In the 1951 Disney movie, Alice in Wonderland, Alice falls down a rabbit-hole while chasing a White Rabbit with a waistcoat and ends up in Wonderland. It is a place where animals talk and logic no longer exits. In the original work by Lewis Carroll, Alice grows internally and has control over her surroundings in Wonderland. She learns how to wear the crown of adulthood by finally knowing her identity in the end. Although Disney’s version imitates the same adventure as the original, Alice’s character’s identity does not develop.
In the opening scene, Alice desires something beyond orthodox. This is showed by her lack of interest in her studies and longing for a world in which everything would be “nonsense.” She is a curious child. Deborah Ross argues that Alice expresses the usual idealistic desires: “to escape boredom (with lessons), to satisfy curiosity (about the white rabbit), and above all, to exert power” (Ross 57). However Alice does not know exerting power is difficult when the world is consumed of “nonsense”. Thus she has different qualities that contributes to her vague identity. She believes life would be different in her world. Also Disney strives to reveal Alice’s incentive of Wonderland by introducing pictorial wonders such as singing flowers and surrealistic insect, making it seem as a dream. The movie progresses in the same route as Lewis Carroll’s book by focusing on her immature thinking of Wonderland.
When Alice falls down the rabbit hole by curiosity to pursue the Wonderland, she encounters characters that questions her identity. One main example was the dialogue with the Cheshire Cat, who tells her everyone in the neighborhood is mad. Alice speaks Carroll's line, "But I don't want to go ...
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...She cannot pursue her progressive dreams of her identity. She has to adopt respectable behavior in every circumstance, in contrast to support of creative thinking of Wonderland. She calls for help during a time of conflict in contrast the original Alice’s confident and spirit. Alice in both versions has no level of toleration for difficulties. However Carroll’s Alice becomes more determined and self-reliant as she travels through her identity, which was wonderland. She states when she comes back home “what a wonderful dream it had been” (Carroll 98). Alice knew where she belonged because of Wonderland. Disney’s Alice just wanted the dream to end and be free from the madness of herself. Unfortunately Wonderland never taught Alice a lesson about her individuality. Instead the whole 95 minutes of Wonderland was just a comedic dream without meaning.
The journey of Alice out of the movie from ‘Alice in Wonderland’ is one that is remarkably unique. Alice is the typical girl that finds herself lost in an imaginary world where she is challenged to be brave and test her limits. The imaginary world is full of obscure creatures and events. “Alice’s Theme” written by Danny Elfman for “Walt Disney Pictures” 2010 film “Alice in Wonderland”, perfectly demonstrates Alice’s journey and the characteristics she possesses. Through the exceptional manipulation of musical elements and the manipulation of the song ‘Alice’s Theme’ during the movie Danny Elfman has represented Alice as being a person that is unsure about her scenario and identity. The different variations of the song that are played throughout
Alice in Wonderland starts when Alice “sees” a rabbit exclaiming it was going to be late. When Alice starts dreaming about the Wonderland it may have been a little strange, but she ends up realizing that it helps with her problems in the real world.
He has a knack for appearing and disappearing at different intervals of her journey through Wonderland. He gives her insight on many of the creatures and people of Wonderland. However, the most useful piece of advice he gives Alice is that everyone is Wonderland is mad. In fact, even he himself is not “all there” mentally or physically. This is no humor lost in this pun because his body parts continually disappear as well. Despite this fault of his, Alice still finds herself dependent upon him. In this dependence, she her child-like behavior is noticeable. Often, she will give up until the Cheshire Cat will come along and help her decide on what she should
Alice in Wonderland is a Disney film that is different from all the others. It was released in 1951, similar to Cinderella, and helped the world get over the war. It is the 13th film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series and is one of Mr. Disney’s favorites. Alice is a bit younger than most female Disney characters, about seven or eight. Most of the other Disney movie’s offer a world where the character had no control on what was in it, however Alice gets to live in her own Wonderland. She is a very adventurous child and wants to discover what is around her, testing her imagination. Alice learns many lessons and values that most young children should learn and use in their own lives. Most of the Disney movies have many valuable lessons that can be related to everyday life.
Alice Adventures in Wonderland is about a little girl who brings non-sense, strong will, and confusing in a new world. How it all started was by the author Lewis Carroll. Alice Adventures
...e at the end of the story, in which she herself dreams about the adventures Alice has just had. The adult Alice will have children of her own, and, perhaps, she will entertain them with the story of Wonderland. Indeed, the dream gains some reality when it is spread, as a story, to so many others.
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a story about a little girl who comes into contact with unpredictable, illogical, basically mad world of Wonderland by following the White Rabbit into a huge rabbit – hole. Everything she experiences there challenges her perception and questions common sense. This extraordinary world is inhabited with peculiar, mystical and anthropomorphic creatures that constantly assault Alice which makes her to question her fundamental beliefs and suffer an identity crisis. Nevertheless, as she woke up from “such a curious dream” she could not help but think “as well she might, what a wonderful dream it had been ”.
