Is it just us, or is Alice suddenly everywhere? She was recently all grown up in SyFy's futuristic take on the story. Teenaged Alice is making the rounds on the web in trailers and pictures from Tim Burton's creepily beautiful semi-animated film, due out in March.
She's an adult author with writer's block in a new musical (though it hasn't made it quite as far as Broadway yet). She's reimagined as a princess of Wonderland in Frank Beddor's recent Looking Glass Wars novels. She's even a Barbie doll.
And lately she's in the news, as a first edition dedication copy of Through the Looking Glass owned by the real-life Alice (Alice Liddell, Lewis Carroll's inspiration for the Wonderland books), will be auctioned off December 16. It's expected to fetch at least $150,000.
What is it about Wonderland that has kept us so enthralled over the last 144 years? Well, for one thing, it's dark. While parents (and too many modern children's authors) might like to think that kids like everything to be happy and pretty and light, the stories that truly endure -- the "Alice" books, "Peter Pan," fairy tales -- are more than a little twisted.
But unlike fairy tales, with their predictable once-upon-a-times and happily-ever-afters, and their staple characters (resourceful heroines, brave princes, evil crones), the Alice books are notable for their -- well, their weirdness . Instead of moral lessons, Carroll gives us nonsense verse. Instead of cutesy singing animals, he gives us a whole menagerie of bizarre creatures -- some real, some mythical, some completely new -- with biting quips, unpredictable behavior, and menacing appearances. Even Disney couldn't make the story chirpy and bright: In their cleaned-up, dumbed-down version, there's still a homicidal monarch running around threatening to chop off heads.
What's not to love about a children's story where toys come to life and try to decapitate everyone? It's no wonder that so many of us were deeply influenced (or scarred?) by Lewis Carroll's surreal Wonderland, and that so many of us can't resist the urge to pay homage to a childhood favorite.
Suggested Sites...
- Lenny's Alice in Wonderland Site - extensive information about the books, their illustrations, and the many adaptations of the Alice stories.
- Alice in Wonderland - official site for Tim Burton's 2010 film.
- Lewis Carroll Homepage - lots of information on Charles Dodgson, better known as Lewis Carroll.
- Lauren's Alice in Wonderland Page - includes examples of many illustrators who have tried their hands at the Alice books.
- icollector: Through the Looking-Glass, First Edition, the Dedication Copy - get your checkbooks (and trust funds) ready -- the auction opens soon.
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