The animator will note in particular Hall’s ability to capture movement in the still drawing. Apart from the rabbit hole, there are many other examples – Alice’s changes of size, Bill going up like a sky-rocket, the cook’s tantrums and Alice’s escape with the baby. Surreal colour, animation of inanimate objects in the Queen’s garden, all combine to make a feast for the eye and the mind.
Little of Hall’s inspiration appears in the final Disney film of 1951, in itself a remarkable and underestimated work, but the quality and originality of Hall’s work – whether you think it fits Carroll or not – can now be seen standing alongside the text. It throws light on the original and is a reminder of the kind of artistic talent that Disney attracted.
Mr Sibley’s Afterword is a model of succinctness. As a former secretary of the Lewis Carroll Society and for many years sympathetic to the best of Disney, he has packed a mine of information about Carroll, Hall and Disney into 18 pages, a fitting tribute to literary and artistic genius.
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by David Hall, is published by Methuen at £9.95.
All illustrations © 1986 The Walt Disney Company.
page 1 | page 2
Printed in Animator Issue 18 (Spring 1987)