If you don't feel like leafing through the pages and chapters of Lewis Caroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, let a 1903 silent film tell you the story in 8 minutes!
Almost 150 years after its publication in 1865, Lewis Caroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (shortened to its common and best known title, Alice in Wonderland) remains one of the most popular and adored books/stories for children. Many movies and television adaptations have since been made, the first being a silent motion picture from 1903—only 37 years after the book was published and 8 years after the emergence of the motion picture era.
The British silent film was directed by Percy Stow and Cecil Hepworth, one of the founders and early pillars of British cinema. Today, the original film has only one copy and some parts of it are missing. The British Film Institute, who did a partial restoration, says:
“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.”
Now, on to the motion picture itself:
Sources and additional readings:
Alice in Wonderland, 1903 on How to be a Retronaut
Alice in Wonderland (1903 film) on Wikipedia
What do you think of the first Alice in Wonderland motion picture? Tell us with a comment below!
5 comments
jorgikosca
Cool! I´m going to translate it!
freckleface
Absolutely LOVE Alice in wonderland :D
clownshoes
Can't imagine restoring a film with that much age; had plenty of messes with 16mm.
atria007
greatttt i love it ^_^
liquorice
As I've said at Lomography.es I love Alice's adventures, and I find this article really good! Thank you for sharing it! (: