October 18, 2011
Pap the Disney Gamer's
Highlights: Alice in
Wonderland (1951
animated version)
Developed by: Digital
Eclipse
System: Game Boy
Color

In 1951, Walt Disney
released one of his most
divisive films yet:
Alice in
Wonderland.
Originally, it was seen
as a poor adaptation of
the classic Lewis
Carroll book about a
young girl and her
adventures in the land
of wonder. In the
last few years, Disney's
Alice in Wonderland
has gone from a nearly
shunned feature film to
being almost up there
with the likes of
Snow White, Peter Pan,
and Beauty and
the Beast
in terms of popularity.
What it lacks in a
coherent, dramatic story
it makes it up with
visually captivating
concepts, catchy music
and pure, enchanting
nonsense. In some cases,
Alice is just as
recognizable as the
Disney princesses, and
the rest of the
characters are just as
beloved. In 2000,
Nintendo along with
Digital Eclipse, gave us
the video game
adaptation of the
feature film, and the
results were quite
pleasing!

You play as Alice as the
game follows the events
of the film. You will
start in the real world
and end up in Wonderland
through the famous
rabbit hole. In here,
you will encounter many
of the characters seen
in the movie, such as
the Cheshire Cat, the
White Rabbit, and, of
course, the Mad Hatter.
The gameplay is a
classic 2D platformer
consisting of various
levels based on some of
the famous locales of
both the classic Lewis
Carroll book as well as
the Disney feature film.
It is a typical way to
adapt a Disney movie,
sure, but for Alice in
Wonderland it worked
really well. Each level
has you completing a
mission, such as evading
the books and other
items that liter the
rabbit hole and even
interacting with Tweedle
Dum and Tweedle Dee. You
will even grow small and
large just like in the
story!

The levels are
straightforward enough
that anyone can easily
figure them out, but
they have enough
creativity that they
manage to be as
whimsical and creative
as in the feature film.
Many nods to the movie,
such as the "drink me"
bottle, and portraits of
the main characters can
be seen through each of
the levels. In order to
further capitalize on
the story, throughout
the game you will see
very colorful and
detailed cutscenes that
add just enough story to
familiarize the players
with the plot and its
zany characters.

Speaking of which, Alice
in Wonderland was
released as a Game Boy
Color exclusive. In
1998, Nintendo released
an updated version of
their famous Game Boy
featuring a color
screen. The added
graphical prowess gave
developers the chance to
create vivid games with
larger than life
characters and creative
uses of color. With
Alice in
Wonderland
featuring beautiful
artwork by the great
Mary Blair and fantastic
Disney animation, it is
no surprise that Digital
Eclipse tried their best
to replicate the film's
quirky aesthetic in
digital form. And it
worked. The character
sprites move fluidly and
are very detailed. The
levels are very colorful
and like I mentioned,
cutscenes adorn nearly
every level.

In terms of sound
design, Alice in
Wonderland surprisingly
lacks some of the film's
most iconic songs.
However, the original
music created for this
game is just as
whimsical as the tunes
heard in the feature
film. It is still
unfortunate that we
didn't get a Game Boy
rendition of tunes such
as "The Unbirthday
Song."

Alice in Wonderland is a
great story to make a
game out of. This Game
Boy Color adaptation
works well enough that
anyone can get into it,
whether they love the
original concept or not.
The appeal of its
characters and the
colorful environments
make this a great treat
for Game Boy fans young
and old. Best of all,
you don't need to follow
the White Rabbit in
order to enjoy the
beauty, madness and fun
of Wonderland.