Alice in Wonderland
The story of Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll is a childhood favorite of mine and I remember reading the book many times as a child. I am also a fan of the Disney animated version, which is also in my collection as well as some figurines. During the year I worked at Disney World in Florida, I rode the tea cups more times than I can remember.
My favorite aspect of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland is the superrealism used in the colours and textures of Wonderland. These intense colours and textures were also present inside the factory in Charlie and the Chocolate factory. The cast is also very impressive. Once again Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter have starring roles for which they do an excellent job. Other actors in the film that stood out for me include Stephen Fry, Alan Richman and Matt Lucas. The costuming in this movie is really incredible as are the sets. The CGI used to digitally morph characters like the Red Queen’s head is a great way to add to the distorted look you expect to see in this story. The actors are a mix of live action and computer generated animation which blends together seamlessly.
As side note, the whole ideas of a rabbit hole is based on the burrowning habits of eruopean rabbits which of course fits with the story which takes place in England. However, according to one of my undergrad professor (Dr. Eagles, 1990), this story has really messed up people’s understanding of rabbits’ burrowning habits in North America. He told the class that North American rabbits do not create rabbit holes but rather just make burrows under trees.
Show below are two tea containers from Tetley. I drink a lot of tea so I really enjoyed finding these. The tea is long gone so I added these containers to my display cabinet.
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