One of the main purposes for writing Alice in Wonderland was not only to show the difficulties of communication between children and adults. In this story, almost every adult Alice talked to did not understand her. At times she messed up what they were saying completely as well, which many times stick true to real life circumstances. This book shows that kids and adults are on completely separate pages on an everlasting story. Carroll points out that sometimes children, like Alice, have a hard time dealing with the transition from childhood to adulthood, 'growing up.' Alice in Wonderland is just a complicated way of showing this fact. Lewis Carroll's ways with words is confusing, entertaining, serious, and highly unique all at the same time. And it's safe to say that it would be difficult to replicate such and imaginative technique ever again (Long 72).
Alice’s shift begins as the hero puts herself in danger in order to save her mentor which unconsciously leads her to finding herself. Due to value she has for the Mad Hatter, she goes to the Red Queen’s castle in order to free him, adventure in which she comes to realize she is braver than she once thought. She gains more confidence after Absolem credits her bravery by saying “but you're much more her now. In fact, you're almost Alice.” (Alice DVD). In her battle against the Jabberwocky, it is by the Mad Hatters words to which Alice has the confidence to face the monster. Her mentor’s words trigger a memory of her father who states how “the only way to achieve the impossible is to believe it is possible”, aiding her to believe her impossible triumph can become a reality. The Mad Hatter’s support establishes their strong bond as even when half of Wonderland questions she is “the right Alice”, he remains confident in the hero, not only strengthening their relationship but a courage she will use even when she returns to London. Her epitome arrives as Alice finally accepts she is the “right Alice” and will begin to make her “own path” (Alice
The gender roles change from the original to the remake. The original Alice role is defined as a young girl who is able to explore her curiosity, but she is constrained by her feminine characteristics. Alice being a young girl is portrayed as helpless in many situations throughout her journey. The characters of Wonderland offer her assistance, but she remains most times crying by herself. Alice’s character clearly shows the innocence and virtue American society attached to girls roles in the
Although the novel is notorious for its satire and parodies, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland main theme is the transition between childhood and adulthood. Moreover, Alice’s adventures illustrate the perplexing struggle between child and adult mentalities as she explores the curious world of development know as Wonderland. From the beginning in the hallway of doors, Alice stands at an awkward disposition. The hallway contains dozens of doors that are all locked. Alice’s pre-adolescent stage parallels with her position in the hallway. Alice’s position in the hallway represents that she is at a stage stuck between being a child and a young woman. She posses a small golden key to ...
Lewis Carroll's Wonderland is a queer little universe where a not so ordinary girl is faced with the contradicting nature of the fantastic creatures who live there. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is a child's struggle to survive in the condescending world of adults. The conflict between child and adult gives direction to Alice's adventures and controls all the outstanding features of the work- Alice's character, her relationship with other characters, and the dialogue. " Alice in Wonderland is on one hand so nonsensical that children sometimes feel ashamed to have been interested in anything so silly (Masslich 107)."
Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland follows the story of young Alice trapped in the world of Wonderland after falling down through a rabbit-hole. The rabbit-hole which is filled with bookshelves, maps, and other objects foreshadows the set of rules, the ones Alice is normally accustomed to, will be defied in Wonderland. This conflict between her world and Wonderland becomes evident shortly after her arrival as evinced by chaos in “Pool of Tears” and Alice brings up the main theme of the book “was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I am not the same, the next question is who am I?” (Carroll 18). After Alice fails to resolve her identity crisis using her friends, Alice says “Who am I, then? Tell me that first, and then, if I like being that person, I’ll come up: if not, I’ll stay down here til I’m somebody else” (Carroll 19). Hence in the beginning, Alice is showing her dependency on others to define her identity. Nevertheless when her name is called as a witness in chapter 12, Alice replies “HERE!” without any signs of hesitation (Carroll 103). Close examination of the plot in Alice in Wonderland reveals that experiential learning involving sizes leads Alice to think logically and rationally. Alice then attempts to explore Wonderland analytically and becomes more independent as the outcome. With these qualities, Alice resolves her identity crisis by recognizing Wonderland is nothing but a dream created by her mind.
The characters in Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass are more than whimsical ideas brought to life by Lewis Carroll. These characters, ranging from silly to rude, portray the adults in Alice Liddell’s life. The parental figures in Alice’s reality, portrayed in Alice in Wonderland, are viewed as unintellectual figures through their behaviors and their interactions with one another. Alice’s interactions with the characters of Wonderland reflect her struggles with adults in real life. Naturally curious as she is, Alice asks questions to learn from the adults.
Alice in Wonderland belongs to the nonsense genre, and even if most of what happens to Alice is quite illogical, the main character is not. “The Alice books are, above all, about growing up” (Kincaid, page 93); indeed, Alice starts her journey as a scared little girl, however, at the end of what we discover to be just a dream, she has entered the adolescence phase with a new way to approach the mentally exhausting and queer Wonderland. It is important to consider the whole story when analyzing the growth of the character, because the meaning of an event or a sentence is more likely to mean what it truly looks like rather than an explanation regarding subconscious and Freudian interpretations. Morton states “that the books should possess any unity of purpose seems on the surface unlikely” (Morton, page 509), but it’s better to consider the disconnected narrative and the main character separately, since the girl doesn’t belong to Wonderland, which is, as Morton says, with no intrinsic unity. Whereas, there are a few key turning points where it is possible to see how Alice is changing, something that is visible throughout her journey. Carroll wants to tell the story of a girl who has to become braver in order to contend with challenges like the pool made by her own tears, or assertive characters, like the Queen.