Alice, the main protagonist of Lewis Carroll's novels Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass (1871), has been adapted into several forms of media, including novels, films, television, stage productions, and video games.
Stage The first professional stage adaptation of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, the musical Alice in Wonderland, a Dream Play for Children, in two acts, debuted on 23 December 1886 at the Prince of Wales Theatre in London, England, and continued until 18 March 1887, to good reviews; it starred Phoebe Carlo as Alice. The musical was later revived and performed at the Globe Theatre from 26 December 1888 to 9 February 1889, with Carroll's friend, Isa Bowman, as Alice. The musical was frequently revived during the "Christmas season," being produced eighteen times from 1898 to 1930. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland has since been adapted for various forms of the stage, including "ballets, operas, experimental theatre, Broadway musicals, puppet plays, mime acts, and rock musicals."
Film Directed and produced by Cecil Hepworth, the first film adaptation of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland debuted in Great Britain in 1903 as a silent film and in January 1904 in the United States. Because of its nature as a silent film, "it circulated freely throughout Europe and America." It starred May Clark as Alice and Hepworth's wife as the Queen of Hearts. The British Film Institute has restored fourteen of the original sixteen scenes. Two more silent film adaptations of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland were produced: one in 1910 starring Gladys Hulette, and another in 1915 with Viola Savoy as Alice. Ruth Gilbert starred as Alice in the first Alice film with sound (1931), followed by Charlotte Henry (1933), Carol Marsh (1948), Anne-Marie Malik (1966) and Fiona Fullerton (1972). The 2010 film Alice in Wonderland was produced by Joe Roth who wanted to recreate a modern Alice in Wonderland. It was directed by Tim Burton. This version was based on Through the Looking Glass and has Alice returning to Wonderland at the age of 19.
Disney
Alice Comedies Alice's Adventures in Wonderland had served as inspiration for Walt Disney's earlier Alice Comedies. By 1931, he had "storyboards and sketches" for a film adaptation of the children's novel; however, the release of another Alice film during the same year caused him to put the project on hold. With the conclusion of World War II, Disney considered the film again, planning it to be a combination of live-action and animation starring Ginger Rogers as Alice. In 1946, however, Disney decided to drop the live-action aspect of his Alice film and make it completely animated instead. For the voice of Alice, he wanted one "that would be English enough to satisfy British audiences and preserve the feeling of an English literary classic, but not so English that it would put off American audiences." He found that in young actress Kathryn Beaumont, when watching her in On an Island with You. Successfully auditioning for the role of Alice, Beaumont voiced the character and acted as reference material for the animators: her acting was recorded and used by them to animate the character. During the recording of her voice acting, Beaumont dressed as Alice to better aid her with "getting into character". Despite not being trained as a singer, she also provided Alice's singing voice, as Disney envisioned the songs as possessing a "childlike feel" to them.
Animated film
Alice is the main character of Alice in Wonderland. Alice is portrayed as being very curious, often seen daydreaming and giving herself advice instead of listening to the advice of others. The closest thing Alice has to a friend is Dinah, her kitten, and not even she understands Alice's dreams of finding "a world of her own." Alice is well mannered, polite, courteous, mature, and has the elegance and gentleness of a young woman; however, once she falls into Wonderland, she finds it harder to maintain her composure. She is shown to be determined, but her determination is often overpowered by her temper, as she does not give up on finding the White Rabbit until she gets frustrated, and is easily put off by rudeness. She wears a blue puffy short-sleeved knee-length wide-skirted dress, a white pinafore apron over-top, and a black ribbon tied into a bow in her thick blonde shoulder-length hair on top of her head. Underneath her dress, she wears frilly white ruffled knee-length bloomers over matching thigh-high stockings, a matching petticoat, and black strapped Mary Jane shoes. She is voiced by Kathryn Beaumont, who later also voiced Wendy Darling in Peter Pan (1953).
In video games Alice appears in Disney's Villains' Revenge, where Queen of Hearts takes revenge on Alice by cutting off her head. The player encounters Alice's headless body walking through Queen of Hearts' maze and must help her find her head.
Alice is featured as a character in the video game series Kingdom Hearts. She is one of the Princesses of Heart encountered in the game along with Kairi, and her world, Wonderland, is one of the first Disney-based worlds visited. Alice also appears in the sequel, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, as a figment of the memories of Sora, the game's protagonist. She is also present in Kingdom Hearts coded, as a data-based version from Jiminy's Journal. Though she does not make an appearance in Kingdom Hearts II, she, along with the other Princesses of Heart, are referenced. In the Japanese version, she was voiced by Mika Doi, and in the English version Alice was originally voiced by her original voice actress Kathryn Beaumont in Kingdom Hearts. However, following her retirement from the role, Alice was voiced by Beaumont's replacement Hynden Walch for the HD Cinematics of Re:Coded in Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix.
Wonderland is one of four Disney movie-themed worlds accessible in the Nintendo 3DS game Disney Magical World, and Alice is among several characters from the film who appear in the game. The player can also collect items and clothing pieces inspired by the Disney movie.
Alice appears in Disney Magic Kingdoms as a playable character to unlock for a limited time.
