Holmanová, 1.

Comparing Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Burton’s Alice in Wonderland

In 1865 Lewis Carroll published Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland which became

one of the most popular books in the world and 145 years later Tim Burton’s Alice in

wonderland was released and it became the second highest grossing movie of the year. But

how much does it resemble the original story? I will summarize both the movie and the book

and then I will compare them.

In the movie we at first meet Alice as a young girl who is experiencing nightmares

about the Wonderland. The movie then takes us to the future and we see a much older Alice

who is going to a party where a boy she isn’t interested in is supposed to ask for her hand in

marriage. Instead of giving him an answer Alice runs away to follow a rabbit. It disappears

into a rabbit hole and Alice accidentally falls into it. She land in a circular room with many

doors and a key on a table but the key unlocks only one tiny door which she can’t fit through

so she drinks a mysterious liquid from a bottle that says “Drink me” and shrinks.

Unfortunately, she forgets take the key from the table and has to eat a cake she finds under the

table to grow larger, take the key and shrink again. She unlocks the door and walks outside.

There, she meets the White Rabbit, the Dormouse and a few other characters. They take her to

the Blue Caterpillar to show her a scroll which depicts the past, present and future of

Wonderland because according to it Alice is supposed to slay a monster. Alice is very unsure

about what is happening and believes it is all a dream. Suddenly, they are attacked by the

Knave of Hearts and his soldiers together with a creature called Bendersnatch. Alice stops

herself from running away because she thinks she is in a dream and cannot be hurt. The

Dormouse saves Alice by plucking out one of the creature’s eyes out. The Knave tells the Red

Queen that Alice is back to slay the Queen’s monster. The Queen sends him to find Alice.

They come to the Mad Hatter, the Dormouse and the March Hare having a tea party and do
not find Alice who is hidden in a teapot and leave. Then, the Mad Hatter takes Alice away and

while the soldiers are coming after them again he throws Alice with his hat over a river. Alice

is found by dog who takes her to the Red Queen. When she arrives the Red Queen is playing

croquet. Alice grows larger and when the Queen notices her she pretends she is not Alice. She

manages to obtain a sword she is supposed to slay the monster with but then her true identity

is revealed. Alice runs away to the White Queen while the Cheshire cat helps the Mad Hatter,

the Dormouse and the White Rabbit escape. The White Queen prepares a potion for Alice to

return to her normal size to fit in the armour. The next day comes and Alice find out she has

to kill the monster alone. This causes her to run away to the castle’s garden where she talks to

the Caterpillar and realizes this is not a dream. She returns ready for the battle. Alice manages

to cut off the monster’s head and the Red Queen with the Knave are defeated. The White

Queen gives Alice some of the monster’s blood to return to the party where she does not

accept the marriage proposal.

The book starts with young Alice running after a strange rabbit and falling down a

rabbit hole. Then she also grows and shrinks and falls into a puddle of her own tears. She

swims to the shore and stays there for a while with a few animals. She leaves and the White

Rabbit tells her to bring him his gloves and a fan. In his house she grows and shrinks again.

Later in the forest she meets the Blue Caterpillar and takes some of the magic mushroom to

gain more control over her size. She continues wandering through the woods and arrives to a

little house. Inside she finds the Duchess holding a baby which Alice takes away with her but

it turns into a pig and Alice lets it go. Again, in the woods Alice meets the Cheshire cat who

implies that Alice is mad. Alice decides to go to the March Hare’s house where he and the

Mad Hatter with the Dormouse are having a tea party. Alice talks to them for a while but then

leaves and comes across a tree that leads to the room from the beginning of this adventure.

From there she successfully goes to the Royal garden. Alice is invited to play croquet with the
Queen of Hearts but the game equipment is strange because they are using live animals. Alice

then spends some time with the Gryphon and the Mock Turtle but The Gryphon takes her to

the court. The Knave of Hearts is on trial for stealing the tarts. Alice stars growing larger and

soon her name is called out to come and give a testimony. Alice thinks the situation is

ridiculous and then the cards stars flying upon her. Suddenly, she wakes up to realize

everything was a dream.

The story in the movie is maybe supposed to be a sequel to the story in the book and it

even shows us young Alice in Wonderland in one scene. In both stories our main character is

Alice. The movie’s version of Alice does not even remember her previous adventure in

Wonderland and thinks everything is a dream which makes other characters doubt that she is

the right Alice. In the book she is a little girl while in the movie she in much older when she

goes on an adventure to Wonderland. In fact, she is old enough to get married. Even though

she is older she is still just like the younger Alice. She asks a lot of questions and does not do

what she is told by others and instead makes her own decisions. She also has a sister just like

the book’s Alice. While most of the other characters in the movie come from the books or at

least they are based on them, some characters did not show up at all and some new characters

appear. For example the Red Queen is supposed to be the Queen of Hearts and also there is no

King of Hearts in the movie. Mainly at the beginning we see Alice’s family. The movie

makes many references to the book like when the Queen of Hearts is angry that somebody has

stolen the tarts or when the White Queen and Alice enter a kitchen March Hare is throwing

dishes like the cook at the Duchess’s did in the book. An interesting difference is that in the

book Alice’s journey ends because she wakes up but the movie’s Alice chooses to leave by

drinking the monster’s blood. Both stories end with Alice standing up for herself. In the book

she calls everyone in the court “just a pack of cards” and in the movie she declines the

marriage proposal.
 The movie is not trying to tell a story that has been retold multiple times and instead it

created something new but still very similar to the original Alice in Wonderland which is

probably why it attracted so many people. The book is so classic that it is only a matter of

time before a new movie adaptation is created.