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll
Produced by	Walt Disney
Starring	Kathryn Beaumont Ed Wynn Richard Haydn Sterling Holloway Jerry Colonna Verna Felton J. Pat O'Malley Bill Thompson Heather Angel
Edited by	Lloyd Richardson
Music by	Oliver Wallace
Production company	Walt Disney Productions
Distributed by	RKO Radio Pictures
Release dates	July 26, 1951 (1951-07-26) (London)[1] July 28, 1951 (1951-07-28) (New York City)[1] September 14, 1951 (1951-09-14) (United States)
Running time	75 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$3 million[2]
Box office	$2.4 million (1951, domestic) $3.5 million (1974, domestic)

Alice in Wonderland is a 1951 American animated musical fantasy comedy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. It is based on Lewis Carroll's 1865 novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its 1871 sequel Through the Looking-Glass. The production was supervised by Ben Sharpsteen, and was directed by Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, and Hamilton Luske. With the voices of Kathryn Beaumont, Ed Wynn, Richard Haydn, Sterling Holloway, Jerry Colonna, Verna Felton, J. Pat O'Malley, Bill Thompson, and Heather Angel, the film follows a young girl Alice who falls down a rabbit hole to enter a nonsensical world Wonderland that is ruled by the Queen of Hearts, while encountering strange creatures, including the Mad Hatter and the Cheshire Cat.

Walt Disney first tried to adapt Alice into a feature-length animated feature film in the 1930s starring Mary Pickford as Alice, but were scrapped in favor of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). However, the idea was eventually revived in the 1940s, following the success of Snow White. The film was originally intended to be a live-action/animated film, but Disney decided it would be the fully animated feature film. During its production, many sequences adapted from Carroll's books were later omitted, such as Jabberwocky, the White Knight, the Duchess, Mock Turtle and the Gryphon.

When it premiered at the Leicester Square Theatre in London on July 26, 1951, and in New York City on July 28, Alice in Wonderland was considered a disappointment, and was shown on television as one of the first episodes of Disneyland. Its 1974 re-release in theaters proved to be much more successful, leading to subsequent re-releases, merchandising and home video releases. Although the film received generally negative reviews on its initial release, it has been more positively reviewed over the years, being regarded as one of Disney's best animated films today.