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White Rabbit

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This article is about the character in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. For other uses, see White Rabbit (disambiguation).
The White Rabbit
Alice character
First appearanceAlice's Adventures in Wonderland
Created byLewis Carroll
In-universe information
SpeciesRabbit
GenderMale
OccupationPage
RelativesYellow Rabbit
NationalityWonderland

The White Rabbit is a fictional character in Lewis Carroll's book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. He appears at the very beginning of the book, in chapter one, wearing a waistcoat, and muttering "Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late!" Alice follows him down the rabbit hole into Wonderland. Alice encounters him again when he mistakes her for his housemaid Mary Ann and she becomes trapped in his house after growing too large. The Rabbit shows up again in the last few chapters, as a herald-like servant of the King and Queen of Hearts.

Personality

In his article "Alice on the Stage," Carroll wrote "And the White Rabbit, what of him? Was he framed on the "Alice" lines, or meant as a contrast? As a contrast, distinctly. For her 'youth,' 'audacity,' 'vigour,' and 'swift directness of purpose,' read 'elderly,' 'timid,' 'feeble,' and 'nervously shilly-shallying,' and you will get something of what I meant him to be. I think the White Rabbit should wear spectacles. I'm sure his voice should quaver, and his knees quiver, and his whole air suggest a total inability to say 'Boo' to a goose!"[1]

Overall, the White Rabbit seems to shift back and forth between pompous behavior toward his underlings, such as his servants, and grovelling, obsequious behavior toward his superiors, such as the Duchess and King and Queen of Hearts, in direct contrast to Alice, who is reasonably polite to everyone she meets.

Disney film

Main article: Alice in Wonderland (1951 film)
White Rabbit
Disney character
File:Alice in Wonderland 4 1951.jpg
First appearanceAlice in Wonderland (1951)
Created byLewis Carroll
Voiced byBill Thompson (original film)
Corey Burton (House of Mouse and other modern media)
Shigeru Ushiyama (Japanese, Kingdom Hearts series)
In-universe information
SpeciesRabbit
GenderMale
OccupationPage
NationalityWonderland

In Disney's animated version of the book, the Rabbit seems to have the most logic out of all the Wonderland characters. Thus, he is often the straight man for their zany antics; when he asks the Dodo for help on getting the "monster" (Alice) out of his house, Dodo's ultimate solution is to burn the house down, to which the White Rabbit is greatly opposed. At the Mad Tea Party, the Mad Hatter and the March Hare try to "fix" his watch, proclaiming it "exactly two days slow". Through various food they put in the watch (butter, tea, jam, and lemon), the two cause it to go mad, and the Hare smashes it with his mallet. The Rabbit was perhaps most famous for the little ditty he sang at the beginning - "I'm late! I'm late! For a very important date! No time to say hello, goodbye! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late!" The Rabbit was voiced by Bill Thompson.

Some believe the rabbit was late for the announcement of the Queen to the royal garden. The panic the rabbit showed was his fear of losing his head. Upon her arrival (where Alice has been helping to paint the roses red) the cards finish their song and the rabbit blows his trumpet (which he had been carrying for most of his lines) royally introducing the king and queen.

The White Rabbit made a few appearances on the Disney Channel original show, House of Mouse. His most noticeable appearance was when he confessed to Clarabelle Cow that "I'm not really late, and I don't really have a date. I'm a fraud!". He is seen grabbed by the reservation clerk Daisy Duck in the show's intro. He was voiced by Corey Burton, who would voice the Rabbit in all future speaking roles. In Aladdin and the King of Thieves, the genie was transformed into him.

The White Rabbit also appears at the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts as a meetable character.

