A forty-minute multi-part Russian animated version of Through the Looking-Glass came out in 1982. Again, it was hard to locate much background on this version, but it seemed to have aired as part of a larger special when dubbed into English. The short runtime means much is cut out of the story, but what is kept in stays true to the original text. Plus, there is a narrator as well, meaning a lot of the descriptions form the book are also included.
The Russian style of animation shifts between herky-jerky cutout art and smooth, flowing grace from sequence to sequence, possibly due to budget, but it presents a very surreal quality to the proceedings.
(The reason I'm doing this one out of chronological order is because I just learned of its existence.)
Original Source Breakdown
Through the Looking-Glass
Chapter I: Looking-Glass House - MOSTLY INTACT
Alice only interacts with the black kitten Kitty before she travels through the glass. The Red Chess Pieces are all replaced with Black Chess Pieces. Kitty actually travels through the mirror with Alice and we see her transform into the Black/Red Queen as Alice predicted in the book. Alice only reads the beginning and climax of "Jabberwocky" and imagines herself in the role of the monster slayer.
Chapter II: The Garden of Live Flowers - MOSTLY INTACT
The Flowers only talk long enough to direct Alice towards the Black/Red Queen.
Chapter III: Looking-Glass Insects - MOSTLY INTACT/ALTERED
Everything up until the train leaps over the brook is kept in. Alice briefly sees some insects that form into a giant Baobab tree butterfly. She then enters the forest which takes her straight to the Tweedles.
Chapter IV: Tweedledum and Tweedledee - MOSTLY REMOVED
"The Walrus and the Carpenter" is omitted, as well as the Red King encounter.
Chapter V: Wool and Water - MOSTLY INTACT/ALTERED
The White Queen's conversation is heavily trimmed down. When she becomes the Sheep, Alice must cross the water on a boat by herself to reach the shop where she discusses the items for purchase.
Chapter VI: Humpty Dumpty - MOSTLY REMOVED
Humpty Dumpty mostly talks to Alice about the words in "Jabberwocky" and little else.
Chapter VII: The Lion and the Unicorn - MOSTLY INTACT
Only one Messenger again this time, Haigha, and he is not the March Hare. Everything is shortened and rushed.
Chapter VIII: "It's My Own Invention" - MOSTLY REMOVED
This scene is quite rushed as well. The Knights' fight is essentially a minor argument and handshake, the White Knight only shows off his mousetrap, and his Aged Man poem is just the final stanza.
Chapter IX: Queen Alice - MOSTLY REMOVED/ALTERED
The Queen's examination is rushed and the White Queen gets a lot of the Red Queen's lines as a result. Aside from meeting the food and the ending chaos, Alice doesn't do much at her feast.
Chapters X, XI, XII: Shaking, Waking, Which Dreamed It? - MOSTLY INTACT/ALTERED
The whole ending plays out mostly, only just with the black kitten. Because the Red King was removed, Alice instead wonders whether the dream was hers or Kitty's.
Review:
For as odd as it can be, I'm very much a fan of Russian animation. There's this grittiness to it that makes it feel a little bit deeper and magical. And what I've usually seen from this era were Disney knockoffs which add this whole familiar charm that is just different enough to keep things interesting. Through the Looking-Glass was a great choice for this style, as the stranger moments of the book lend well to animation. It's another very dreamlike production.
The attention to detail was very strong during the opening scenes. When Alice is reprimanding Kitty at the beginning, she manages to upset most of the chess pieces onto the floor, which explains the disarray in the Looking-Glass Room. Alice trying to reach the hill in the garden is presented as an M.C. Escher type of maze which explains why she keeps ending up back at the house. And during the Queen's explanation of the game, we pan over all the squares to see visuals that represent what each one looks like. (And as Alice travels, signs and archways signify the Square she enters.)
I particularly liked the interpretation of Chapter 3. These elephant-bees actually came to land on Alice's shoulder (they aren't elephant-sized, mind you, but they are larger than bees), which helped bring some closure to that moment of the book, since Alice misses her opportunity to see them up close. The train passengers are a lot more jumbled and crowded and they actually have tickets as large as they are. They're always moving about as well, which makes it all very disorienting, especially when the guard shows up both inside and outside of the moving train car.
My complaints mostly stem from the rushed final two-thirds of the story. So much attention is given to the beginning that we rarely get to spend time with the more fun characters. I was particularly disappointed that the two Queens became very similar in personality since they now shared the Red Queen's lines. And the additional narration, while helpful, seemed to be arbitrarily chosen. Sometimes it was welcome, but other times, it would describe exactly what we were seeing (like Alice floating down the stairway), so one wonders why even bother with it.
Despite those qualms, I did very much enjoy seeing the story told in this style. It may not be a definitive version, but had it expanded into a full-length feature, it could have come very close to rivaling the Disney version. I'm glad I did not completely overlook this one.
Oh man...I just learned there's an Alice in Wonderland version that came out as well...hmm...
4 out of 5 Paper Dolls
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