Through the Looking Glass

Adaptations of the Popular Children's Story





The original classic was written in 1862, by Charles Dodgson. While attending Christ Church College in Oxford, he would take the dean's daughter, Alice Liddell, out on canoe trips along the Thames. He’d manufacture fictional stories for entertainment - one being a about a young girl exploring a strange, unknown world. Because she fell in love with the story, he decided to write it in a book, but under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll and called it "Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland." Throughout the years, the classic has been interpreted and reinterpreted in numerous ways, most recently Tim Burton's version which opened in theaters on March 5.





Let's peer through the looking glass at some of the most peculiar versions of the beloved tale...



Walt Disney's Alice in Wonderland (1951)
In my opinion, Disney has been the best at making Lewis Carroll’s story come alive. In this animated tale, Alice's powerful imagination stumbles upon a hookah-smoking caterpillar, mushrooms that change her perception of the world, a psychotic Queen of Hearts and beautifully trippy colors.





Miyuki-chan in Wonderland (1995)
I'm not into Japanese anime. I happen to think it can get pretty weird, and this film is definitely no exception. It's about a teenage schoolgirl, Alice, who dreams she's falling through a mirror and ends up in a land full of sultry females — from the dominatrix Queen of Hearts to the sexy Cheshire Cat. See, I told you it was weird!






Alice (1988)
Jan Svankmajer, a Czech film director, created a surrealist Alice using unusal camera angles and crude characters, to give this already strange tale an very eerie feel. What began with a stuffed rabbit coming to life, ended with Alice waking up and decapitating it's head. Not so much the same story we all grew to love as children, huh?






American McGee’s Alice (2000)
Video game developer American McGee tweaked the Alice tale and made it more, how do you say?...sinister. In this game, Alice is an orphan...and in a mental hospital. Through her dreams and with the help of a certain Cheshire Cat (who is tattoed-up), she explored a dangerous and much darker Wonderland. Toss in a couple TweedleDee n' Dum zombies, a Mad Hatter in a straightjacket, and all the other psychotic characters (whose goal is to murder Alice) and you’ve got a very twisted story and an entertaining video game.





The Matrix (1999)

It wasn't until my husband showed me the similarities that I realized The Matrix was, in fact, a contemporary story of Alice in Wonderland. Think about the choice Neo makes to follow the white rabbit...or Morpheus’s line, “You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes," or Neo’s continued questioning of reality and his identity. Although this was a major box-office hit that led to a monster trilogy, I still prefer a less sci-fi version myself.





Alice in Wonderland: An X-Rated Musical Fantasy (1976)
This "adult" Alice adaptation (that is rumored to have been Andy Warhol’s favorite film), stars Playboy’s cover model Kristine deBell as Alice. Although there is not a lot of X-rated action (until the end), it does showcase a perverse White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter as a flasher, and other sleazy characters. To top things off...it’s also a musical. Pretty. Odd.





Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
This Guillermo del Toro film isn't exactly like the classic story, you can't help but think it was the sole inspiration. It's focus is of a young girl who has experienced the horrors of the Spanish Civil War. She's forced to live in a world where fascism is a powerful force, however, she is able to leave this dismal reality. She escapes alone into this fantasy world where she meets a crew of weird, often nightmarish characters who help her understand life (one being a demented white rabbit, who is beyound scary).






The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus (2009)

This Terry Gilliam film has slight components of the Alice story woven into it, and was Heath Ledger’s last gig. It's based around a traveling show in which audience members have a chance to step through a magic mirror and see a world in which they always dreamt. Ultimately they have to choose between temptation and virtue. But the images they see are straight from Lewis Carroll’s colorful visions.





Phantasmagoria: The Visions of Lewis Carroll (2010 maybe?)
I can't dig up much information about this underground horror film featuring Marilyn Manson. Evidentally he plays a version of Lewis Carroll who is trapped in a castle and suffering from horrific nightmares of Alice. It's supposed to be based on "Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland," and not the classic "Phantasmagoria" poem, although it stars Lily Cole as Alice (who also plays the lead in "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus"). Should this movie ever get released, I'm certain the creepy images alone will be enough to chill you to the core.






Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland (2009)
By far my favorite to date, Tim Burton's version gets extra kudos for taking this seemingly innocuous story and adding his delightfully creepy touch to it. I liked how it was not a remake, but more of a continuation, as Alice made her return to Wonderland. And he based part of his story around Lewis Carroll's dark "Jabberwocky" poem. By using the technique of CGI to and enhancing the images into Disney Digital 3-D, it made this movie a truly trippy and psychedellic experience. And throwing the equally talented and gorgeous, Johnny Depp, in the plot, made it that much more brilliant. Oh, and I do have to mention the fabulous twist on Alice's traditional blue dress and apron - the costume designer definitely hit the mark in this cool update!






This is a fun Mad Hatter-inspired makeup look that I did on myself.


I hope you can see the amazing creativity behind this beloved tale that has inspired so many to try and replicate is brilliance. I certainly enjoyed going mad...as a hatter.



XOXO