Adventures in Wonderland

Everyone must have their favorite/least favorite fairy tales, especially since Disney seems to have adapted most of them. My favorite when I was little was Cinderella, and it wasn't just the Disney version either. There was a Native American story called The Rough-Faced Girl that was pretty much the same thing. My least favorite, however, was Alice in Wonderland. I hadn't read either of the books, but I didn't like the Disney version. Well, the animated version, anyway. Disney did have a live-action show I liked called Adventures in Wonderland in the early 90s. I've been able to re-watch some episodes on YouTube, and from what I can remember it still somewhat holds up.
Okay, so right away there's a bias. The show isn't perfect, and it isn't set in England present-day or otherwise. That might be a turn-off for many who adore the original story and have seen other adaptations they enjoyed (I haven't seen many but I'll get to them later), but the actors work with what they've got. This results in some good episodes and some rather forgettable ones (the show lasted 100 episodes, so of course not every one is a gem). One of the first things you might notice is the acting style. Of course since the 90s we've had several live-action Disney shows come and go, but watching this one again now, I find it reminiscent of The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. Watch any episode you can find and see if certain characters don't alternately exude the qualities of Zack, Cody, Moseby, and London.
Anyway, Alice is played by Elizabeth Harnois, who you can currently see on CSI. She enters Wonderland daily through her looking glass and often encounters problems there similar to ones she is facing in her everyday life. And of course since it's Disney they have to sing about it. The quota is about three or four songs per episode, even if there's no good reason for it. Like the episodes themselves, some are great and others you just want to fast-forward through. One pet peeve I have is with the cinematography. Creepy close-up shots are not cute or funny, just annoying. On the plus side, there are occasional shout-outs to the original story and adaptations that remain truer to that original story. In that way, it is entertaining. Several episodes also make use of celebrity guest stars, and they do so pretty well in most cases. For instance, in one of my favorite episodes, Marlee Matlin plays the March Hare's cousin April, who teaches them sign-language (the reason they wanted to learn it was somewhat stupid, but I didn't care - I loved bunnies!). Another featured Gilbert Gottfried as a bully (his song sucked - the ones he got in Return of Jafar are much better) and a wandering Willie Nelson singing narration and strumming his guitar in front of the confused and increasingly bemused cast of characters wondering who he was and why he was there.
Being from the 90s, it is a bit dated. I'm not just talking about special effects or computer technology either. Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, at least in earlier episodes, are dressed like twin clones of MC Hammer. All their songs pretty much sounded the same to me, but I'll take them over the rapping Cheshire Cat from the Care Bears version anytime. But if we're talking about dated, there was an even earlier adaptation from the late 80s that I can't seem to track down. It's animated and I think also not set in England (at least I don't remember any of the voice actors sounding British). It wasn't bad, though, just weird (about on par with a movie I was able to track down, The Snow Queen with Kirsten Dunst and Mickey Rooney). As far as other adaptations go, this Mad Hatter looks more like Johnny Depp's Willy Wonka rather than Depp's own Mad Hatter. However, don't let that turn you off. The person whose YouTube channel I found this on seems to be a fan of this actor, and in fact my favorite episode happens to be a Mad Hatter episode - "The Copy-Catter Hatter."

Until next time, "Use your imagination, you'll understand...It's an adventure in Wonderland."
http://s62.beta.photobucket.com/user/ShadowGalactica/media/CCSWonderland2.jpg.html?sort=3&o=90
http://s62.beta.photobucket.com/user/ShadowGalactica/media/Wonderlandcast.jpg.html?sort=3&o=92
http://s62.beta.photobucket.com/user/ShadowGalactica/media/FBWonderland.jpg.html?sort=3&o=94
http://s62.beta.photobucket.com/user/ShadowGalactica/media/SyFyAlice.jpg.html?sort=3&o=93

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention a certain episode of the 2003 Ninja Turtles Cartoon. Casey's mom is testing April by making her do chores at the farm (mostly stuff with the apples), and Leo and Master Splinter secretly help her out. I thought that was kind of sweet.