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Works based on Alice in Wonderland

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Lewis Carroll's books Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass have been highly popular in their original forms, and have served as the basis for many subsequent works since they were published. They have been adapted directly into other media, their characters and situations have been appropriated into other works, and these elements have been referenced innumerable times as familiar elements of shared culture. Simple references to the two books are too numerous to list; this list of works based on Alice in Wonderland focuses on works based specifically and substantially on Carroll's two books about the character of Alice.

Carolyn Sigler[1] has shown that Carroll's two great fantasies inspired dozens of imitations, responses, and parodies during the remainder of the nineteenth century and the first part of the twentieth — so many that Carroll at one point began his own collection of Alice imitations. In 1887, one critic suggested that Carroll had plagiarized Tom Hood's From Nowhere to the North Pole (1875) when writing Alice — though the relationship was just the reverse: Hood's novel was one of the many Alice imitations.[2]

The primary wave of Alice-inspired works slackened after about 1920, though Carroll's influence on other writers has never fully waned; it can be seen in recent books like Maeve Kelly's Alice in Thunderland (1993) and Alison Haben's Dreamhouse (1995).

Art

  • In 1969, Salvador Dalí produced 12 illustrations based on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
  • In 1956 Charles Blackman, after listening to an audiobook of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, painted a series of 46 paintings of Alice with other characters from the series.
  • The town of Warrington in Cheshire, the nearest town to the village of Daresbury where the Reverend Dodgson lived and worked, has several statues of characters from the story. The figures show the scene of the tea party, whilst allowing room for viewers to sit at the table with the characters. The church in Daresbury, likewise, memorialises the story in several stained glass windows.
  • The Surrey county town of Guildford also has several Alice in Wonderland statues throughout the town, the most notable in the castle grounds, showing a brass statue of Alice passing through a pane of glass, and the other at Millmead alongside the River Wey of Alice and her sister sat on the grass looking at the White Rabbit running towards his hole.
  • Statues of Alice, the Mad Hatter and the White Rabbit can be seen in the south-eastern part of Central Park in New York City.

Computer and video games

  • Wonderland (1990), an illustrated text adventure by Magnetic Scrolls.
  • Alice (1990), a point-and-click visual novel created by the influential Japanese computer graphics designer, Haruhiko Shono. Winner of the 1991 MITI Multimedia Grand Prix Award.
  • In the Bloody Roar series of fighting games, one of the main protagonists is a young Eurasian woman dressed in blue and white and called Alice, and whose zoanthropic transform is a white rabbit.
  • American McGee's Alice is a macabre computer game which chronologically takes place following the two Alice books.
  • Alice in Wonderland was adapted into a computer game by Windham Classics in 1985. It is presented as a platform game involving puzzle-solving and simplistic word parsers akin to a text adventure.
  • The Thief series, developed by Looking Glass Studios, contains references to the Alice world. Thief: The Dark Project has an early level that involves breaking into a huge mansion; as one goes deeper inside, it becomes "curiouser and curiouser" — resembling
  • In the RPG Megami Tensei series and it's subsequent spin-offs, Alice is a major boss and a summon that you can obtain.
  • The RPG Kingdom Hearts includes Alice as a plot character. Also, Disney's version of Wonderland appears as one of the first worlds.
  • The Silent Hill series contain a few references of Wonderland, in an homage to its surreal world. The best example of this is in the first game, where a door puzzle at the Alchemilla Hospital involves coloured blocks imprinted with the Cheshire Cat, Mad Hatter, Mock Turtle and The Queen of Hearts.
  • In the intro to the Nintendo 64 game, Chameleon Twist, a rabbit runs through a forest stating he is late for something and jumps into a tree trunk and warps to a magical world. The player's character follows the rabbit into the magical world. A sequel was made called Chameleon Twist 2 and the rabbit and the magical world are once again featured.
  • Windham Classics' Alice In Wonderland adventure game for the Commodore 64. The game was remade later for Philips CD-I with clay animation graphics.
  • In the PC-98 game Mystic Square of the Touhou Project, one of the boss characters is named Alice. She is inspired by the story: the background music for the Extra Stage where she appears again is titled "Alice in Wonderland", and playing cards appear as enemies; the mid-boss is a King card soldier. Alice later returns in Perfect Cherry Blossom and other games of the series.
  • The Don Bluth arcade game Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp, features an Alice in Wonderland/ Through the Looking-Glass inspired level.
  • The Otome game "Heart no Kuni no Alice" and its sequels "Clover no Kuni no Alice" and "Joker no Kuni no Alice" use a story and world based on Alice in Wonderland as well as many of its characters as protagonists. The titles of the games themselves are a play on the Japanese title of Alice in Wonderland; ふしぎの国のアリス (Fushigi no Kuni no Arisu)
  • The 2000 Game Boy Color video game Alice in Wonderland published by Nintendo.
  • The 2005 adventure game Psychonauts features the White Rabbit, where Razputin, the game's protagonist, follows a White Rabbit in a Wonderland-esque universe in his mind.
  • Wild Tangent just released a game called Bookworm Adventures; Fractured Fairy-tales. Although the game is not completely Alice in Wonderland based it does have many characters from Alice in Wonderland as well as several from Through The Looking Glass.
  • The 2002 tag-team fighting game, Rage of the Dragons, features a character named Alice Carroll. The last name is shared with the original author of the books, Lewis Carroll.
  • In the 2005 video game Ratchet: Deadlocked there is an unlockable cheat code with the name Mirrored World whose description reads "See the world through the looking glass."
  • In A Witch's Tale the characters and the scenes are from "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland".
  • Alice in Wonderland developed by Etranges Libellules.
  • Rule of Rose developed by Punchline.

