Alice of Wonderland in Paris (1966)
Article 5721 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 3-7-2020
Directed by Gene Deitch
Featuring the voices of Luce Ennis, Norma MacMillan, Howard Morris
Country: USA
What it is: Odd little animated anthology

Alice of the Wonderland stories wishes to go to a real Wonderland – Paris! She does so with the help of a mouse doing a cheese survey. In the process, several stories are told.

This animated movie has a fairly dismal rating on IMDB, and I can see why; those expecting a variation on the Lewis Carroll stories will find very little of it here (though two stories are told featuring fellow fictional character Madeline), and the animation is on the threadbare side (Gene Deitch mostly worked with Terrytoons). I myself wasn’t sure what to expect, but an animated anthology was certainly a surprise. Yet, for all of the weaknesses of this one, I eventually found it to be rather charming. I think what did it for me was the denouement of the story about the princess who wanted the moon; the princess’s explanation about how the moon can be up in the sky as well as hanging about her neck has just the right touch of magical wonder to warm my heart. The other stories are merely okay, and the framing story with Alice and the talking mouse is mostly forgettable, though even that has a charming moment when Alice first meets Madeline. I wouldn’t exactly call the movie a success, but it has its points of interest.