Alice in Wonderland

I'm guessing that the copyright on Alice in Wonderland recently expired. The reason being, while I was in Las Vegas last month, I noticed not one but two fancy new slot machines with an Alice in Wonderland theme. I had noticed them before but The Luxor placed them right next to each other making them easy to compare to one another.

The two companies that created these machines are WMS and IGT. I played both for quite awhile.

Here is IGT's promo (try not to cringe at the narrator's pronunciation of "Cheshire")

Here is WMS's promo

Both are slick looking and entertaining but IGT captured something that WMS didn't. The IGT game designers took elements from the book, for example, the Caucus Race and made it into a bonus feature as if they actually read the book!! It feels like they made an extra effort to bring the book to life within the constraints of the Slot Machine format. Very well done!

The WMS people gave Alice breasts and included elements from the book that everyone who has never read the book knows about. Mad Hatter, Teapots, Queen of Hearts, Card Soldiers, Cheshire Cat and for some reason, Mirrors (that was in Through the Looking Glass). Although the animations are adorable, they really don't have much to do with the book. The Queen of Hearts magically turns her scepter into a cupcake and eats it. Cute bit, but not from the book.

Does IGT generally put more quality and thought into their product than WMS or is it hit and miss?

If given the choice, I would pick IGT's machine. It might have just been the way the promo was done, but the WMS game seemed a little too frantic and Alice looked a little too Disney-like for my tastes. I'm not a big fan of the 3D image-over-image effect of the reels either (I forget what the proper terminology is); I don't like them on the Monopoly slots either.

When the Wizard of Oz slots came out a couple of years ago people were lined up to play them. I tried them and yeah, the surround sound was cool and the special chairs were comfy, but I went thru about 80 bucks without ever getting a bonus, and then when I finally did get a bonus round I got maybe 20 cents from it. Whoopie. I must not have been the only one this happened to either, because there are no more lines for them; I see a lot of Oz slots sitting idle these days.

I hope these Alice slots are more generous.

Quote: tsmith

I hope these Alice slots are more generous.

I was able to play both versions of Alice in Wonderland for well over an hour with $100 playing the maximum lines/minimum coin, $2 a throw or thereabout.

I agree about Wizard of Oz. Sucks the cash like a Hoover right out of your wallet.

I've played both Alice slots. I definitely prefer the "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" slot. It seems more literary -- perhaps that's because they use the exact title of the book, and have bonuses like The Caucus Race and The Wild Jury. It seemed like they wanted to get as far away from the Disney and the (execrable) Tim Burton movie as possible. The "Alice(R)" machine I think they are trying to develop another trademarked set of characters. I can't comment on the payback since I only play slots for fun (I expect to lose everything), but I don't think I did very well on either machine.

Quote: s2dbaker

I'm guessing that the copyright on Alice in Wonderland recently expired. The reason being, while I was in Las Vegas last month, I noticed not one but two fancy new slot machines with an Alice in Wonderland theme. I had noticed them before but The Luxor placed them right next to each other making them easy to compare to one another.

I don't know that Alice in Wonderland would have been protected under copyright laws. The novel was written in 1865 and Lewis Carroll died in 1898. However, I could see Disney objecting to anything that resembled their characters portrayed in the 1951 animated classic. Perhaps they finally gave up or gave their approval on the depictions. I know one of the versions looks very similar.

Quote: Tiltpoul

I don't know that Alice in Wonderland would have been protected under copyright laws. The novel was written in 1865 and Lewis Carroll died in 1898. However, I could see Disney objecting to anything that resembled their characters portrayed in the 1951 animated classic. Perhaps they finally gave up or gave their approval on the depictions. I know one of the versions looks very similar.

The copyrights on both the Alice in wonderland books expired in 1948 (50 years after the death of Lewis Carroll). So the story was in the public domain when the Disney movie was made. Since so many people have seen the movie, it would be difficult to not model the characters after the protected Disney depictions.

The original illustrations are also not copyrighted, since the illustrator has been dead for almost a century.

For works of corporate authorship copyright extends to 120 years after creation or 95 years after publication, whichever endpoint is earlier.

Quote: pacomartin

The copyrights on both the Alice in wonderland books expired in 1948 (50 years after the death of Lewis Carroll). So the story was in the public domain when the Disney movie was made.

And Disney sure wasted no time rushing that into production.

I should ahve known the copyright for "Alice" had expired by then, because Walt Dinsey's MO, in part, consisted in taking msotly public domain works for adaptation, Later on that changed, notably with Mary Poppins.

Quote:

For works of corporate authorship copyright extends to 120 years after creation or 95 years after publication, whichever endpoint is earlier.

If you listened to the complaints when the copyright laws were last revised, you'd think the terms were "an eternity, or an eternity plus an infinity, whichever is greater." :P

IMO Burton's movie may have stirred up some renewed interst in Alice and therefore we have the slot machine as a consequence. Considering the role playing cards have in the book and movies, it seems strange it took this long to get an Alice theme into the casinos...