Catholic-ometer: 3.5 of 5
Enjoyability: 5 of 5
This is the Disney version of the movie I'm reviewing; the one with Katherine Beaumont playing the voice of the curious, energetic, dinner-bell-shaped, delightfully-pedantic character of Alice. I'm just going to say this up front; it has little to teach anyone morally or religiously, but in spite of this, I think this is one of the most fun movies I've ever watched.
In retrospect, in fact, there are a couple of really good ways to watch this film; both of which are very enjoyable.
Way number one is to look for the symbolism in the story, and believe me when I say that it is there. The original Alice in Wonderland books were brilliantly-disguised pieces of social and political sattire, with the behaviors of the various characters poking fun at a number of trends which existed at the time, and much the same thing can be found here.
You can easily see corrupt, greedy elitists in the Walrus, hardworking, but still rather selfish ordinary people in the Carpenter, Dodo could be a parody of every foolish figure in public office who tries to solve problems by making them worse, and seems utterly oblivious to the cares of those he's hurting, etc... Then, of course, the symbolism found in characters like the stuck-up, in-crowdy flower patch, the beatnik caterpillar and the Queen of Hearts are so easy to decypher as to be laughable.
On the other hand, you could just watch it the way that I nearly always watch it; laugh in delight as Alice uses her apparently-magic skirt to parachute down into Wonderland, grows and shrinks incessantly, and meets all manner of ridiculous things and people in the process. In short, you could watch the movie just for fun; as a welcome escape from the world of men.
My favorite animated Disney movies of all time are Fantasia, Beauty and the Beast, and this movie. Each plays a special role and each does something different. Fantasia tells no single, concrete story. Beauty and the Beast tells a very definite story. Alice in Wonderland is middle-of-the-roadish, in that it tells a series of mini-stories which last only a short time, and are rather disconnected from one another. Weird things happen, the main character moves on, and more weird things happen. This is the element of the movie that every child loves.
However, as an adult, I find something more in Alice than I do in Wonderland. To be perfectly honest, I think the personality of Alice is as much of a draw for me as the land she explores. Alice is very curious and brave; daring and bold, but not obnoxious. Perhaps most distinctively, Alice distinguishes herself from other cartoon heroines in that she seems to have a raging obsession with formality, dignity and politeness, which I still find one of the most charming traits any protagonist could possibly have.
Speaking personally, I never saw Alice as an everyman type, or an avatar for the viewer. Of all the amazing things in Wonderland, she, a child who's truly concerned with being polite, may be one of the most amazing. Children may relate to her confusion at seeing so many strange things in the world, and her sense of wonder when she encounters them, but I think it would be too much to suggest that there is any child quite like her.
Any problems that I might have with this film stem entirely from its lack of any clear message or moral, and that's merely a personal bias of mine. I also would have liked it to be longer, but I think that about most of the movies I really enjoy. If you like odd characters, strange behaviors, weird situations, bizarre creatures, and just plain unusualness all around, seen with the eyes of a protagonist who's as dignified and polite as the world is strange, then what you're looking for can probably be found in Wonderland.
In fact, in a way, all of this is reminiscent of our own desired destiny; a journey onwards into a world of great wonders and fewer limits in terms of what is and isn't possible.
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