February 3rd, 2022 
Jackson Murphy 
The Mouse House is presenting a new twist on the Alice in Wonderland story. CG, family-friendly series Alice’s Wonderland Bakery premieres this Wednesday Feb. 9 at 10:30am on Disney Channel and Disney Junior. Executive Producer Chelsea Beyl and Co-EP Frank Montagna invited me to a tea party over Zoom to discuss the delightful show.
Jackson Murphy: What does the 1951 Disney animated classic, that’s now 70 and a half years old, mean to you?
Chelsea Beyl: It means the world to me. Alice in Wonderland is currently our world. When I knew I was going to be doing an Alice in Wonderland show, I watched the movie. Of course, I had seen it as a child and then I revisited it again and really did a deep dive into that movie and really embraced every little quirk that you remember. But how can we bring these characters now to a new generation? The movie is so iconic. It’s so clever and peculiar. It really is a standout from the Disney features and it’s carried on over the years because it’s been so beloved. It’s been fascinating diving into it again for the show.
JM: Nice. It’s a visually intricate movie and very witty. Frank, what was the process of settling on our lead being Alice’s great-granddaughter — naming her Alice — and getting this bakery element.
Frank Montagna: When Chelsea approached me about the show… I’m more of the artistic side of things. She’s more of the written side of things. She actually came up with that concept, which is awesome. She really sold it on me because I was curious. “Why a bakery?” But there’s so much of the “Eat Me” “Drink Me” associated with “Alice”, even in the Lewis Carroll books. There’s so many mentions of food. When Chelsea did her pitch about food bringing people together, it just seemed to be a really organic fit for “Alice in Wonderland”.
JM: It’s cool. I think a lot of kids are into baking. Finding your lead… I’m sure that process must’ve been interesting as well. Chelsea, tell me about finding Libby Rue to voice Alice, who has to not only speak but sing a lot on this series.
CB: Absolutely! With casting Alice… our show is the next generation of Alice, so because she is the great-granddaughter, that gave us the freedom to reinvent Alice a little bit in her voice. That’s why we found Libby. Libby just had a real knack for comedy and understanding the clever wordplay that is associated with Wonderland. She’s a really smart kid and of course she has the singing chops. She was just a natural for us when it came to Alice. And that warmth of being this curious young baker — that creativity. She just had it all.
Chelsea Beyl
JM: Nice. And you bring back the Cheshire Cat. There’s an episode I screened that’s very fun involving him. But you also put some new spins on some classic characters. Frank, can you go into that a little bit?
FM: In the original movie [the Cheshire Cat] is such a mysterious character. He’s kind of mischievous. He kind of gets Alice into trouble. But we knew we wanted him in our show. So when Chelsea and I were working with Max [Mittelman], who’s the voice, we were really trying to find what the Cheshire Cat would sound like and be like. We watched the sequences in the film over and over. He’s so playful and interesting, and we cued into that part of him: fun and silly. But our Cheshire Cat doesn’t necessarily get Alice into trouble, but he also might not give her the best advice. So we wanted to keep that part of him. He’s such an iconic character.
But as far as Fergie the White Rabbit, we really wanted to keep that panicked energy of the original white rabbit, but give him more of a modern, vulnerable character. Hattie (the Mad Hatter character) — we didn’t want to just do a typical character, so we wanted him to look… his costume is very out there. It’s sort of “extra” because he’s that kind of kid. And just to give some diversity, he’s from a Japanese descent. We thought that was more fun for a modern audience. And the same thing with our Princess of Hearts, Rosa. We [also] have a Queen of Hearts. They’re both from a Cuban background and influence.
JM: It’s a good group. So in the episode “Unforgettable Unbirthday”, there is a moment where you go to a portrait of the original Alice. And I got CHILLS in that moment. Chelsea, did you have to get special approval to include that moment?
CB: No, we didn’t. Because it’s in the Disney canon, it’s a heritage project. We could really take anything from the movie and… our character designer drew that portrait of Alice. That was a really fun and beautiful moment to connect the classic with the new.
FM: And Jackson, you saying you got chills makes me and Chelsea so happy!
CB: That’s what we wanted to do: bridge those two. I think parents will love watching it for that reason, with their kids. And if kids haven’t seen the film, they can go check it out. Our show might be their introduction to “Alice in Wonderland”.
Frank Montagna
JM: That’s very true. And Wonderland is so fantastical, but Frank tell me about that fantastic nature with these really relatable storylines and themes for young kids about picnics, sleepovers and meeting new people.
FM: When we set-out to create this show… we watched the movie together with our other key creatives. The movie is very unique and it’s a very curious world. But for preschool, we went through and tried to pull the things we knew our youngest viewers would be attracted to. There’s lots of interesting [and] curious recipes and locations.
CB: The themes — picnics and sleepovers… that was the heart of the show for me. You have all this wonderful “Alice in Wonderland” curiosity and zaniness, but then what is the heart of the show? That’s where food comes in and that’s where we get our themes. Food has this power to make a new friend if you just share a meal together… you can connect with someone. You can evoke memories of a person or place through a dish. And that’s what Alice does. In the episode you mentioned, Cheshire Cat is the only Cheshire Cat in Wonderland. He’s used to dining by himself. He basically crashes Alice and her friends’ picnic by making blueberries poof into thin air. And Alice realizes Cheshire just wanted to join them. That’s the main theme: Alice saying food is meant to be shared with those you love.
FM: When we set out to tell stories, we always think of: What separates Wonderland from your usual Disney storybook fantasyland? Chelsea and I, at the beginning, were very conscious of: we don’t want magic to drive the stories. In Wonderland, things just are. If you’re in an upside down world, everything’s just upside down. Or if you grow or shrink from eating some cake crumbs, that just happens. We are always looking for the Wonderland twist, rather than the fantasy or magic elements.
JM: Gotcha. I gotta ask you both about the best Unbirthday you ever had, or maybe the best Unbirthday you had while making this show.
CB: I would say: seeing that first episode in color come through. You know what? I think we got the main title on my actual birthday! (laughs) So that was a great birthday present, but seeing that first episode come from our amazing animation studio ICON… and seeing the colors and this new generation of “Alice in Wonderland” come to life. And then the excitement of “We get to add music and all the sound effects”, it was a very merry unbirthday that day.
FM: My favorite unbirthday was actually two days before my actual birthday. The crew surprised me by delivering a cake and a drawing our character designer drew. Chelsea and all the gang had orchestrated this surprise unbirthday attack (laughs) and co-ordinated it with my family. It was all very surreal. Fitting for Wonderland.
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