I will do my best to contain my excitement as I craft this introduction; however, Alice in Wonderland is one of the most important pieces of media in my entire life. And, try as I might, I don’t think I will be able to contain myself. In fact, one of the greatest days of my young life was the day in which Lewis Carroll’s great-great (I am not sure how many greats there were) granddaughter came into my place of work and we engaged in a lengthy, Alice-themed conversation. Lewis Carroll’s (noꦯte: we will be using his pen name throughout 💃this article) classic series follows the adventures of a little curious girl named Alice through the mysterious place that is Wonderland.
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland has delighted, angered, and confused audiences all around the world for ages. From being declared a box office failure to🎉 being banned in China, Alice’s adventures have been through a lot since the novels were originally published. But there is also a lot of misinformation that has been spread about the series. Are the books truly a metaphor for substances or illness? Is Alice truly in a coma rather than just experiencing a fantastical world? And why IS a raven like a writing desk? The answers to these questions (as well as many others) lie within the 25 points on this list.
So, without further ado, here are 25 things that you probably didn’t know about Alice Liddell and her adventures in Won🉐derland.
25 🐠 Not What People 💞Expect
N🔯o, Alice isn’t an allegory for the ingestion of mind-altering substances or a metaphor for mental illness, or whatever other edgy theory your older brother told you. The true inspiration behind Alice’s adventures is a lot less titillating than these other salacious theories that have been floating around the interwebs for years. The true inspiration for the tale came from two sources in Carroll’s life. The first source (which will be expanded later in this article) stemmed from an afternoon of babysitting and storytelling between Carroll and his friend, Henry Liddell’s three daughters.
The second source of inspiration was Carroll’s intense hatred of 19th-century innovations in (including the advent of imaginary numbers.) The riddles that the Mad Hatter, the caterpillar, and Alice recit🙈e throughout the novel were supposed to act as a reflection on the increasing abstraction that dominated mathematics in Victorian England. So there you go, these stories were not the product of a trip through illness or a romp with substances but rather a story-loving man’s math focus rage. Though the true meaning behind the se💞ries is nowhere as tantalizing as your older brother once made it seem, I personally feel as though that the true inspiration behind the series is far more entertaining.
24 ಌ Why IS A Raven Like A Writing Desk?
Ah, the question to end all questions. Why IS a raven like a writing desk? Do you have any theories? I’ve always thought that they both had that Gothic aesthetic and tend to go hand in hand. But what answer does Carroll provide for the riddle that has plagued us for decades? Well, in short, he doesn🍎’t. It turns out that there is no answer to this riddle. The fact that this riddle has no answer was referenced in Tim Burton’s 2010 live-action adaptation when Alice finally asks the Mad Hatter for the answer to the riddle and he reveals that he has no idea.
Lewis Carroll made the riddle up for the novel but never thought of an answer to go with it. However, after being harassed by fans for decades, Carroll eventually supplied readers with that was nearly as nonsensical as the original riddle itself. His answer read “Because it can produce a few notes, tho they are VERY flat; and it is nevar put with the wrong end in front.” Carroll intentionally spelt never as “nevar” in his answer in order to create the word “raven” spelt backwards (though his “spelling mistake” has irritated fans all over the world). Other attempts to solve the riddle include the fact that they both start with an “r🎉” sound and that “Edgar Allan Poe wrote on both.”
23 ♒ 🎶 Nonsensical Reality
Though many people have emphasized the ☂nonsensical and trippy notion of the series, it was often noted that the true Alice would have found nothing strange about the sto♒ry.
The real Alice was a little girl who bore the same name as her fictional counterpart.
The real Alice was one of Henry Liddell’s three daughters who Carroll often delighted by entertaining them with stories that he had invented. A museum exh🤪ibit on the famed series () has revealed that many of the elements of the novels' plot and the minor characters that felt absurd and nonsensical to the audience we actually inspired by real people, places, and experiences, that each and every one of the Liddell girls would have recognized from their own lives. For example, when the Mock Turtle explains that he receives lessons in drawing, sketching, and “fainting in coils” from an “old conger-eel that used to come once a week,” the three Liddell girls would have seen their ownꩲ art tutor in that turtle.
Even though these minor details of the novel did not translate to the novels wider audience, I’d like to think that every single one of those three little Liddell girls that read the finalized novel saw themselves and their lives in its page💧s. I hope that they smiled and felt like the three most special girls in the entire world. How wonderful is it for Carroll to immortalize them and their lives like that?
22 🐈 A Classic For The Ages
I was not exaggerating when I said that the Alice novels are some of the most universally loved novels of all time. In fact, since the books were originally published in 1865 they have never spent a single moment out of print. In fact, the original book in the series has been translated into over 176 languages. The sequel to the original novel, Through the Looking Glass, sold out seven weeks after it was published. If I had been alive during the nineteenth century, I could have probably claimed responsibility for the novels unparalleled sales due to the fact that I own multiple copies of each book within the series. In all honesty, nothing makes me more💯 proud of Carroll than the fact that his books sold so well.
Getting your own work out there and putting it into the world is always such a g☂amble and seeing such a unique and risky piece of media paying off for an author is always an exciting moment for everyone involved. I, ♚for one, am grateful that he took that gamble and thrust his work out there into the world because, if he hadn’t, we would not have had this amazing story that has shaped the lives of millions of people across the world for the past century or two. And that would have been a tragedy. I can't even imagine my life without Alice Liddell.
21 ♏ Stranger Than Fiction 𒀰
It seems as though it is impossible for an author to create a piec🐠e of fiction without putting a bit of themselves in it. Most people tend to place shades of themselves in their main characters; however, Carroll, the creative and unique man that he is, decided to take a different approach.