Other appearances in Disney media She appears in House of Mouse and the direct-to-video releases Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse and Mickey's House of Villains, voiced by Hynden Walch.All About Hynden! Retrieved 29 January 2013 Alice appears as a meetable character in the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. Alice can also be considered an unofficial Disney Princess, as she appears in many instances of Disney Princess art, videos, and other media, such as being a 'Princess of Heart' in Kingdom Hearts. In the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Alice is mentioned as "Allyson Wonderland" on graffiti written on the bathroom wall in Toontown.
Despite not being part of the official Disney Princess lineup, Alice has appeared as a guest character in official Disney Princess art, and is included in the Disney Princess music video "It's Not Just Make Believe" and "The Perfect Princess Tea" with the then eight official princesses.
Tim Burton films
Alice Kingsleigh (Mia Wasikowska) is a 19-year-old girl "who doesn't quite fit into Victorian society and structure." Her return to Wonderland – having previously visited it as a child, although she has since forgotten it as anything other than a dream, and now required to return to defeat the Jabberwocky – "becomes a rite of passage as she discovers her voice and herself." Screenwriter Linda Woolverton researched how young women were expected to behave in the Victorian era and then made Alice the opposite. Independent columnist Liz Hoggard praised Alice as a role model for girls, describing the character as "stubborn, brave, [and] non-girlie." Alice’s height varies throughout the film from six inches, two feet, eight and a half feet, to a maximum . Mairi Ella Challen portrays Alice as a six-year-old. Wasikowska reprised the role in the 2016 sequel Alice Through the Looking Glass.
Appearances in other media Besides the books and the Disney film, Alice has appeared in many other works:
Television A 1966 Hanna-Barbera animated special, Alice in Wonderland or What's a Nice Kid Like You Doing in a Place Like This?, is a modernized take on the book, with Janet Waldo as Alice.
Warehouse 13, a Syfy channel TV series, featured an evil version of Alice during the second half of season 1. In the show, Lewis Carroll's books were not fake, but chronicles based on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland masquerading as fiction. The mirror she passed through, after enough uses, caused Alice to go "Mad as a Hatter", turning her into a sociopathic killer.
In a 1973 episode of Star Trek: The Animated Series, "Once Upon a Planet", Alice asks Lieutenant Uhura where the White Rabbit is.
In the 2009 miniseries Alice, Alice (Caterina Scorsone) is a 20-year-old judo instructor. A man named Jack Chase gives her the Stone of Wonderland before being kidnapped by the White Rabbit. Alice follows Jack to Wonderland, set 150 years after the original adventure, where the Red Queen rules the land.
Once Upon a Time Alice is the central character in the 2013 fantasy series Once Upon a Time in Wonderland (a spin-off to Once Upon a Time) portrayed by Sophie Lowe as a teenager and by Millie Bobby Brown as a child. The story is set in a fictional Victorian England-themed world and takes place after Alice has returned from Wonderland. Due to the stories she tells about the hookah-smoking caterpillar and Cyrus, played by Peter Gadiot, the genie she fell in love with and believed to be dead, she is declared insane and placed in London’s Bethlem Asylum. The doctors decide that the best treatment for Alice is a procedure that will make her forget Wonderland and the events that happened there, which Alice agrees to due to wanting to forget her painful past. The night before the procedure, the White Rabbit, voiced by John Lithgow, and the Knave of Hearts, played by Michael Socha, arrive in the asylum and tell Alice that Cyrus is not dead, but may be in danger. Hearing this, Alice agrees to return to Wonderland and help find her true love. It is later revealed that Cyrus is being held prisoner by Jafar (played by Naveen Andrews), who wants to use Cyrus’ magic to take over Wonderland and is working with the evil Red Queen (played by Emma Rigby). Throughout the series, Alice and the Knave of Hearts work together to rescue Cyrus and stop the Red Queen and Jafar from wreaking havoc in Wonderland.
An alternate version of Alice is a recurring character in the seventh season of the fantasy series Once Upon a Time, portrayed by Rose Reynolds. She is the daughter of the Wish Realm version of Killian Jones (played by Colin O'Donoghue) and Mother Gothel (played by Emma Booth). Alice is the lover of Robin, played by Tiera Skovbye, who is the daughter of Robin Hood (Sean Maguire) and Zelena (Rebecca Mader). Her cursed identity in Hyperion Heights was "Tilly".
Films In the 1987 film The Care Bears Adventure in Wonderland, Alice (voiced by Tracey Moore) is a young and shy blonde girl with an apparent self-esteem problem, as she thinks that she is not "special," until the Care Bears decide she is the girl who more closely resembles the missing Princess of Wonderland. As such, Alice takes the place of the Princess and ultimately learns to believe in herself. In the film, Alice is shown wearing casual clothing, consisting of a white shirt with a pink stripe, purple pants, a blue jacket, and pink shoes, and wearing her hair in a ponytail.
The Czech surrealist Jan Švankmajer retold the story in a dark 1988 film titled Alice. Kristýna Kohoutová portrayed her and her English dub was done by Camilla Power. Woody Allen's film Alice, while not a direct adaptation, follows a woman who has a series of surreal adventures.
Comics