Original Source Breakdown
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - REFERENCED
The popular characters from the first story (the White Rabbit, the Hatter, the March Hare, the Dormouse, and the Queen and King of Hearts) all appear during Queen Alice's feast at the end.
Through the Looking-Glass
Chapter I: Looking-Glass House - MOSTLY INTACT/ALTERED
Alice's fear of the Jabberwock causes her to knock over the chess pieces. The monster disappears and Alice helps the White pieces reunite as in the book. Alice then speaks to one of the pictures which has come to life. The pictures don't speak to her in the book, but this one, an Owl, explains that Alice must conquer her fears over the Jabberwock, as he only appears when she is afraid.
Through the Looking-Glass
Chapter I: Looking-Glass House - MOSTLY INTACT/ALTERED
Alice's fear of the Jabberwock causes her to knock over the chess pieces. The monster disappears and Alice helps the White pieces reunite as in the book. Alice then speaks to one of the pictures which has come to life. The pictures don't speak to her in the book, but this one, an Owl, explains that Alice must conquer her fears over the Jabberwock, as he only appears when she is afraid.
Chapter II: The Garden of Live Flowers - MOSTLY INTACT
After the conversation with the Owl, Alice ends up in the garden. She meets with the Red Queen, who doesn't explain as much about the world as she does in the book, even though she says she will.
Chapter III: Looking-Glass Insects - MOSTLY INTACT/ALTERED
Alice notices the stopped train and walks onto it herself, instead of just ending up on it. This makes the argument about her lack of a ticket a little nonsensical, as she clearly broke the rules. She talks for a bit longer with the Goat, Horse, and Paper Man and no other passengers appear. She eventually gets thrown off the train for deliberately pulling the emergency brake (the Goat's beard) rather than accidentally doing it as it jumps over the brook. She encounters the Gnat at the edge of the Fourth Square's forest who is kind to her, but doesn't talk to her long about anything. He warns her about the forest, except the "No Names" element is removed so he's just warning her of...Dee and Dum?
Chapter IV: Tweedledum and Tweedledee - MOSTLY INTACT/ALTERED
Dee and Dum introduce themselves with a song and sing "The Walrus and the Carpenter" which they actually watch unfold at the beach with Alice. Alice leaves them there, however, so she doesn't see the Red Queen or their battle. It isn't until after her encounter with the White Queen that she encounters the Monstrous Crow (who is a vulture, this time around).
Chapter V: Wool and Water - MOSTLY REMOVED/ALTERED
Alice meets with the White Queen and much of the conversation is cut in exchange for a song about "Jam Tomorrow, Never Today." Once the Queen turns into the Sheep, Alice runs away frightened.
Chapter VI: Humpty Dumpty - MOSTLY INTACT/ALTERED
Alice begins her conversation with Humpty Dumpty as she does in the book. It gets cut short once the topic of "Jabberwocky" comes up. Rather than Dumpty explaining the poem to her, the monster itself shows up, causes Dumpty to fall off the wall, and chases Alice away.
Chapter VII: The Lion and the Unicorn - MOSTLY INTACT/ALTERED
Almost all of this chapter is kept in yet for some odd reason, the White King's Messengers are no longer the Hatter and Hare despite being named Hatta and Haigha (who they call "Hayor," seemingly having misinterpreted the pronunciation advice from the book). Haigha is the only one who appears and he is a non-lapine John Stamos. It feels like the creators didn't realize that the characters were supposed to be the same from Wonderland, even though they brought them back for the feast scene.
Chapter VIII: "It's My Own Invention" - MOSTLY REMOVED/ALTERED
The White Knight's inventions and philosophies are mostly removed and instead he dances a romantic dance with Alice.
Chapter IX: Queen Alice - MOSTLY INTACT/ALTERED
After her Queen examination, Alice enters the castle without issue from the creatures at the door. She is greeted by her Wonderland friends who sing her welcome song. Before the food is served, Alice complains about wanting to return home. She receives the gift of the Jabberwock who chases everyone around the hall and defeats the White Knight.
