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A Comparison of Lewis Carroll’s 1865 to Tim Burton’s 2010 Alice in Wonderland

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Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. the tale of a little girl who falls down a rabbit hole. has remained an enduring classic for over a century. The history of Alice’s adventures starts in early 1865. The story of this tale has not forgone because of its mix of whimsical and dark undertone feel. Many publishers have attempted to extend the story in order to explore Alice in different settings. Tim Burton tried to undertake this obstacle in his 2010 film ofAlice in Wonderland. Burton’s version was in a sense of a sequel to create the idea that Alice was returning to Wonderland as an older version of her as Burton’s idea of the film began twelve years after the original story ends. The obvious changes made to the story generated a great deal of controversy upon the films release. Critics argued that it was untrue to the spirit of the original artist in which they saw more Disney than Carroll.

However while the design and some of the elements cannot be found in the original tale, Burton addresses many of the same themes as Carroll. The relationship between the two works is quite easily understood when you examine Burton’s film With the style and ideas within the Alice books and also the places of Alice’s adaptations. Down the rabbit hole is Where the original story begins. In Carroll‘s 1865 original Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. the seven-year-old Alice inquires into the strange world she encounters after chasing a rabbit down a hole. Trying to find her way back home Alice stumbles into awonderland With happenings that grow stranger as she goes.

She experiences changes in size by consuming magical cordials and mushrooms. nearly drowns in a pool of her own tears. meets a smoking caterpillar. and an odd grinning Cheshire Cat. She rescues a howling baby from a pepper filled house only to discover it was a pig. attempts to participate in a mad tea party. and meets a bloodthirsty queen of hearts, Her adventure concludes With a nonsensical court trial. after which she wakes up lying on her sisters lap beside a riverbank. Carroll’s sequel to Alice in Wonderland continues the story With a slightly older Alice in Which she begins her adventure again by walking through a mirror. She immediately encounters IiVing chess pieces. nonsensical poems. and talking flowers. She meets two queens; the red and the White TWeedIedee and TWeedIedum HumptyrDumpty and good and evil knights.

This story concludes with Alice appearing at a banquet in which she turns the Red Queen into her pet kitten. This is Where she finds herself back at her own house. Waking up from a dream, But she‘s not sure whose dream it was. Did she dream up the game. or did the Red King dream about her? Readers are then questioned by the narrator: “Which do you think it was?“. The Tim Burton film of 2010 creates a new kind of Alice. In keeping with the tradition of modifying Alice to express new themes. Tim Burton offered a fresh look at the story in his 2010 Alice in Wonderland, This film begins as nineteen»year-old Alice is troubled by recurring nightmares of a wonderland, While at a prim Victorian garden party Where it has been decided that she Will become engaged to a pretentious young man. she sees the white rabbit and runs after it. She falls down the rabbit hole and finds herself not in the bright Wonderland in her dreams but instead a dark barren called Underland.

She meets many of the familiar characters such as the tweedles and the mad Hatter from the tea party. They inform Alice that she Will slay the JabbenIi/ocky monster and free Underland from the Red Queen. She insists that she is not the Alice they are looking for. but finds herself on a rescue mission to free the Mad Hatter from the Red Queen‘s Castle. As the story continues she slowly is convrnced that she must be the right Alice. During a conversation With a blue caterpillar. she realizes that her nightmares are memories from a childhood visit to Underland and that she has returned for the purpose of slaying the JabbenNocky. The story concludes after a long battle in which she gives rule of Underland back to the White Queen.

Alice returns to the Victorian society as a changed woman and no longer accepts the life that was predetermined for her, Within both Alice tales. Carroll’s literary/ style is evidence to a dreamscape story format where Alice makes transition from dreaming to waking up and the characters themselves are dreaming. The stories are also full of Carroll’s original rhymes and riddles. Many of the Words and phrases used in the original Wonderland are found Within the newer version as Well. such as “Jabbenrvocky” “galumphing” and “chortle”. Happenings in the original Alice as Well as in the newer version. refer many nonsensical approaches to life which prove irritating to Alice. It is the war between her good sense and the nonsense of other characters that make both of these stones fascinating.

However, Burton makes a dark interpretation of the original. The design serves to place Burton’s adaptations Within the category of dark interpretations. The dark tone of the purpose of the set was to reflect the more mature content of the movie. Burton’s film highlights the negative undertones of the original. The fundamental difference between the purpose and narrative intention of the film and those of the Alice books is that this film establishes a clear struggle between good and eVII that, while it helps the adult Alice mature into the strong young woman she should be. seems slightly disconnected from the nonsensical spirit of the books. An interesting difference between the two stories is the realization in the younger Alice in the original of growrng up and the identity puzzle.

The fear of growtng up is a maior theme in the Alice books. For instance when the caterpillar asks “Who are you?” Alice does not know how to respond and stumbles upon the puzzle of personal identity and memory. The thought of her dramatic changes in size makes her ponder whether that has changed her. Towards the conclusion to this she finds an answer to her puzzle. She remembers her name and that’s a start she says. In Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. the theme of growing up takes on a new meaning to where an older Alice faces the challenges of becoming an adult, She struggles With the life of a Victorian society. The Carroll version ofAlice is interpreted as finding herself while Burton’s Alice takes on the idea of, “I make the path”.

Finally, the theme of perception versus reality is another significant part that occurs in both stories. Carroll’s Alice consumes the idea that wonderland is part of her dream and considers the idea that all of the characters including herself are mere illusions. While 7ryearrold Alice knows it is a dream, 19 year-old Alice recognizes that the place is real and Burton‘s Alice isn‘t dreaming. In the film is where Alice embraces the reality of Underland. The personalities of the characters play a role in the dream versus reality perspective. In the original stories Alice grows “Curiouser and Curiouser” knowmg that it is a dream she feels that even/thing is fanatical and playful. In the newer version, Alice finds herself and knows exactly what she wants to do.

Ultimately, Tim Burton and Lewis Carroll tell the same story. but in a different way, There different perspectives place the story in two different, yet related worlds. Both the books and the film address similarly powerful themes of perception versus reality, identity, and coming of age. Burton’s interpretation is a postmodern variation on Carroll’s characters. Burton’s Alice in Wonderland is more reflective on present culture than Carroll‘s Victorian novels. There is a more mature feel to the Alice in Underland than the children’s fantasy novels in Alice in Wonderland. Although, “There‘s something for everyone, children and adults alike, down the rabbit hole — and the wonder of Wonderland is that one finds a new adventure every time”.

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A Comparison of Lewis Carroll’s 1865 to Tim Burton’s 2010 Alice in Wonderland. (2023, Jun 28). Retrieved from https://samploon.com/a-comparison-of-lewis-carrolls-1865-to-tim-burtons-2010-alice-in-wonderland/

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