If you saw the new Alice in Wonderland and absolutely could not stand it then this may be the antidote:

The first adaptation of the story on film in the world has recently been restored by the British Film Institute, BFI. It was recently posted on their YouTube page.

This is just some of the amazing and important work that film institutes do and this short encapsulates the magic of cinema. These images shot nearly 109 years ago can still be seen today in a world, especially the film world, these makers could never have imagined.

Here is more information about this particular version of the film from the YouTube description:

“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 colors for the first time in over 100 years.”