Comics

The webcomic Seven Years in Dog-land is inspired by Alice in Wonderland. Apart from having a main protagonist of the same name, the story also introduces Alice’s father as “Lewis Carroll” – which is the name of Alice in Wonderland’s author. Alice enters the bizarre Dog-Land through a hole in a tree, similar to how Wonderland's Alice entered the other world. Both Alices are portrayed as out-of-place strangers who cannot make sense of their new environments.

Film

Not to be confused with actual adaptations of the Alice and Looking-Glass books, these are films which are based on elements of the books.

  • Alice in US Land (1932 newsreel), Paramount News feature about Alice Liddell's visit to New York City.
  • The Alice Comedies, a series of live action/animated shorts created by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks in the 1920s which initially were loosely based on Alice in Wonderland.
  • Alice in Wonderland: A Musical Porno, a 1976 pornographic film, is based directly upon Lewis Carroll's story.
  • Jabberwocky (1977) a film by Terry Gilliam set in medieval times and featuring the Jabberwock.
  • Alicia En La España De Las Maravillas (1978, Jorge Feliu, Spain) features four Alices wandering through 40 years of Spanish history.
  • Dreamchild, the 1985 Gavin Millar film, in which a reporter attempts to uncover the 'true story' of the Alice tales from an 80 year-old woman who may or may not be Alice Liddel. Featuring grotesque, aged versions of the Alice characters (designed by Jim Henson's Creature shop), the film explores the relationships adults have with the fictional characters from their childhoods.
  • Felix the Cat: The Movie, a 1989 Animated film based on Felix the Cat.
  • Alicia en el Pueblo de Maravillas (Cuba 1991), is a social comedy about bureaucratism.
  • The Matrix (1999). The protagonist Neo is told by his future mentor Morpheus to "follow the White Rabbit". Neo agrees to accompany visitors when he sees one of them sporting a white rabbit tattoo. The connection is further established with Morpheus' constant reference to being down the rabbit hole, as well as when Neo first transitions from the Matrix to the "real world" by interacting with a looking glass. The Wachowski brothers who directed the film have stated that Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is a running theme in their Matrix trilogy.
  • Resident Evil (2002) contains various references to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The obvious being the main character's name, another is the use of a white rabbit for testing the T-Virus. The wall that opens to the train station appears as a mirror, and the computer mainframe's persona is called the Red Queen; in fact the Red Queen's first kill is an offing of heads.
  • Phoebe in Wonderland (2008), starring Elle Fanning as a little girl whose role as Alice in a school play helps her deal with her Tourette syndrome.
  • Malice in Wonderland, set in present day England, the characters are inspired by those in Carroll's novels.
  • Alice in Wonderland, (2010), a film by Tim Burton, starring Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter in which a 19-year-old Alice played by Mia Wasikowska returns to Wonderland for more adventures.

