"Alice In Wonderland" VS "Through The Looking Glass"

It all began with Alice falling asleep under her tree as her older sister read her a story from her book. She awoke only to discover a white rabbit holding a timepiece. The timeless adventure we all know then begins as Alice, curious by nature, follows the white rabbit down a hole.

Now a lot of people have misconceptions about the two differing books, "Alice in Wonderland" and its sequel, "Through the Looking Glass". More so because of the new movie directed by Tim Burton. The title of the movie is "Alice in Wonderland" but the storyline is a merger of both the first and second book. And so, many misconceptions have arisen.

I'm here to BUST those misconceptions.

3 FALSE THINGS YOU ASSUME ABOUT ALICE IN WONDERLAND

1) Queen of Hearts = Red Queen

NO! That is completely untrue. First of all, The Queen of Heats is from the first book "Alice in Wonderland" while the Red Queen is from "Through the Looking Glass".

                 

 They have no similarities whatsoever other than the fact that they are Queens. The Queen of Hearts rules a deck of cards while the Red Queen governs the chess board. Two totally different characters. 

Then who is it you ask who really shouts the classic line,  

"OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!"

That would be the Queen of Hearts(above picture) from the first book. In the original Disney cartoon, as seen above, the Queen of Hearts was portrayed perfectly. However, in Tim Burton's movie, the Queen is a mixture of both the Queen of hearts and the Red Queen because despite being called the Red Queen, she is adorned in an outfit with many hearts and she walks about shouting "Off With Their Heads"!

                                                                                                                

                                                                                                  

          

2) TweedleDee and TweedleDum are from Alice's First Adventure

NO! They're not. TweedleDee and TweedleDum only appear in the sequel, "Through the Looking Glass". Even the Disney cartoon falsely included TweedleDee and TweedleDum into the first tale, "Alice in Wonderland".

3) The Jabberwocky is a fearsome creature the Red Queen uses to keep people under her command.

 

False. Unlike in Tim Burton's movie, the Jabberwocky in the books is not a beast. In fact, this is 

THE JABBERWOCKY

The poem

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"

He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought—
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.

And as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! and through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

"And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!"
He chortled in his joy.

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

Now as you can see, the poem does describe a beast called the Jabberwock however, in the book, there is no beast, simply this poem. And Humpty Dumpty makes an appearance in "Through the Looking Glass" where he tries to decipher the poem. THERE IS NO BEAST IN THE BOOK. Also, this poem is actually considered one of the most nonsense poem in English literature. No shock there ; ) Oh and if you've watched the movie, the words that I've enlarged in the poem should be familiar to you. Like the "VORPEL" sword.

 Those are the 3 most important misconceptions one might have and there are still many more but of no significance. 

 

I watched the movie by Tim Burton just yesterday and I have to say it was abit of a letdown. Johnny Depp's acting did not live up to the hype of the media. And oddly enough, Anne Hathaway as the White Queen and the new actress playing Alice carried the show through. It was an amazing setting with good effects but storyline wise, I was let down.

When I watched Alice In Wonderland cartoon 8 years ago, I was frightened and confused but when I watched the movie yesterday I was left bland. It was not as confusing as it should have been and the movie actually had a sense of purpose. Wonderland should not have a sense of purpose. It's meant to contradict and conflict.

I'd still recommend people to watch it just not to have such high expectations because when you leave the theater, you will be properly satisfied and not improperly confused.