Alice in Wonderland (1903 film) - Alchetron, the free social encyclopedia

Alice in wonderland 1903 lewis carroll bfi national archive

Alice in Wonderland is a 1903 British silent film directed by Cecil Hepworth and Percy Stow. Only one copy of the original film is known to exist. The British Film Institute (BFI) partially restored the movie and its original film tinting and released it in 2010. According to BFI, the original film ran about 12 minutes; the restoration runs 9 minutes and 35 seconds. At the beginning of the restoration, it states that this is the first movie adaptation of Lewis Carroll's children's book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

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Plot

Alice follows a large white rabbit down a "Rabbit-hole". She finds a tiny door. When she finds a bottle labeled "Drink me", she does, and shrinks, but not enough to pass through the door. She then eats something labeled "Eat me" and grows larger. She finds a fan when enables her to shrink enough to get into the "Garden" and try to get a "Dog" to play with her. She enters the "White Rabbit's tiny House," but suddenly resumes her normal size. In order to get out, she has to use the "magic fan."

She enters a kitchen, in which there is a cook and a woman holding a baby. She persuades the woman to give her the child and takes the infant outside after the cook starts throwing things around. The baby then turns into a pig and squirms out of her grip. "The Duchess's Cheshire Cat" appears and disappears a couple of times to Alice and directs her to the Mad Hatter's "Mad Tea-Party." After a while, she leaves.

The Queen invites Alice to join the "ROYAL PROCESSION": a parade of marching playing cards and others headed by the White Rabbit. When Alice "unintentionally offends the Queen", the latter summons the "Executioner". Alice "boxes the ears", then flees when all the playing cards come for her. Then she wakes up and realizes it was all a dream.