Alice in Wonderland is a 1951 American animated musical fantasy comedy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and based on the Alice books by Lewis Carroll.
As the thirteenth release of Disney's animated features, the film premiered in London on July 26, 1951, and in New York City on July 28, 1951.
It features the voices of Kathryn Beaumont as Alice, Sterling Holloway as the Cheshire Cat, Verna Felton as the Queen of Hearts, and Ed Wynn as the Mad Hatter.
Walt Disney first tried to adapt Alice into a feature-length animated film in the 1930s and revived the idea in the 1940s.
The film was originally intended to be a live-action/animated film, but Disney decided it would be a fully animated film.
Alice in Wonderland was considered a disappointment on its initial release, therefore was shown on television as one of the first episodes of Disneyland.
Its 1974 re-release in theaters proved to be much more successful, leading to subsequent re-releases, merchandising and home video releases.
Although the film received generally negative critical reviews on its initial release, it has been more positively reviewed over the years
Alice in Wonderland premiered at the Leicester Square Theatre in London on July 26, 1951.
During the film's initial theatrical run, the film was released as a double feature with the True-Life Adventures documentary short, Nature's Half Acre.
Following the film's initial lukewarm reception, it was never re-released theatrically in Disney's lifetime, instead being shown occasionally on television.
Alice in Wonderland aired as the second episode of the Walt Disney's Disneyland television series on ABC on November 3, 1954, in a severely edited version cut down to less than an hour.
Beginning in 1971, the film was screened in several sold-out venues at college campuses, becoming the most rented film in some cities.
Then, in 1974, Disney gave Alice in Wonderland its first theatrical re-release.
The company even promoted it as a film in tune with the "psychedelic times", using radio commercials featuring the song "White Rabbit" performed by Jefferson Airplane.
This release was so successful that it warranted a subsequent re-release
Its first UK re-release was on July 26, 1979.