Disney's Alice Premieres: Animation's New Frontier
Walt Disney's animated adaptation of Alice in Wonderland premiered on July 26, 1951, and promptly flopped. Critics dismissed it as a plotless collection of bizarre vignettes. Disney himself later admitted he didn't much like the film, saying Alice had "no heart." It lost money in its initial theatrical release. But television changed everything: when the film aired on the Disneyland TV show in the 1950s and was re-released theatrically in the psychedelic 1960s, audiences discovered that its chaotic, dreamlike quality was exactly the point. The film's bold visual experimentation with color, perspective, and surreal imagery influenced generations of animators and became a cultural touchstone that Disney had nearly abandoned.
July 26, 1951
75 years ago
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on July 26
Ninety thousand Muslims faced each other across the Euphrates near Siffin, cousin against cousin. Ali ibn Abu Talib, the Prophet's son-in-law and fourth caliph,…
Khan Krum turned Nikephoros I's skull into a drinking cup lined with silver. The Byzantine emperor had ignored warnings, pushed 80,000 troops deep into Bulgaria…
Muslim forces under the Emirate of Córdoba crushed a coalition of Christian troops from Navarre and Léon at the Battle of Valdejunquera. This decisive victory r…
Afonso Henriques commanded maybe 1,000 men against Ali ibn Yusuf's force—sources claim anywhere from 5,000 to 200,000 Almoravid fighters, though medieval chroni…
A medieval banquet hall at Henry VI's Hoftag suddenly collapsed on July 26, 1184, sending dozens of gathered nobles plunging into open sewage pits below. The tr…
Pope Clement V formally recognized Henry VII as King of the Romans, ending a period of imperial vacancy that had paralyzed central European politics. This papal…
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