Introduction
Directed and produced by Jonathan Miller. Written by Lewis Carroll. (PG)
Lewis Carroll's story Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was published in 1865; it has since become a classic of children's literature and is known and loved by many. It has become legend that Carroll (real name: Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) improvised the tale to his young friend Alice Liddell one summer's afternoon on a boat trip in Oxford in 1862. The book enjoyed such success that Carroll was given an audience with Queen Victoria. The sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There was published in 1871. Carroll's books were different to usual Victorian children's literature with its strong moralizing element. Here, for the first time, was a series of children's books that were simply intelligent, humorous and fun.
There have been numerous film adaptations of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, over the years. This one which was produced, written and directed by Jonathan Miller in 1966 for the BBC, is one of the most original, capturing the surreal dreamlike quality of the book. Miller wanted to get away from the Disney image of the novel; he saw the novel as a picture of upper-middle-class Victorian society: stuffy, pompous and ritualistic. He was inspired by pre-Raphaelite paintings and Victorian photography; thus the imagery in this film is beautiful and is enhanced by Ravi Shankar's haunting music. The film is also packed with great names of British film and television: Michael Redgrave, John Gielgud, Peter Sellers, Peter Cook, Alan Bennett, Leo McKern, to name but a few; and Alice is beautifully played by the young Anne-Marie Mallik.
Alice in Wonderland is an ideal film for use in secondary schools: it is a story with which many students will be familiar yet this version is so removed from the mainstream that it will give something new to students who may know the story, or other film versions, well. Despite the fact that on its first broadcast it was declared 'unsuitable for children', secondary school students now, who are a much more sophisticated film audience than their contemporaries in the 1960s, will like the menacing, and sometimes frightening, atmosphere created by this film.
English and cineliteracy
In many ways, Alice in Wonderland represents television at its best. It calls for careful analysis and is an excellent text for introducing students to film language. It can also be linked to the teaching of literacy skills. The following units of work are for English teachers and are designed to develop students' understanding of cineliteracy (PDF) and link to the Key Stage 3 Literacy Strategy where appropriate. They also encourage the use of the film as a way into students' writing: both descriptive and analytical. They are written for Years 7 and 9, though the nature of the film would make it an ideal text to study from Years 7 to 13, and the ideas can be adapted as appropriate.
The Year 7 unit provides an introduction to studying film in the English classroom. The Year 9 unit goes into a deeper understanding of the film and its audience, which could be an enjoyable experience for students during what can be a very dry SATS-oriented year. The unit supports learning about styles of non-fiction writing that will be needed for SATS and later for GCSE.
Both units are based on a fast-paced approach to teaching, moving students quickly from one activity to the next. If you want to go into greater depth with any of the activities then you may extend the lesson over two sessions. The structure of the lessons (Starter, Model, Development, Plenary) can also be used flexibly.
Other curriculum subjects
There is a list of ideas suggesting how the film can be used to support teaching across the curriculum.
The suggestions in these teaching notes are based on the Basic Teaching Techniques (PDF) outlined in Moving Images in the Classroom.
We hope that you will use these ideas to build confidence in using film in the classroom and to develop your students' cineliteracy. Many of the ideas outlined here can be used with other film texts and you should also feel free to use your own ideas with this film.
NB: The edition of the actual novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll used in this resource is the Puffin Classics paperback edition, 1994, ISBN: 014036675X, with original illustrations by John Tenniel.
