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| OUATIW Promo |
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland:
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| Cover Art of 1st book |
First, in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice is sitting by the river with her sister and playing with her cat, Dinah. Alice is very bored by life until she spies a white rabbit wearing a fancy vest and checking the time. If you remember the Disney film Alice in Wonderland then you'll remember how the story goes with some differences. When Alice is swimming through a sea of her own tears she meets a Mouse swimming by. He doesn't talk to her so Alice figures he doesn't speak English so she speaks French but she asks, "Where's my cat?" This offends the Mouse of course and he tells her his long history. Alice meets other animals in her tears and they all wash up on shore. The Dodo bird suggests that they all dry off by racing but instead of racing in a single direction they all race in different, opposite directions. Alice gives each player a reward but has none for herself so the Dodo bird takes the thimble from Alice's pocket then rewards her with it. The White Rabbit mistakes Alice for a maid servant named Mary-Ann and orders her to get The Duchess's fan and gloves yet when Alice steps into the house, she grows into a giant. The animals through pebbles at her which turn into cakes. Alice ate the cakes then became her normal size again.
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| Drink Me! |
This all sounds like a bad acid trip! Continuing the story, Alice meets a rather rude Caterpillar sitting on a mushroom smoking a hookah who tells her to eat some of the mushroom and it will make her smaller. Then Alice meets The Duchess who's cook is addicted to pepper and throws utensils. When the Duchess hands Alice her baby the baby turns into a pig. Alice continues her journey to meet the Hatter (a.k.a. The Mad Hatter), the March Hare, and the sleepy Dormouse at their mad tea party where it's always 6 pm because Father Time took pity on the Hatter who was sentenced to execution by the Queen of Hearts for his long and boring song. She meets a Cheshire Cat who can disappear and reappear at will and sometimes he leaves only his smile.
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| Alice is attacked by playing cards |
But wait there's more! Alice meets the volatile Queen of Hearts and her consort the docile King of Hearts. When the Queen orders a beheading, the King pardons them when the queen isn't looking. The Queen's roses must all be red and the palace guards are actually playing cards and they play croquet with flamingos. The Knave of Hearts is put on trial for "stealing" the Queen of Heart's tart. Absurd! That's what Alice thought. She was called as a witness. The Queen doesn't like Alice's height (she grew larger at this point) and ordered Alice to leave but Alice refused. The playing cards tackled her then Alice wakes up by the river where her sister says it's time for tea. Wow! That was one bad trip!
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| Time for Tea |
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| Does it count as animal cruelty if you're in another world? |
Disney cut some things out but mostly the company kept true to the book. Tim Burton (who once worked for Disney Studios) took Alice's adventures a step further; basing the film Alice in Wonderland off of Lewis Carroll's second book Through the Looking-Glass and several poems called Jabberwocky. Burton changed one or two things, keeping out details that would have made the film more philosophical but that was for entertainment. Carroll's second Wonderland book was less a bad dream and more a introspective look into our concept of reality and the abursdity of politics on occasion. The story is based off the game of chess where a pawn may advance to levels and be crowned a queen. Alice goes through each challenge to become a queen.
The song "White Rabbit" by Jefferson's Airplanes, a band from the 60s, expressed a certain view on the beloved children's story. Listening to it, it's like Lewis Carroll was high on something while writing this book.
Through the Looking Glass:
Alice is home with her kittens (a brood from Dinah), Snowdrop (a white kitten) and Kitty (a black kitten). She wonders what kind of world lies beyond the mirror. She goes through a mirror on the fireplace mantel into another world. She sees a chess set with live pieces. There's also a book of poetry that can only be read with a mirror as the words are backward. The book is labeled Jabberwocky and talks about how one should beware the dreaded Jabberwocky, the Jubjub Bird, and the Bandersnatch. Sounds like a made up word, a candy, and some euphemism for a woman's uterus. It gets weirder. The whole land is made up like a chess board.
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| Alice plays with Kitty |
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| Alice takes a step through the Looking-Glass |
The White Kingdom:
Alice places the White King on the chess board but he doesn't see her at first so Alice has fun manipulating the White King's movements. Alice meets the White Queen who is an absent minded person but she can see the future. People in Wonderland are punished before they commit a crime or sometimes they don't even think about committing a crime in the first place but are punished anyway. Once Alice and the White Queen cross a river, the White Queen turns into a sheep, but she says some very profound, wise things. Alice meets a Lion and a Unicorn who battle for the White King's throne, but being that they're both on the White side, Alice finds this quarrel pointless so she leaves them to their fight. Alice is then rescued from the horrible Red Knight by the White Knight (an awkward yet noble old man who is tall and falls off his horse a lot). He is basically her only friend on her quest. The White Kingdom has been debated to be the moderate part of human nature.
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| Alice & the White Queen |
The Red Kingdom:
Alice then meets the Red Queen. People have wondered: Are the Queen of Hearts and the Red Queen the same person? The answer is NO. The Red Queen is much more cordial to Alice upon meeting her and this queen can move swiftly and effortlessly (which mimics the chess queen's ability to move in any direction on the board). Yet the Red Queen like the Queen of Hearts is still the antagonist. Her consort the Red King is asleep. His snores can be heard for miles. Alice wonders at the end of the story if she just had a dream or that she herself was just a dream of the Red King. Philosophers have often pointed out the same theory that life is just a dream and when we die we simply wake up. The Red Kingdom has been debated to be the extremes of human nature.
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| Alice and the Red Queen |
Moving on. Alice becomes a queen and both the White Queen and the Red Queen say Alice will throw a party to celebrate, which catches Alice off guard. The two queens bombard Alice with difficult, confusing questions which frustrate her. The party erupts into chaos. Alice blames the Red Queen for the mischief then takes hold of her and shakes her. The Red Queen morphs into Kitty, Alice's black kitten and Alice finds herself back home. By grabbing the Red Queen, Alice symbolically took the Red Queen and checkmated the Red King.
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| Alice caught between the Red & White Queen |
This story seems more reflective than Carroll's previous Wonderland story. SyFy combined both stories in its mini-series Alice and brought to life a modern take on Carroll's whimsical, extraordinary world and added a message of the extremes and moderations of human nature. Once Upon A Time in Wonderland like film-makers before them have taken the world of Lewis Carroll and added their own spin on the story. The show looks promising!
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| Promos for OUATIW |
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