The 2000s seemed to be the decade of the dark, gritty, reimaginings of classic stories, and Alice in Wonderland got its fair share of this in multiple forms of media. Books, video games, and films about Wonderland all took a sinister look behind the fantasy. In 2009, after the semi-success of the Syfy's Wizard of Oz miniseries Tin Man, the channel placed their bets on another modern reinterpretation of an old fairy tale about a girl going to another strange world.
Interestingly, the director, writer, and creator of this project was Nick Willing who had ten years prior directed the 1999 Alice in Wonderland. So it was clear that they picked someone who was very familiar with the material and had a passion for authenticity. This new modern story takes place 150 years after the events of the original story and finds a new grown-up Alice making her way into Wonderland, which has also kept up with the technological times of our world and fallen into a dark age.
This new Alice must live up to her original's namesake and take down the Queen of Hearts, whose poor ruling has caused dissatisfaction among her subjects that can only be cured by artificial means. All characters are human with animal names so there is no attempt at crazy costumes or CGI characters (save for the Jabberwock). Sci-fi meets fantasy meets action-thriller in this two-part miniseries.
Original Source Breakdown
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Chapter I: Down the Rabbit Hole - MAJOR REFERENCES
Alice Hamilton is a martial arts instructor who has just been proposed to by her boyfriend Jack Chase. After turning him down, he leaves the ring with her and she observes him being kidnapped by an odd group of people. One of them, Agent White works for the White Rabbit organization and Alice pursues him through a mirror that causes her to tumble into Wonderland, similar to the Rabbit Hole. While investigating the new surroundings, she finds herself in a room with a red drink in a bottle on a glass table marked "Curiosity."
Chapter II: The Pool of Tears - MAJOR REFERENCES
Alice eventually gets trapped in a shrinking room (instead of her growing, clever) which is a capsule that starts transporting her and other prisoners off somewhere by airship. Alice manages to pick her way out of the traveling room and lands in a large body of water. From here, she meets with the Ratcatcher (based on the Mouse) who explains the situation to her and takes her to the Hatter in exchange for some of the Hatter's wares.
Chapter III: The Caucus-Race and a Long Tale - MINOR REFERENCES
Alice and the Hatter team up and the Hatter takes her to a library to meet the rest of the underground Resistance. Here, we meet the Dodo, the Duck, and the Owl who realize that Alice's ring has a great value, the Stone of Wonderland. The Hatter at one point reminds them of the comfits he gave them as a gift, alluding to their Caucus-Race prize from the book.
Chapter IV: The Rabbit Sends in a Little Bill - MINOR REFERENCE
When Alice is being interrogated inside a tiny house about the ring's whereabouts, a fan and gloves appear on the writing desk that is provided for her.
Chapter V: Advice from a Caterpillar - MAJOR REFERENCES
The Caterpillar is the leader of the Resistance and helps explain to Alice the reason she specifically was chosen to be brought into Wonderland. He explains WHO she is.
Chapter VI: Pig and Pepper - MINOR REFERENCES
Alice sees a vision of her deceased cat Dinah who helps lead her through Wonderland at one point, fulfilling a similar role as the Cheshire Cat. The Duchess also appears as Jack's actual fiance, but she seems to be working for the Queen. She is also quite beautiful in contrast to the usually ugly depiction of her character, perhaps something the Queen arranged in the intervening years.
Chapter VII: A Mad Tea Party - MAJOR REFERENCES
The Hatter plays a huge role in the story, accompanying and helping Alice every step of the way. He sells "teas" out of his tea shop which are actually liquid positive emotions that the citizens of Wonderland are hooked on since there is no more genuine positivity left in the world. (It is unclear if this is the same Hatter as before or a descendant of the original, due to his young age.) The Dormouse acts as the seller who handles the crowds and usually sleeps except to promote new "flavors." The Queen's favorite assassin is called "Mad March" and as he lost his head in the past, a new ceramic hare head with a computer is attached instead, making him a cyborg. At one point, March captures the Hatter and the interrogation is reminiscent of the Mad Tea Party conversation.
Chapter VIII: The Queen's Croquet-Ground - MAJOR REFERENCES
The Queen of Hearts rules alongside her King in a casino run by the cards. The King quietly pardons all those who are threatened with death by his wife. The Ace of Clubs is the Executioner, the rest of the Clubs are her lackeys, the Spades are general henchmen, and the Diamonds are the dealers and dancers in the casino. Because money is useless in Wonderland, the casino is actually a system designed to elicit positive emotions out of its "customers" which can be drained and distilled into tea. Jack Chase is actually Jack Heart (the Knave) and the Queen's son. There are flamingo-shaped flying contraptions for quick getaways as well.
