Alice in Wonderland Review

On Disc Trailers:

No one ever talks about trailers on Blu-rays or DVDs, mostly because everyone skips over them. Not me…alright I actually do and I hate them, but hey someone has to review them.

Winnie the Pooh: Going to be awesome, looks beautiful in 1080p. Coming to theaters this summer.

Bambi: I already pre-ordered this one on Amazon, and it is going to look beautiful. Completely restored as part of the Disney Diamond Editions.Comes out the first week in March.

Disney Blu-ray 3D: Just a bunch of mixed trailers for all the different 3D movies. They did showcase The Nightmare Before Christmas, which I would really like to have in 3D. It is already one of the best looking Blu-ray movies that I own.

Don’t Smoke Trailer: Why is this here? Waste of time.

Additionally there are 4 more trailers that you can watch via the menu. All in all it was only about 8 minutes of trailers which isn’t so bad. One new feature on this Blu-ray which I have not seen before is that there is an on screen display during each trailer to skip it and go to the next, or just skip all of them. I hope we see more of this in the future.

Video:

Before I get started on video quality let me first say Alice in Wonderland was originally done in 4×3 so like other Disney movies you have the option to keep your black bars on the left and right or you can put on DisneyView. DisneyView will put little pieces of artwork on the left and right side to fill in the back space, which you have probably seen on other Disney movies. If you have a super amazing television with super blacks then you can probably leave it off, but I actually like the look of DisneyView so I always turn it on . I don’t think it will effect your movie viewing experience at all no matter what your choice is.

From the very beginning of the movie you can tell that this transfer was going to be beautiful. As drawing scroll across the screen the colors are extremely vibrant. Once the animation starts everything just pops. You can literally see the layers that were drawn. This lasts through the entire 75 minutes of the movie, and I must say that Alice has never looked better than on Blu-ray!

Audio:

The Blu-ray features 2 completely different audio options for you. First is a completely restored original score and also a full 5.1 DTS-HD digital remastered track. I chose to go with the original score and it sounded just fine. The mix overall was well put together as I didn’t have to adjust the audio volume at all throughout the movie which was great. I am a not really an audiophile, but this restored score sounded very crisp and didn’t have any crackles at all.

Movie:

I mean Alice in Wonderland is a classic catalogue title that can be enjoyed by anyone.  It is based on the original  Lewis Carroll novels and it took Walt Disney years to adapt it to an animated movie. It tells the story of Alice as she follows a White Rabbit who is late for a very important date. She ends up falling down the rabbit’s hole and finds herself in a whole new world filled with all sorts of characters as she tries to find the white rabbit and eventually get back home. There are a lot of hidden references and odd things to enjoy, and the only problem is that it is only 75 minutes and you will want more. If you saw the new Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland and enjoyed it you are sure to enjoy the original.

Extras:

Let’s talk a little bit about on disc extras. The Blu-ray packs the full DVD version along with the Blu-ray in the packaging which is a nice addition for families that might not have in car blu-ray or portable blu-ray devices. I do find it a bit odd that Disney did not include a digital copy as most of their Blu-rays have been including all three, but I am alright because I don’t use either. Last year Disney released Alice in Wonderland on DVD to coincide with the movie release, but Blu-ray fans were left to wait until now. I am glad to report that all of the DVD features are included on this disc and Disney has update both the Operation Wonderland and Thru the Mirror Mickey Mouse animated short to HD. Thru the looking glass is a really cool animated short that takes a Mickey Mouse spin on Lewis Carroll’s novel. There are a plethora of extras featuring Kathryn Beaumont who originally voiced and acted as Alice. There are a lot of extra behind the scene documentaries that give you a really interesting insight into how the movie was made over 60 years ago. There are also a lot of short features such as original trailers, deleted scenes, and TV introductions by Walt himself. There are also a lot of throw away features such as extra trailers and a game. Overall Disney has packed a bunch of nice extras and it is appreciated.

Bottom line:

I buy a lot of Blu-ray movies and I have to say for $20 or even cheaper with coupons this one is a must buy. Not only does Alice look absolutely amazing, but this disc is packed with tons of extras. Even if you are like me and don’t “love” extras there is something in here for everyone. DisneyView really helps fill in the blank space of the 4×3 presentation and is a nice touch. Of all my movies in collection this is close to being in my top 10.

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