Animation

  • Betty in Blunderland (1934), Betty Boop's adventures in Wonderland.
  • Thru the Mirror (1936), Mickey Mouse's adventures in a dream world inspired by reading Through the Looking-Glass (but with animated cards as in Alice in Wonderland).
  • Swee'pea Through the Looking-Glass (1955? 1960?), a Jack Kinney Popeye cartoon.
  • An anime short film based on Alice in Wonderland was made by Sanrio, starring Hello Kitty (1974) as Alice. Released as part of Hello Kitty & Friends.
  • Nippon Animation produced an anime of Alice in Wonderland in 1983 to 1984. This anime adopted an original story that Alice and her rabbit Benny take a trip to Wonderland and go home for each episode.
  • Neco z Alenky (Alice) A 1988 full-length stop motion animation by Czech Republic artist Jan Švankmajer.
  • Miyuki-chan in Wonderland (1993), an anime, adapted from a manga by Clamp, is a sexy animated parody of Alice.
  • Project ARMS (プロジェクトアームズ?) (1997) is a manga/anime series that is heavily influenced by "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland". The ARMS weapons are named after characters in Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland.
  • Alice SOS (1998), where four kids go on an adventure to different worlds to rescue Alice after she has been kidnapped by a mysterious evil force.
  • The anime series Serial Experiments Lain (1998) tells the story of a girl who is drawn into the cyberspace "underground" of the Wired, and features a character named Arisu ("Alice") Mizuki (this character is a second use of one created by the scenarist, Chiaki Konaka, for the animation "Alice in Cyberland"). In the episode KIDS, Lain has an encounter with an avatar which directly parallels Lewis Carroll's Cheshire Cat with the exception that Lain rejects the Cheshire Cat's assistance, stating that she knows everything.
  • Cardcaptor Sakura has two episodes in the anime adaptation that refer to the Alice stories. "Sakura's Little Adventure" (1998) subtly references "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" as Sakura is shrunken by the Clow Card called The Little and wears a dress resembling the one worn by Alice in the original illustrations and the 1951 Disney movie. "Sakura and Sakura in Wonderland" (1999) is more clearly based on the Alice stories. Sakura portrays Alice while the supporting characters in the anime series portray several other characters in the Alice stories.
  • The George Shrinks (2000) episode "Becky in Wonderland" pays homage to the original novel.
  • Rozen Maiden (2002), a manga/anime has many references. The doll who wins the battle to collect all the Roza Mystica becomes the "Alice" that Rozen longs to create. There is also "Laplace", a large rabbit who is an important player in later arcs. The dolls can also travel through mirrors.
  • Gakuen Alice (2003) is about a school where people's unique abilities are called "Alices". The currency used is a "rabbit". In the anime adaptation, the main character Mikan is dressed in Alice's disney-recognized blue dress and wandering through Wonderland in the opening credits.
  • Kagihime Monogatari Eikyuu Alice Rondo (2004), a manga turned anime that focuses on the completion of a fictional sequel called The Eternal Alice.
  • Brandy & Mr. Whiskers (2004) is somewhat similar to the Alice books; the main heroine falls into the Amazon because of a white rabbit, and encounters creatures like bickering twins and a tyrannical dictator.

Literary retellings and sequels

Literature containing allusions and influences

Music

Classical music and opera

Music inspired by, referencing, or incorporating texts from the Alice books include:

  • Jefferson Airplane's song White Rabbit from their 1967 album Surrealistic Pillow mentions Alice, the Dormouse, the hookah-smoking caterpillar, the White Knight, and the Red Queen. Written by Grace Slick it shows parallels between the story and the hallucinatory effects of psychedelic drugs.
  • On Aerosmith's 2001 album, Just Push Play, the song "SUNSHINE" talks about Alice and other characters of the book. In the music video, Steven Tyler is shown trying to protect a young, blonde Alice in the woods, along with depictions of the Red Queen, the White Rabbit, among others.
  • The bands Alice in Chains and Alice in Videoland take their names from Alice.
  • The thrash metal / speed metal band Annihilator released a number of albums inspired directly and indirectly by Alice in Wonderland, the most popular being Never, Neverland and Alice in Hell.
  • Virginia Astley has released a lot of Alice-related work, including her LP From Gardens Where We Feel Secure with sound effects recorded a few miles south of where Alice's adventures began; and songs like "Tree Top Club," "Nothing Is What It Seems," and "Over the Edge of the World".
  • The popular Japanese band Buck-Tick released a song in 2007 titled "Alice in Wonder-Underground". The PV includes a very macabre depiction of the story, with Alice chasing her rabbit, the band periodically becoming rabbits, and the lead vocalist Atsushi Sakurai dressed as the Mad Hatter.
  • GWAR has a longform video titled Phallus in Wonderland.
  • Jewel released an album and single with the title Goodbye Alice in Wonderland.
  • Lisa Mitchell's song "Alice in Wonderland" is based on Alice's experiences in Wonderland.
  • Neil Sedaka took Alice into the US Top 50 in 1963 with the single "Alice In Wonderland".
  • The video for the Tom Petty song "Don't Come Around Here No More" portrays Alice, the Mad Hatter, and other Wonderland elements. Producer Dave Stewart appears as the Caterpillar.
  • Symphony X's 1998 release, Twilight in Olympus, contains "Through the Looking-Glass" – a 13-minute epic about the book.
  • Red Queen by Funker Vogt makes direct references to The Looking Glass, Alice and the Red Queen.
  • Tom Waits released an 2002 album titled Alice, consisting of songs that were written for a stage adaptation of Alice.
  • There was a rash of Alice-related material in the music industry in the 1980s, a fad mainly fuelled by Goth and indie rock musicians. Siouxsie and the Banshees, for instance, named their label Wonderland and released an album called Through The Looking Glass. The former London-based Batcave Club was renamed "Alice In Wonderland." The Sisters of Mercy had a hit single, "Alice," about the image of Carroll's heroine, which in turn led to a story called "Alice In The Floodlands".
  • Hard rock bands have used ideas from Alice In Wonderland, usually with a sense of parody. Both Nazareth and Paice Ashton & Lord released albums called Malice In Wonderland – the latter using one of Peter Blake's paintings for the sleeve.
  • The debut album Alice's Inferno by Spanish Gothic metal band Forever Slave is a concept album focusing on Alice's life after her parents' death.
  • In addition to having their 1979 album The Wall synchronized with the Disney animated movie adaptation, some of Pink Floyd's early work were said to be influenced by Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There, like "Country Song", since it has references to the Red Queen, White King and a smiling cat. Early member Syd Barrett also cited the books as one of the key inspirations for some of his early work.
  • Malice Mizer's 1997 Sans Retour Voyage "Derniere" ~Encoure Une Fois~ concert video was an interpretation of Alice in Wonderland by the band.
  • Escape Key's song, "The Girl Who's Never Been", retells the story from the point of view of Alice, lost in the real world and trying to find her way back to Wonderland.
  • The German Neofolk collaboration Werkraum has a song called "Beware the Jabberwock!" using Carroll's poem with original music on their album "Early Love Music".
  • Avril Lavigne wrote and recorded the song "Alice" for Tim Burton's film Alice in Wonderland, which is on the soundtrack Almost Alice.[3]
  • The popular Visual Kei band; D have two albums named after Alice from Alice in Wonderland: "Yami no Kuni no Alice/Hamon" and "Alice" along with the song "MAD TEA PARTY" like the one March Hare and the Mad Hatter had with Alice (2003–2008)
  • Ambrosia's song, "Mama Frog", from their album "Ambrosia" contains a narration of "jabberwok".
  • Vocaloid's Alice of Human Sacrifice

Radio

Role-playing games

Science and technology

  • Richard Gregory in his book Mirrors in Mind, questions why looking-glass images are right-left reversed. He explains with diagrams the reversals occurring in Carroll's Through The Looking-Glass while also pondering on how a scientific phenomenon is reflected in the vocabulary of the text, dwelling on the importance of words such as "re-turning", "behind", "back".
  • A.L.I.C.E. a journey to the beginning of the Universe [1]
  • The Eindhoven University of Technology built the interactive ALICE installation based on the narrative 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'.[4] It addresses the western culture characteristics highlighted in the narrative. Six stages were selected and implemented as an interactive experience.

Television

Tourist attractions

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Sigler, Carolyn, ed. Alternative Alices: Visions and Revisions of Lewis Carroll's "Alice" Books. Lexington, KY, University Press of Kentucky, 1997.
  2. ^ Sigler, p. 206.
  3. ^ Walt Disney Records (Press Release) (January 12, 2010). "Buena Vista Records Presents ALMOST ALICE Featuring Other Voices from WONDERLAND". EarthTimes. Retrieved 26 January 2010.
  4. ^ Hu, J., Bartneck, C., Salem, B., & Rauterberg, M. (2008). ALICE's Adventures in Cultural Computing. International Journal of Arts and Technology, 1(1), 102–118. | DOI: 10.1504/IJART.2008.019885 | html
  5. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0275070/
  6. ^ "Sarah Myerscough (Artist) – Alice in Wonderland 2006 – Blackpool Illuminations Gallery". www.sarahmyerscough.co.uk. Retrieved 12 August 2009.
  7. ^ "Blackpool Pleasure Beach – Alice Ride". www.blackpoolpleasurebeach.com. Retrieved 1 September 2009.
  8. ^ "Sarah Myerscough (Artist) – Mad Hatter (Alice in Wonderland Ride) – Blackpool Pleasure Beach Gallery". www.sarahmyerscough.co.uk. Retrieved 1 September 2009.