Chapter XI: Who Stole the Tarts? - MINOR REFERENCES
Towards the end, both Alice and Jack are captured and while they aren't exactly put on trial, the King and Queen behave the way they did when they were judges of the trial, especially when the Queen explains to the King how to properly question Alice. Also, the Queen calls Alice a tart, derisively.
Chapter XII: Alice's Evidence - MAJOR REFERENCE
The original Alice has become the stuff of legend after she "made the house of cards fall" before she left Wonderland. The new Alice has a similar moment as she takes the Queen down several pegs at the end of the story, confidently knowing that none of her subjects are willing to follow her.
Through the Looking-Glass
Chapter I: Looking-Glass House - MAJOR REFERENCES
The way in and out of Wonderland is through the Looking-Glass that is powered by the Stone of Wonderland, the driving force of the story. The Jabberwock appears in a forest when the Hatter tries to lure it out so it may attack the Queen's men. And at one point, our heros eat a Borogove.
Chapter III: Looking-Glass Insects - MINOR REFERENCE
The people whose emotions are being drained forget everything about their past, including their own names and the names of loved ones, much as they would had they ventured into the Forest of No Names.
Chapter IV: Tweedledum and Tweedledee - MAJOR REFERENCES
Dee and Dum appear as doctors who use their hypnotic/magic powers to interrogate Alice (and they briefly talk like the boys from the book). The Red King appears as a skeleton, having fallen many years ago in battle along with all the other chessmen. The White Knight keeps speaking to this stationary king however, as if he were just sleeping. Most importantly, the Carpenter (aided by the Walrus) works for the Queen, extracting the emotions from the "Oysters" which is the term used to describe people from the real world who have been taken to Wonderland. He also assembles Mad March and takes away the Oysters' memories as well. When things go wrong, he fixes them.
Chapter VI: Humpty Dumpty - MINOR REFERENCE
Dee and Dum recite this poem to taunt Alice and have her regress into her childhood memories.
Chapter VIII: "It's My Own Invention" - MAJOR REFERENCES
One White Knight remains alive after the fall of the chessmen from years ago, and he is still stuck in the old mindset (he may even be the same White Knight the original Alice met). He is the only character who behaves exactly like his book counterpart and he also assists Alice in her journey, taking on a mentor role. In addition to being an inventor (of such items as the beehive-mousetrap) he has now also been studying the "black arts" and calling upon his latent psychic abilities which may or may not actually be real.
Chapter IX: Queen Alice - MINOR REFERENCE
After defeating the Queen of Hearts, Jack offers Alice the chance to stay and become the next Queen of Wonderland.
Chapter VIII: "It's My Own Invention" - MAJOR REFERENCES
One White Knight remains alive after the fall of the chessmen from years ago, and he is still stuck in the old mindset (he may even be the same White Knight the original Alice met). He is the only character who behaves exactly like his book counterpart and he also assists Alice in her journey, taking on a mentor role. In addition to being an inventor (of such items as the beehive-mousetrap) he has now also been studying the "black arts" and calling upon his latent psychic abilities which may or may not actually be real.
Chapter IX: Queen Alice - MINOR REFERENCE
After defeating the Queen of Hearts, Jack offers Alice the chance to stay and become the next Queen of Wonderland.
Chapter XII: Which Dreamed It? - MINOR REFERENCES
Alice believes at first that everything is a dream. When she frees all of the Oysters, she pleads with them to "wake up." Alice does wake up outside the building where she originally ran into the Looking Glass and after a brief stay at the hospital, she is greeted by the Hatter who left Wonderland, proving that maybe it wasn't a dream after all.
Review:
Aside from all of the references to Wonderland, this miniseries doesn't feel very connected with the original stories. This is a sci-fi story about people being collected and harvested for their emotions which did not need to be related to the works of Lewis Carroll at all. Everything is just given a Wonderland coat of paint, as if to continuously ask the audience, "Hey, remember this character? Hey, remember this line?"
Now, granted, this can work in moments. The relationship between the Queen and King of Hearts in the book for example influences the relationship between their characters in this version, which creates and interesting dynamic. But a lot of times, the internal logistics of this new story are bogged down by the fact that everything must reference the old story. Why is the Caterpillar the leader of the Resistance? Because he was present in the book. Why are Tweedledee and Tweedledum psychiatric doctors working for the Queen of Hearts? Because they were present in the book. Why is the Hatter a young, attractive rebel who becomes Alice's love interest? Because he's the most well-known character from the book. He isn't even mad!
