Dreamchild

Mix of fact and fantasy about the relationship between Lewis Carroll (Ian Holm) and the child (Amelia Shankley) who inspired him, as recalled by the grown-up Alice (Coral Browne). Jim Henson re-created Carroll’s characters. Jack: Peter Gallagher. Sally: Caris Corfman. Lucy: Nicola Cowper. Mrs. Liddell: Jane Asher. Lorina: Imogen Boorman. Directed by Gavin Millar., Irreverent British writer Dennis Potter speaks aloud what many literary historians have only postulated in whispers in Dreamchild. The film is set in 1932, on the 100th anniversary of the birth of Alice in Wonderland creator Lewis Carroll. The guest of honor at the New York-based celebration is 80-year-old Alice Liddell (Coral Browne), who as a child inspired Carroll’s whimsical novels. Amidst the cajoling of both devoted fans and fast-buck hustlers, the grim-faced Alice tries to remain calm and dignified. What none of the idolaters suspect is that Alice harbors a long-suppressed secret concerning her “very special” relationship with Carroll — a secret revealed in an extremely tasteful fashion during a flashback sequence, featuring Amelia Shankley as young Alice and Ian Holm as Charles Dodgson, the virginal, child-obsessed clergyman whom the world knew as Lewis Carroll. The darkness of Dennis Potter’s vision is lightened by Muppeteer Jim Henson’s marvelous three-dimensional renditions of the Wonderland and Looking Glass characters., An unusual fantasy/drama written by Dennis Potter about the little girl who inspired Lewis Carroll to write ‘Alice in Wonderland’. Now an 80-year-old woman, she travels to America for the first time to celebrate the great writer’s centenary, but finds herself sinking back into the past and the repressed memories of her youth. Jim Henderson’s ‘Creature Shop’ provides all the famed Wonderland characters for Alice’s journey into fantasy., Ian Holm is children’s author Lewis Carroll in this poignant fantasy-drama set in 1930s New York and populated by the fabulous special effects creatures of Muppet master Jim Henson.