Alice in Wonderland
RKO Radio Pictures | Release Date: September 14, 1951 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
68
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 10 Critic Reviews
Positive:
8
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
Slant MagazineChris Cabin
Of course, Alice in Wonderland has long been the Disney film of choice in the realm of drug cinema, but this radical and ridiculous trip through a bombastically colored otherworld imparts a balanced wisdom that goes beyond bong-rip philosophizing. Read full review
80
VarietyStaff (Not Credited)
Walt Disney has gone a long way towards tightening the leisurely, haphazard adventure of Alice in the wonderland of her imagination. He has dropped some characters and sequences in the interest of a better picture, but the deletions are not missed. Read full review
80
IGNCindy White
Though it may not add up to more than the sum of its parts, animation fans have come to appreciate Alice in Wonderland over the years for the care and effort put into it, despite its flaws. Read full review
75
TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not Credited)
The film is dazzling in its use of color and odd shapes and is enhanced by the distinctive voices of Ed Wynn as the Mad Hatter, Sterling Holloway as the Cheshire Cat, Jerry Colonna as the March Hare, and Verna Felton as the Queen of Hearts. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
Little besides an endless stream of ditties—only a few of them memorable—carries the film from one scene to the next. For anyone not just coasting along with the visuals, it can start to feel like a movie to be gotten through more than enjoyed. Read full review
70
The New York TimesBosley Crowther
If you are not too particular about the images of Carroll and Tenniel, if you are high on Disney whimsey and if you'll take a somewhat slow, uneven pace, you should find this picture entertaining. Read full review
70
Time OutStaff (Not Credited)
Disney’s frantic take on Lewis Carroll may lack much of the book’s illogical charm, but it does contain one of the great proto-psychedelic sequences in cinema: a dazzling, disturbing explosion of colour and sound. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineEric Henderson
This lack of force-fed moralizing, coupled with its diffuse plot and hazily psychedelic imagery, makes it hardly surprising that the film’s revival came about when it developed a cult following. Read full review
60
Chicago ReaderDave Kehr
The Disney version (1951) lightens and sweetens Lewis Carroll's tale, but what's really disappointing is the undistinguished animation: the film looks and plays more like the Disney shorts than the Disney features, though the Cheshire Cat (voiced by Sterling Holloway) is a small masterpiece of elusive menace. Read full review
60
EmpireJo Berry
It's colourful, fun and as surreal as Disney is ever likely to get, this isn't as good as the books, but works as a cute introduction to them. Read full review
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