Now, some of the changes and references I enjoyed, which makes me feel that you should just view it as its own story that draws influence from the books. Making the Carpenter one of the lead characters in charge of orchestrating the "eating" of the "Oysters" was a clever way to keep his character relevant in this sci-fi reality. And the Queen of Hearts' court becoming a casino was a cool update fitting with the cards theming. And even the relationship between the Duchess and the Jack is a welcome diversion from the usual portrayal of these two characters.
But the best element of this whole story by far is Matt Frewer as the White Knight. He is a bumbling knight-errant the likes of Sir Pellinore, Don Quixote, and of course Carroll's White Knight. By establishing him as a deliberate connection to the original Alice stories, it allows the story to not get so bogged down in it's gritty reboot. He is the only Wonderland character who acts like a Wonderland character. And fortunately, he joins the journey as Alice's second companion, so he gets a lot of time to develop and grow as a character.
The White Knight is given his own subplot about being the last remaining member of the Chessmen that all perished in the war against the Cards. He remembers the ruling of the Red King and he feels great shame at letting his army down. He often has conversations with the Red King's skeleton, revealing his insecurities as being the worst knight in the army and undeserving of being the sole-survivor. In between his bouts of foolish madness, he has moments of clarity where he connects with Alice on a deeper level, giving her the wisdom and strength to push forward. He eventually proves to be very worthy towards the end as he overcomes his fears of the past to help save the day.
Had the whole series been filled with characters like the White Knight, I think I would have warmed to it more as an Alice in Wonderland adaptation. As it stands, it is just a fairly competent sci-fi story that gets a little jumbled at times, but has enough references to keep Alice fans interested.
3.5 out of 5 Stolen Emotions
Review:
Aside from all of the references to Wonderland, this miniseries doesn't feel very connected with the original stories. This is a sci-fi story about people being collected and harvested for their emotions which did not need to be related to the works of Lewis Carroll at all. Everything is just given a Wonderland coat of paint, as if to continuously ask the audience, "Hey, remember this character? Hey, remember this line?"
Now, granted, this can work in moments. The relationship between the Queen and King of Hearts in the book for example influences the relationship between their characters in this version, which creates and interesting dynamic. But a lot of times, the internal logistics of this new story are bogged down by the fact that everything must reference the old story. Why is the Caterpillar the leader of the Resistance? Because he was present in the book. Why are Tweedledee and Tweedledum psychiatric doctors working for the Queen of Hearts? Because they were present in the book. Why is the Hatter a young, attractive rebel who becomes Alice's love interest? Because he's the most well-known character from the book. He isn't even mad!
Now, some of the changes and references I enjoyed, which makes me feel that you should just view it as its own story that draws influence from the books. Making the Carpenter one of the lead characters in charge of orchestrating the "eating" of the "Oysters" was a clever way to keep his character relevant in this sci-fi reality. And the Queen of Hearts' court becoming a casino was a cool update fitting with the cards theming. And even the relationship between the Duchess and the Jack is a welcome diversion from the usual portrayal of these two characters.
But the best element of this whole story by far is Matt Frewer as the White Knight. He is a bumbling knight-errant the likes of Sir Pellinore, Don Quixote, and of course Carroll's White Knight. By establishing him as a deliberate connection to the original Alice stories, it allows the story to not get so bogged down in it's gritty reboot. He is the only Wonderland character who acts like a Wonderland character. And fortunately, he joins the journey as Alice's second companion, so he gets a lot of time to develop and grow as a character.
The White Knight is given his own subplot about being the last remaining member of the Chessmen that all perished in the war against the Cards. He remembers the ruling of the Red King and he feels great shame at letting his army down. He often has conversations with the Red King's skeleton, revealing his insecurities as being the worst knight in the army and undeserving of being the sole-survivor. In between his bouts of foolish madness, he has moments of clarity where he connects with Alice on a deeper level, giving her the wisdom and strength to push forward. He eventually proves to be very worthy towards the end as he overcomes his fears of the past to help save the day.
Had the whole series been filled with characters like the White Knight, I think I would have warmed to it more as an Alice in Wonderland adaptation. As it stands, it is just a fairly competent sci-fi story that gets a little jumbled at times, but has enough references to keep Alice fans interested.
3.5 out of 5 Stolen Emotions
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