Published on Aug 7, 1999
The one benefit of being a parent is that one of these days, I
will have seen every Disney film ever made. Of course, when child
number one is of the mindframe that the only movies ever made
feature Pooh Bear, Buzz Lightyear and the Rugrats (okay, so they’re
not Disney; my kid doesn’t know, much less care), it’s sometimes
hard to get them to branch out to the other films. I’ve had some
limited success with
Bambi, but I have yet to get her to sit down for
Alice In Wonderland.
So, here I am again, stuck with the unenviable task of reviewing
a soundtrack without having seen the movie. Fortunately, like many
Disney movies, you can follow along with the music and have a
pretty good idea of what would be happening on the big (or, in the
case of our household, the little) screen.
Alice In Wonderland is interesting because there is almost
as many musical numbers with the characters singing as there are
mood pieces. Of special interest is “The Walrus And The Carpenter,”
a happy little ditty which sings “of cabbages and kings”, a memory
of my childhood (regarding a local television show that used to be
on early Saturday mornings before cartoons).
Even if you’ve never seen the whole movie from beginning to end,
it’s easy to imagince certain scenes in your head thanks to the
music. I can see the March Hare making a mad dash to get wherever
he is going in the course of “I’m Late,” and I can see the tea
party in progress as “The Unbirthday Song” is sung.
But I will admit, if you’ve seen the film, you’re better off
with the comprehension of this music. While I can appreciate the
music for its esoteric qualities, there are times where I found
myself getting lost, like in the medley of “The Trial / The
Unbirthday Song (Reprise) / Rule 42 / Off With Her Head / The
Caucus Race (Reprise) / Please Wake Up Alice / Time For Tea /
Finale (Alice In Wonderland)”. (Whew!
That was a mouthful to type!)
The music itself is nice, though not as spectacular as earlier
Disney films like
Dumbo. But when it is all said and done,
Alice In Wonderland is a disc that will be appreciated more
by the person who has seen the film and who loves it. Guess I’ll be
hiding the Winnie-The-Pooh tapes in order to con my daughter into
selecting this one soon.