Alice in Wonderland / Through the Looking Glass
Premise - When a young child Alice falls down a rabbit hole, she finds herself in a wondrous new world of nonsense, including smoking caterpillars, mad hatters, and live playing cards. In this new place, Wonderland, everyone is shockingly vengeful without logic or reason, and yet playful all at once. In the sequel, she finds her way back to Wonderland by walking through a looking glass.
Review - I always thought that if my life was a film, it would be Alice in Wonderland. I sleep a lot and have crazy dreams. When I was younger I heard old wives tales that the book was actually the result of a lot of hallucinogenic drugs, but the tone of the book makes me doubt that is actually the case. I'm writing this review after finally getting around to reading the original novels, something I had on my reading list since my eighth grade English class where the book was on the shelf. I remember during free reading time opening the first few pages, getting bored, and thinking, "Eh, I'll read it someday."
Well someday came in the form of an audiobook, and I really was still quite bored. Obviously now it is such a part of our folklore that it's an absolute classic, thinking about mad hatters and white rabbits and a red queen screaming "OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!" Now it's indispensable from childhood. What I don't understand is how it became famous at the time it was written. Who first read this so much that it became a classic?? It makes no sense?? It's obviously written for children, but why were children so captivated by it? I think what throws me off the most is that there is absolutely no story flow. It's just a series of random events and then Alice wakes up from her dream. There's not really a plot, but just a lot of poems and word play, and the pacing can also be quite odd. This is especially in Through the Looking Glass, when I was stunned at how long the Humpty Dumpty scene was taking.
What I enjoyed the most was the nostalgia it brought about from the animated Disney film. Like most kids, I was raised watching this version, and I adored it. Bright, colorful, weird, and accompanied by a great ride at Disneyland. The film has a much better sense of a plot direction. I think it took the best elements of both books. What differs most between book and film is that film-Alice has a purpose - a journey. At first, she's pursuing the white rabbit, but once she becomes frustrated with him, her wish is to find her way home. There's more emotional trauma as she lands in Wonderland and feels lost and trapped. There's a purpose to her actions while everything around her is purposeless. In the book, she's just kind of... going with it. There's no sense of emotional reaction from her at all and everything just kind of... happens. And the characters throughout the animated film do a better job of being interconnected. Moreover, there is a climactic point at the end of the film where all the crazy elements of her dream mold and mesh together before she wakes up. The book just kind of ends and you're like... that's it..?? In BOTH books.
Alice is an interesting heroine as she's the logical and moral compass of the story, while everything is emotional and crazy around her. Everyone keeps telling her, "We're all mad down here," but she still has the sense to correct people on their logical errors. A world without logic can be somewhat fun on the outside, but the realities of it are quite frightening. With an evil, power-hungry queen in charge, she doesn't need any justification for killing her people. Through a tale with no order, it tells a lesson that order serves to protect.
I did also see the live-action Tim Burton film in theaters back when it came out, but I haven't seen it since. I can't speak to much, but I don't remember enjoying it. I haven't seen the live-action sequel.
I was compelled to watch the animated film again after finishing the book to see if it was actually the best version, or if my childhood bias was giving it way too much credit. I still think it's the best version - also because it's a musical. The best I can do is try to estimate a composite score (72/100).
Quote - "Curiouser and curiouser!"
What to watch for - The original animated film is just so classic! Everyone knows what the Cheshire cat looks like, or caterpillar! This also reminded me a bit of when Emma Watson got to play Alice on stage as part of her role in the film Ballet Shoes.
If you liked this book/film, I'd recommend Over the Garden Wall!
Written by Lewis Carroll
Published by Macmillan
Movies directed by Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske, and Tim Burton
Distributed by Disney
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