8. Alice in Wonderland (1951)
Alice in Wonderland is a 1951 animated film produced by Walt Disney. Based Lewis Carroll's books Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, the film has delighted children for generations with the story of Alice and her adventures down the rabbit hole. Featuring such characters as the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat, the White Rabbit, the March Hare, and the Red Queen; Alice in Wonderland is possibly one of the best-known and well-loved children's movies of all time.
Dark Inspirations? Lewis Carroll is the pseudonym of English author Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson. His most famous character, Alice, is loosely based on Alice Liddell, a young girl with whom he had formed a caring relationship. Alice in Wonderland offers a great many seemingly dark scenes (such as a cake that proclaims "EAT ME") for such a well-loved children's story. Theories have persisted that Alice in Wonderland contains an undercurrent of drug use. Beginning with the potions and cakes that Alice eats to change her physical characteristics, Alice is repeatedly exposed to situations that scream "DRUGS" to those of us living in the 21st century - the most obvious being the hookah pipe and magic mushrooms in the caterpillar scene.
Other seemingly dark moments in the books occur each time the Red Queen makes an appearance. With her trademark phrase "OFF WITH HIS HEAD", the Queen gives us a villain whose striking lack of sanity and compassion make her all the more malevolent. And finally, there are the (hopefully) ridiculous rumours of paedophilia on the part of Lewis Carroll (Dodgson). While it's hard to deny the large portfolio of partially-clad children among Dodgson's personal photographs, we must also look at the rest of the circumstances surrounding Dodgson before making such a judgement. One analyst, whose name currently escapes me, claimed that living a life of celibacy that he believed was ordained by God, Dodgson can hardly be blamed for seeking the company of children, who to his mind might be an asexual respite from grown women who could entice him sexually. Let's hope this was the case. The inspiration for the movie Alice in Wonderland? We have a tale POSSIBLY filled with hallucinogenic drug use, a murderous queen, and all written by a potential pedophile.