The first-ever film version of Lewis Carroll's tale has recently been restored by the BFI National Archive from severely damaged materials. Made just 37 years after Lewis Carroll wrote his novel and eight years after the birth of cinema, the adaptation was directed by Cecil Hepworth and Percy Stow, and was based on Sir John Tenniel's original illustrations. In an act that was to echo more than 100 years later, Hepworth cast his wife as the Red Queen, and he himself appears as the Frog Footman. Even the Cheshire cat is played by a family pet.

With a running time of just 12 minutes (8 of which survive), Alice in Wonderland was the longest film produced in England at that time. Film archivists have been able to restore the film's original colours for the first time in over 100 years.

We are releasing an edit from Nux Vomica's newest CD Saturnalia et Sigilaricia as an alternative soundtrack to the viewing experience. The soundtrack now plays between enhancing the story and reacting to the film damage in a way that enhances the viewing of the unrestorable defects of the film in a positive, yet experimental, light. The result brings out more of the beauty of the natural decay and contributes to the dream-like qualities of the film, in its present state. The result brings out more of the beauty of the natural decay and contributes to the dream-like qualities of the film, in its present state.

Instructions for viewing

1.) Start the embedded YouTube clip of Alice in Wonderland below
2.) Immediately click to start the embedded mp3 audio file to accompany the film (icon below the embedded video)
3.) Turn down the sound on the embedded YouTube clip all the way.

Nux Vomica: What She Found There (edit)