Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that Alice does just about everything we tell kids not to do, including going off with strangers and eating and drinking things that may be dangerous. During the psychedelic 1960s, the scene with the caterpillar puffing on a hookah was popularly considered to be a reference to opium or hashish -- possibly because the movie, like the book, has such a surreal and dream-like quality -- but there's nothing in the movie (or the book) to suggest that connection.
Families can talk about the dreamy world Alice finds herself in. Which of these wild characters is your favorite? Why do they celebrate un-birthdays in Wonderland? Could you celebrate one right now? Why does Alice sing the song "I Give Myself Very Good Advice (But I Very Seldom Follow It)"? When did you give yourself good advice and not follow it?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Nell Minow
The children's classic by Lewis Carroll about the girl who falls down a rabbit hole is presented by Disney in this lively and tuneful version. Alice is reading with her sister when she sees a white rabbit, fully dressed, muttering about being late. She follows him down a rabbit hole to Wonderland, where she grows bigger and smaller, meets the Cheshire Cat, attends a mad tea party, talks to a caterpillar who puffs on a hookah, and triumphs over the Queen of Hearts, before finding that it was all a dream.
Like another perennial favorite, The Wizard of Oz, this is the story of a girl who thinks she wants to go somewhere exciting, but, once she gets there, spends the entire time trying to find her way home. Wonderland may be different and exciting, but its inhabitants are often rude and unfriendly, even hostile. It's worth noting that Alice does just about everything we tell kids not to do, including going off with strangers and eating and drinking things that may be dangerous. She acknowledges her mistakes in a song that kids will relate to: "I Give Myself Very Good Advice (But I Very Seldom Follow It)."
Kids may enjoy silly characters like the Mad Hatter and March Hare (they love the celebration of "unbirthdays"), and the tantrums of the despotic Queen of Hearts, who constantly screams "Off with their heads!"
Families who like fantasy worlds and wily characters will also enjoy The Wizard of Oz, A Little Princess, and Bedknobs and Broomsticks.
Rate It!
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ViolenceThe Queen of Hearts yells "off with her head!" but as a card she's hard to take too seriously. |
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Social Behavior |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoHookah smoking. |
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