Chapter XII: Which Dreamed It? - ALTERED
Alice seeks the advice of the Owl picture again who helps her leave back through the Looking-Glass. The Jabberwock tries to follow but Alice shouts him back. She wakes up from her dream as her mother invites her to tea. Her dream-friends sing a goodbye song to her from beyond the mirror.
Chapter VI: Humpty Dumpty - MOSTLY INTACT/ALTERED
Alice begins her conversation with Humpty Dumpty as she does in the book. It gets cut short once the topic of "Jabberwocky" comes up. Rather than Dumpty explaining the poem to her, the monster itself shows up, causes Dumpty to fall off the wall, and chases Alice away.
Chapter VII: The Lion and the Unicorn - MOSTLY INTACT/ALTERED
Almost all of this chapter is kept in yet for some odd reason, the White King's Messengers are no longer the Hatter and Hare despite being named Hatta and Haigha (who they call "Hayor," seemingly having misinterpreted the pronunciation advice from the book). Haigha is the only one who appears and he is a non-lapine John Stamos. It feels like the creators didn't realize that the characters were supposed to be the same from Wonderland, even though they brought them back for the feast scene.
Chapter VIII: "It's My Own Invention" - MOSTLY REMOVED/ALTERED
The White Knight's inventions and philosophies are mostly removed and instead he dances a romantic dance with Alice.
Chapter IX: Queen Alice - MOSTLY INTACT/ALTERED
After her Queen examination, Alice enters the castle without issue from the creatures at the door. She is greeted by her Wonderland friends who sing her welcome song. Before the food is served, Alice complains about wanting to return home. She receives the gift of the Jabberwock who chases everyone around the hall and defeats the White Knight.
Chapter XII: Which Dreamed It? - ALTERED
Alice seeks the advice of the Owl picture again who helps her leave back through the Looking-Glass. The Jabberwock tries to follow but Alice shouts him back. She wakes up from her dream as her mother invites her to tea. Her dream-friends sing a goodbye song to her from beyond the mirror.
Review:
Just like the first part of this story, there were a lot of underwhelming moments in this adaptation. Despite Looking-Glass having a set structure, the writers decided to add this whole Jabberwock pursuit and Alice "facing her fears" subplot which doesn't fit into the pre-existing story. It ended up making the whole thing feel aimless and disjointed and, ironically, without structure.
Alice's fears are never fully explored. Yes, she wants to go home and, yes, the Jabberwock is a scary monster, but both of those are legitimate fears! What exactly is she supposed to face? The Jabberwock is likely going to kill her! Okay, the Jabberwock isn't real and Alice must understand that her nightmares can't hurt her. So then why go through all the trouble of making her "bonds" with the other characters real?
See, after leaving the mirror, Alice shouts that she doesn't believe in the Jabberwock in a very unconvincing manner, since she is yelling and crying the whole time. Had she truly believed it and faced her fears, she would be calm in the face of this unreal danger. But, whatever, the film wants us to think that Alice has conquered her fear by not believing in the Jabberwock. But then all of the characters reappear in the mirror to sing a farewell song to her. So, she does believe in every aspect of Wonderland except for the threatening monsters? What message is this film trying to send?
Also, why does Alice get all teary-eyed when she says goodbye to these characters. None of them are particularly nice to Alice. Well, the White Knight, sure, but the Hatter and Hare are rude, the White and Red Queen are controlling and critical, the King and Queen of Hearts wanted her dead, and the White Rabbit never seemed to care about her at all. Good riddance to them, Alice!
Again, if this is the version you grew up with, more power to you. But any potential that the mediocre first half set up is squandered in this second part. It didn't make any sort of sense and none of the performances stuck out as brilliantly iconic versions of the character....maybe Ann Jillian as the Red Queen, but certainly not Carol Channing as the White Queen who was so over-the-top and bizarre and missed the whole point of the character. I was looking forward to this one, but I was very let down.
1.5 out of 5 Jabberwock Rubber Suits
No comments:
Post a Comment