Tim Burton film

Main article: Alice in Wonderland (2010 film)
Nivens McTwisp, The White Rabbit
Alice character
First appearanceAlice in Wonderland
Created byLewis Carroll/Tim Burton
Portrayed byMichael Sheen
In-universe information
NicknameThe White Rabbit
SpeciesRabbit
GenderMale
OccupationPage
NationalityUnderland

The White Rabbit works for the Red Queen, but is also a secret member of the Underland Underground Resistance, and was sent by the Hatter to search for Alice. Sheen stated, "The White Rabbit is such an iconic character that I didn't feel like I should break the mould too much." In this film adaption, the white rabbit is given the name Nivens McTwisp.[2]

Other adaptations

  • The 1988 Czech film Alice, noted for its disturbing interpretation of Carroll's story, shows a dark stop-motion version of the character. At the beginning of the film, the White Rabbit starts out as a stuffed rabbit that comes alive in Alice's bedroom and breaks out of his glass case; he leaks sawdust through a hole in his chest. During Alice's pursuit of the White Rabbit in Wonderland, he physically attacks her with paddles, a hacksaw, and a group of skeletal animals. The White Rabbit is also the Queen of Hearts' executioner, using scissors to behead the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, and other characters. Upon awakening from her dream and finding the White Rabbit missing from his case, Alice finds his scissors and resolves to behead him herself.

Video games

  • In American McGee's Alice, the White Rabbit is responsible for Alice's return to Wonderland. He is first seen as Alice's soft toy, then becomes something that resembles a shriveled version of the John Tenniel illustration. When Alice is chasing him in the Village of the Doomed, he shrinks and goes down a hole. Alice follows him by shrinking herself with a hand-made potion. They meet again in the Wonderland Woods, where he tells her to find Caterpillar. Later, he is killed by the Mad Hatter, who crushes him under his foot. He reappears as a minor character in the sequel, Madness Returns, first in the opening sequence of the game, and then as a host of some mini-games (along with the Mad Hatter).
  • In the Nintendo DS RPG, A Witch's Tale, the White Rabbit forces its way before the main character, Liddell. It can be a unlockable plush for fighting too.
  • In the PlayStation 2 action-RPG game, Kingdom Hearts and its Game Boy Advance follow-up, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, the White Rabbit leads Sora, Donald Duck and Goofy to the Queen's palace, worried about being late. His Japanese voice actor was Shigeru Ushiyama.
  • Rockstar's game Manhunt features a level called "Kill the Rabbit." In this stage, the player hunts down a man wearing a white rabbit suit, which the game's antagonist describes as "Wonderland fun".
  • The rabbit appears in the video game adaptation of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland as a playable character. He attacks using his watch, and can manipulate time.
  • In the Eye of the North expansion of Guild Wars, finding the boss Nulfastu Earthbound requires the player to follow a white rabbit into a rabbit hole. When the player enters, the boss appears, along with a large amount of other hostile monsters, that easily overwhelms an unprepared group of players.
  • There is a reference to the White Rabbit in Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow.

Television and films

  • In Lost, the White Rabbit is alluded to several times in the series. First it is the name of an episode, and Locke claims that Jack is chasing the White Rabbit in the form of his father. The White Rabbit is also the symbol for the Looking Glass Station and it is also carrying a clock with it.
  • In Star Trek, near the beginning of the 1966 episode "Shore Leave," the White Rabbit appears to Doctor McCoy.
  • Neo is told to follow the "White Rabbit" in The Matrix in one of many metaphysical "waking up" metaphors that reference the Wonderland stories. Seconds later, his doorbell rings, and when he opens the door he finds a woman with a tattoo of a white rabbit on her shoulder. Later in the film right before he meets the oracle one can see Night of the Lepus playing on a nearby television, symbolizing Neo's decision to "follow the white rabbit" and to disturb the order of the Matrix.
  • In the Syfy Alice, The White Rabbit is a secret organization that works for the Queen of Hearts and abducts people from the real world (referred to as "Oysters"), so they can gamble in the Queen's casino. The actual character is represented by a member of The White Rabbit, called Agent White, who kidnaps Jack (Alice's fiance, later revealed to be the Queen's son) and tries to retrieve a magic ring called the Stone of Wonderland from Alice. When it is found out that he failed his mission, the Queen has him executed.
  • In Jurassic Park, the character of Dennis Nedry writes a computer program to disable security systems of the park and hide his steps. Samuel L. Jackson's character finds a file called "whiterabbit.obj" that he claims did it all.
  • In Wizards of Waverly Place, Alex chases the White Rabbit (Justin Russo). He wears white jeans, a white T-shirt, white hair, and big rabbit ears.
  • In the 2009 film Sherlock Holmes, when dabbling with occult sciences and sorcery during his investigation, Sherlock Holmes makes an allusion to both the White Rabbit and the rabbit-hole, comparing the sorcery to the rabbit-hole and himself to the white rabbit saying " Although I went deeper into the rabbit-hole than I intended, I brushed the dirt from from my fluffy white tail and emerged enlightened".

