Tag Archives: Wonderland

“And then they fled from the roof on flamingos.” – Syfy’s “Alice”

Alice

Last night I got to introduce a couple of friends to the Syfy miniseries “Alice” at our weekly Stitch n Bitch. I know I’ve mentioned this show in passing a few months ago but I wanted to go into a bit more detail on it and see if I can entice you guys to give it a chance.

The setting of this version of the story puts us in modern times but in Wonderland approximately 150 years have passed since the Alice of Legend was there. The main character of this retelling, Alice Hamilton, is often asked if she is The Alice but she continues to deny giving the story a plot that doesn’t feel like a reincarnation story or a sequel. It was presented on Syfy as a 2-part series but if you nab the dvd be prepared for a full three hours of awesome visuals and story. There is no break in the middle so you may find that it’s later than you realize when you finally make it to the end credits.

The cast is a mix of actors and actresses that I know well (Kathy Bates, Colm Meaney, Tim Curry) and some that I hadn’t seen, or at least I hadn’t been aware of, before watching the movie (Caterina Scorsone, Andrew Lee Potts). For me, such a mix tends to make me sit up and take more notice of a movie. I can now claim to have a bit of a crush on Andrew Lee Potts as Hatter. If you’re interested in sets, costuming and other visuals you won’t be disappointed. Wonderland is presented as someplace that looks real enough to believe it might exist.

The storyline is different enough from other retellings and reimaginings that I actually found myself caught up in the story. Last night the girls were watching and making guesses about how certain things would turn out and were pleasantly surprised to be wrong. This version of the story brings the characters to life as more “human” and at the same time with less “humanity” in many cases. There are many elements that have an “American McGee’s Alice” feel to them, name the dark tone of Wonderland and many of the characters. Yet at the same time we’re given a heroine who is believable. We’re not even asked to believe that she’s related to the original Alice in any way.

Heck, she’s even a Judo instructor and uses that to kick butt in Wonderland when push comes to shove. Who wouldn’t love that?

There are some awesome and memorable characters and moments in the series. The Hatter in general is awesome (because when is the Hatter not awesome?), the White Knight is so loveable that you’ll want to hug him, squeeze him and call him George, and Alice manages to not always be a damsel in distress. Wait until you meet the Walrus and the Carpenter and discover the “Oysters”. Those and the Tweedles reach some serious levels of creepy.

If you’re a fan of any of the Alice in Wonderland incarnations but haven’t seen this one (even I put off watching it for months), go ahead and give it a try. Then come back and let me know what you think.

Alice at Last: A few favorite incarnations

Variations on an Alice

made by Yappichick

 

I’ve loved the story “Alice in Wonderland” since I was little. Since the new Disney movie by Tim Burton came out there’s been a large surge of interest in the various incarnations. Earlier this week I got into a brief conversation on Twitter about some of the different movies and I decided to list a few of my favorites.

Disney’s animated “Alice in Wonderland”
How many folks remember watching this as a kid and wishing you could have un-birthdays? I have a nostalgic love for this film and the music in it. Even now I can still hear the Cheshire Cat singing those lines from the Jabberwock poem. While I’m not as big of a fan of it now, it still goes on my list of favorites simply because it was one of the first that I remember.

“Alice in Wonderland” & “Through the Looking Glass” (1985)
This TV movie was memorable for many reasons. It had an incredible cast and followed the plot of the books rather well. I’ll never be able to forget the first stanza of the poem “Father William” thanks to Sammy Davis Jr. dancing and singing it as the Caterpillar. Then there were the things that gave me nightmares such as Carol Channing as the White Queen turning into a sheep (which did happen in the book) and the very scary (at the time) Jabberwock. While I admit the effects look somewhat cheesy today, I recently rewatched this one and was happy to find that I enjoyed it just as much now as I did then.

American McGee’s Alice
I happened across this one while visiting a friend over the summer years ago. I watched him play it all the way through and realized that I loved the storyline. And older Alice who survived a fire that killed her parents (after her first trip down the rabbit hole) is locked in a mental hospital and has to fight her own insanity which is also warping the very real Wonderland that she’s still tied to. Who wouldn’t love that? Plus a Cheshire Cat with piercings and tattoos? And now they’re making a sequel? One of my favorites without question.

Syfy’s “Alice”
I wasn’t sure what I would think of this version of Alice in Wonderland. The storyline is quite different and many of the characters adjusted to fit in the new story. Even the Hatter wasn’t quite as mad as he normally is though the White Knight cracked me up to no end. Still, I have to admit, but the end of this one I decided that I could accept this as one I would recommend and enjoy later. It’s different, the ending is one that made me jump for joy and I admit that Andrew Lee Potts as the Hatter is cute enough to make me watch it again.

Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland”
To give them credit, they didn’t make a true sequel or reboot it even though this was done through Disney and could have easily been either. Instead they took the original story and decided to set this one years after that. The first time I watched this one I thought it was good, nothing exciting and decided that I preferred the character of Chessur (the Cheshire Cat) to the others in the film. Less than a day later the movie had grown on me like a fungus and I found my love of the Mad Hatter renewed. It’s easy to get distracted by the visuals and score but the storyline is an excellent one and I highly recommend this incarnation.

And that’s my rundown of my favorite Alice in Wonderland incarnations! Do you have others that I didn’t mention or a different opinion on the ones I did? Hit me up with a comment!