It turns out that the character of the Dodo which exists in the Alice novels is based on none other than Lewis Carroll himself.
In the original novel, Carroll describes a boating trip which occurred in his own life in 1862 which existed (in a way) within the novel with a few minor adjustments. Though it is important to note that all of the people present were presented in the story as birds rather than people, with (a character which was inspired by his real name). It turns out that Carroll had a 🎀bit of a stutter which ca🃏used him to pronounce his legal last name as “Do-do-dogson” rather than simply “Dogson.” In all honesty, though it was relatively obvious that the author did not base the main character of this series around any aspect of himself, I truly did not expect that I would find him resting behind the mask of an extinct bird.
20 What's🥃 In A Name?
Though it is very common to make changes during the adaptation process, Tim Burton made one change between the original source material and his version of events. In Lewis Carroll’s original tale, very few characters and objects were given proper names. The cake that Alice eats was simply cake and the animals were simply referred to as what they were (examples include The White Rabbit, The Mock Turtle, and The Dormouse.) However, Burton decided to provide every object and character that existed within Underland with a proper name. These names include Tarrant Hightopp (The Mad Hatter), McTwisp (The White Rabbit), and Malyumkin (The Dormouse). Other names include Thackery (The March Hare), Absolem (The Caterpillar), Chessur (The Cheshire Cat), Mirana and Iracebeth Crimms (The White and Red Queen respectively), and Ilosovic Stayne (The 🍌Knave of Hearts).
Some objects𝄹 that received names in Burton’s version of events are the cake that makes Alice grow (which is now called Upelkuchen) and the liquid that makes her shrink (Pishalver). And I have to say that I absolutely lovꦅe the names Burton has gifted us with. I think that providing the creatures and objects of Underland with proper names truly enhances the lore of the universe.
19 The Glory Of Ed Wy🌠nn
Ah, Ed Wynn. One of the most famous voice actors of all time and the impression that literally everybody tries to do every time that they rewatch the 1951 animated version of Alice in Wonderland.
Apparently, Wynn’s talents extend beyond that of voice acting as many of his most famous moments from the final cut of the film were ad-libbed.
These ad-libbed moments took place during the live-action re꧙ference filming proce🎶ss (which will be expanded upon later in this list). During one take, Wynn ad-libbed a scene in which he attempted to fix The White Rabbit's watch and mocked another characters' suggestion to use mustard as a tool. Walt Disney, who was on set that day decided that that scene was hilarious and that they were to use it in the final cut of the film. At first, the animators objected due to the fact that there was a large amount of background noise that clouded up the take. But Disney did not take no for an answer and . After hours and hours of intense labor, the animators were finally able to present a clean version of the audio take, which was used in the final cut of the film.
18 𓆉 What Dreams Are Made Of 🐓
Sometimes adaptations go awry. It isn’t anybody’s fault. It’s just something that happens and no one is to blame. In the 1930s there was an attempt to create an adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s famous Alice series and it went sideways very quickly. Now, I don’t believe that there was anything wrong with the adaptation that had been pღlanned as it could have been incredibl🥀y successful had it been marketed properly. However, since the novel was primarily aimed at children, this version of the tale might have caused several members of its intended audience to require several years of therapy in order to overcome the horrors which they have witnessed in those dimly lit theatres.
Though this version of the film followed the storyline of the novel closer than any other adaptation, it was eventually rejected entirely for being far too scary. The concepts and storyboard art for this adaptation included a scene in which the Mad Hatter and The March Hare were chasing little Alice while brandishing a knife and scissors as well as a scene where Alice nearly had a run in wᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚith a grinding gear. This version also included a Cheshire Cat with hundreds of razor-sharp teeth. Though the twisted Disney-lover inside of me is intrigued, my nightmare-prone self is thankful that this version never saw the ligh𝐆t of day.
17 A Dash Of Mock Turtle Soup ꦺ
Though this scene never made its way into any of the popularized film adaptations of Lewis Carroll’s Alice series, the scene in which the characters bandy about bowls of Mock Turtle soup has sparked quite a discussion in the modern fandom. Though it is important to note that the franken-creature that is the Mock Turtle is sadly a fictional character and the product of Carroll’s active imagination and c♛reative mind, the soup of the same name was a🐭ctually a real dish.
It turns out that Mock Turtle soup was a real dish that was incredibly popular in Victorian times.
Mock Turtle soup existed as a cheaper version of the popular green turtle soup dish. Mock turtle soup was made from various od🔯ds and ends of a bovine persuasion. Some parts of the cow which were included in the soup were the calf's brains, head, and parts of their hooves, as well. Now, maybe this mix sounds delicious to the soup aficionado's of the world; however, my stomach churns at the idea of chicken noodle so I don’t think that someone as soup averse as I should bother trying something as exotic as the Victorian delicacy that is Mock Turtle soup.
16 Oystღers Are For March
In the 1951 animated adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s Alice series, there is a sequence in which Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum explain, to Alice, the story of the Walrus and the Carpenter. During this musical scene, there is a brief moment where the screen is focused on the Mother Oysters calendar while she tries to convince her children to stay u𒈔nderwater with her. When the calendar is shown, the R in the word “March” flashes for a second before the shot cuts away to a new frame. This flashing R is another old adage allusion as it references the saying which dictates that one should only eat oysters in a month with an R in its name.
Now this adage is not an old wives tale and it should be taken seriously by all those who live in a place without proper refrigeration. This is due to the fact that the few months that do not contain an R in their name (May, June, July, and August) are the hottest months of the year in England and the oysters would not keep during those months without access to proper refrigeration systems. And no one wants to eat bad seafood, especially in the summer. Nothinꦫg is worse than trying to treat food poisoning when it’s already sweltering outside.