Literature

  • In The Looking-Glass Wars, the White Rabbit is re-imagined as Bibwit Harte, an albino tutor with super-sensitive hearing. If you unscramble his name correctly you get (White Rabbit).
  • In the manga series Alice in the Country of Hearts, written by Quinrose and published by Tokyopop. There is a character who is obviously the white rabbit. He is named Peter White, in this version he is the prime minister of the castle of hearts. He is portrayed as a cruel man who would kill anyone in an instant. He has little in common with the image of the white rabbit other than white rabbit ears, a large oversized pocketwatch, and a suit. He is desperately in love Alice and often caught rhyming as he speaks. Alice does mention hating him on several occasions and claims to hate "White Rabbit ears" the most.
  • In the Stephen King novel The Long Walk, a boy named Stebbins refers to himself as "The White Rabbit type."

Music

  • Jefferson Airplane recorded a song called "White Rabbit", with references to this character and the Wonderland saga in general as metaphors for drug-induced experiences.
  • The Blue Man Group's 2003 album The Complex includes a cover of the Jefferson Airplane song.
  • Screaming Tea Party's song "Reckless Rabbit" opens with the lyrics, "My name is Alice, and I'm following the White Rabbit."
  • Electric Six's song "Feed my Fuckin' Habit" makes reference to this with the lyrics "Feed my fuckin' habit... Follow the white rabbit" (album I Shall Exterminate Everything Around Me That Restricts Me from Being the Master, 2007).
  • My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult's song "A Daisy Chain 4 Satan" has references of a white rabbit in their lyrics about drugs: "I live for drugs... I'm the white rabbit. I freaked out on acid... I'm the white rabbit."
  • Egypt Central's song "White Rabbit" makes references to the rabbit (Your magic white rabbit has left its writing on the wall. We followed like Alice, and just kept falling down the hole).
  • Shinedown's song "Her Name is Alice" uses the line 'And the girl that chased the rabbit, drank the wine, and took the pill...' to reference the White Rabbit, though most of the song references Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass.

Musical

  • The White Rabbit appeared as a banished fairy tale creature in the original Broadway musical Shrek, based on the 2001 film. He was played by Noah Rivera.
  • The White Rabbit was portrayed by Edward Staudenmayer in Frank Wildhorn's musical Wonderland. In the show, he is portrayed as a panicky character with a sarcastic sense of humor. Staudenmayer praised the character's role in the story, saying, "Everything [he has] to say is funny or important." As well as the character that brings Alice to Wonderland in the first place, the Rabbit is also a close ally of her during the course of the show. His sole weapon is his pocket watch, which can turn back time; he uses it to help himself, El Gato the Cheshire Cat, Caterpillar, and Jack the White Knight escape from prison towards the end of the show.

Other Influences

A military trench-digging machine developed by the British Royal Navy at the beginning of World War II was originally known as White Rabbit No. 6, but the name was changed to Cultivator No. 6 to conceal its identity.

References

  1. ^ Gardner, Martin (1998). The Annotated Alice. Random House. p. 37. ISBN 978-0-517-18920-7.
  2. ^ Mainwaring, Rachel (October 26, 2008). "Actor Sheen in Wonderland". Western Mail. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved December 5, 2008.
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