My favorite versions of "Alice in Wonderland"

While I'm enjoying a fine meritage, absorbing the scents of a heady patchouli incense, and thrilling to Jonathan Miller's exquisitely trippy 60s version of "Alice in Wonderland", I realize that, as a life-long Alice aficionado, it's about time to list my Top Three versions of the story, in order.  Because they all have something to do with my Mid-Century heritage and my penchant for the sense of experimentation inherent in the era:

Number One Version: the one in my head when I read the original text.  The classic Tenniel drawings come to life.  And the voices in my head are, truly, more mystical and vibrant than any other interpretation.



Number Two Version: Hands down, the 1951 Disney animated version.  Because this one has songs and, even more importantly,the incredible artwork of the supreme and sublime Mary Blair.Pay close attention to the film next time you watch: the backgrounds are almost ALL Blair.

Beyond-wonderful Mary Blair concept art for the Disney version.

And, newly realized, as of 8 PM today:

Number Three Version: the 1966 Jonathan Miller BBC TV play.

Sitar music.  Peter Cook as the Mad Hatter.  And an Alice who tumbles through her own world, no animal caricatures in sight, but real adults showing up as the mad, stressed-out caricatures themselves, trying to make sense out of the nonsensical Victorian world they're a part of.  As Miller put it himself, "Once you take the animal heads off, you begin to see what it's all about. A small child, surrounded by hurrying, worried people, thinking 'Is that what being grown up is like?'"

What could possibly hedge out these Top Three?  That would be the much-anticipated tarot version, as interpreted by Baba Studio of Prague, the launch date (hopefully) this autumn.