Character Parallels for Alice in Wonderland (The movie)

The thing about some great movies is that they have depth to them. However, many people who go to the movie theaters don't bother to look deep into the movie itself and end up becoming thoroughly confused. For example.

I have heard multiple times in regards to the movie Alice in Wonderland: "That Mad Hatter loved Alice! EWW! That is sick and wrong 'cause he's so much older than her!"

STOP STOP STOP!!!!!

I can't stand this any longer. For backstory, Lewis Carroll's original stories of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass were packed full of character parallels toward the government of his day. The movie isn't quite as deep but it follows the same method. So perhaps this may help.

The Mad Hatter (Tarrant Hightopp)=Charles Kingsleigh
Charles Kingsleigh, Alice's Father, was depicted as mad at first but was ultimately successful because of his madness, as such was the same for The Hatter. The Mad Hatter shows signs of fondness in Alice's dream because that was how she viewed her father. At the end of her adventure, The Hatter asks Alice to stay with him saying if she leaves, she will forget him. This is because while the other characters in wonderland double with real life, Alice's Father is dead so she wouldn't get to see the Hatter on the other side. But Alice promises that she could never forget him, just as she will never forget her father.


The Door Mouse (Mally) / The White Rabbit (Nivins McTwisp)= Helen Kingsleigh
Helen is very much about propriety, like the White Rabbit, as seen in the beginning of the film when she is complaining about being late for the party and how Alice is "not properly dressed." Meanwhile, it is clear that Mrs. Kingsleigh really doesn't want to force Alice into anything, but cannot do anything about the situation, much like how the door mouse may be brave but is still too small to do much help.
Meanwhile for costumes, Helen is dressed in white, like the fur of the White Rabbit and the door mouse. Looking at her facial features, she fits the depiction for someone who is mousy: colorless, meek, timid, quiet. The door mouse in Alice's dream is more brave than Helen no doubt because that is how Alice wished her mother would be, small but brave.


TweedleDee and TweedleDum= Fiona and Faith Chataway
This one goes without saying. Especially at the end when Alice says "you two remind me of some funny boys I met in a dream."


The Cheshire Cat (Chessur)= Lord Ascot
One line of the Cheshire cat is most prominent in this parallel. "I never get involved in politics." This is because, neither does Lord Ascot. The Hatter gets mad at Ches because he didn't help out in the war. Likewise, Charles Kingsleigh thought Lord Ascot was a fool for not joining his "mad-venuture" and likewise would be disappointed at the fact that Lord Ascot was not controlling Lady Ascot in order to protect the wishes of Alice.
For Costume: It is fitting that Lord Ascot is the only one who has a thick mustache, while the animation department did the most to accent the soft fur of the Cheshire Cat. Also, Lord Ascot is the one who is Smiling most out of everyone at the party and trying to stay cherry despite the circumstances just like the Cat.


The Red Queen (Erasabeth of Crims) = Lady Ascot
Lady Ascot, like the Red Queen, wants to control everything and isn't as verbally proper as she should be. In many ways this gives her a metaphorical "big head", as is parallel to the Red Queen's physical big head. Her big quote is "the gardeners have planted white roses when i specifically asked for red," followed by Alice's famous quote "you could always paint the roses red." Meanwhile, The controlling-ness of Lady Ascot is similar to The Red Queen in a way that she really doesn't need a husband in order to rule. Finally, Lady Ascot doesn't not like rabbits and would set the dogs on them, much like how The Red Queen enslaves the White Rabbit (also a parallel to her relationship to Helen Kingsleigh) and likes to set out the Bandersnatch, the Jub Jub bird, and the Jabberwock (which she mistakenly calls a jabberwocky). Both Lady Ascot and The Red Queen do not hide their rudeness from everyone else thereby gaining but a few, fake friends while most do not like her at all.


The White Queen (Mirwona) = Margret Kingsleigh
While never truly happy, these two pretend that life is perfect. This is the reason why Ann Hathaway played the White Queen in such a cheesy way. She didn't act like that because she's a poor actress (believe me, she's excellent). It was the more obvious way of depicting the inner actions of Alice's sister Margret. Likewise, it is the White Queen and Margret Kingsleigh who tell Alice that she will eventually have to make a big descion.


The Knave of Hearts (Stayne) = Lowell
Just like the Knave of Hearts, Lowell is going behind the back of the only person who loves him. Lowell is found kissing a girl in the bushes where Alice catches them. Lowell tries to intimidate Alice by saying she would ruin her sister's marriage if she told anyone even though it is clearly his fault for sneaking around. This is exactly like the Knave who tries to seduce Alice but then blames everything on her when the Red Queen finds out.
As for costumes: The Knave is dressed in black with a black cape and a usually black eye-patch that changes colors depending on who he's with. This goes as an parallel to the stereotypical "bad guy". Lowell changes how he acts when he's not around Margret and his secret side is shown as evil.


The March Hare (Thackery Earwicket) = Aunt Imogene
I'm still not sure why they included her besides that fact that they just wanted another obvious parallel, but the delusional Aunt Imogene matches the truly crazy March Hare.
As for costumes: Aunt Imogene's hair is not well kept and hangs around her face like big March Hare ears.


The Jabberwock= The Proposal (and Hamish)
Alice has been dreaming about Wonderland since she was very little. This is because she always knew that one day she would have to face the Proposal seeing as Lord Ascot said his wife had been planning this engagement for nearly 18 years. When Alice was little, the dream was more colorful and light-hearted because she did not have to face anything at that age but when she is older, wonderland becomes dangerous because the Proposal is in the process. Hamish is not handsome and Alice does not want to marry him but she feels trapped and obligated because of priorities. All of Alice's friends wish that they could fight the Jabberwock for her but because this is her fight, they cannot. Just like they can't say yes or no for her at the proposal. Eventually Alice has to face her fears, fight the Jabberwock and say no to the Proposal.
(P.S. Through the Looking Glass describes the "Jabberwock with eyes of flame". The beast is mistakenly called the Jabberwocky in the film, which is actually the name of the poem that talks about the Jabberwock. You can find the whole thing on Wikipedia.)


The Blue Caterpillar (Absoluem) / Bayard= Alice
Finally, these two represent the final inner processes of Alice. The blue caterpillar prompts Alice to come to terms with who she is, what she stands for, and what she's going to do. Bayard is part of her conscious that tells her the problems if she "diverge(s) from the path" where Alice finally determines that she "make(s) the path". The path is the one where she marries Hamish and ends up living like her sister. If Alice leaves the path she might never marry and end up poor and starving. But Alice cannot let this deter her since she knows that she cannot fight her heart.



Wow, that was long. But ya, the Movie in Alice in Wonderland is really deep so that the story makes more sense. Wonderland really was a dream but an extremely significant one, which is why she always had the same nightmare that was always filled with some many choices.

P.S. Alice in Wonderland isn't the only movie to do this. The movie The Host, goes deep with the meaning of love: familial, physical/lustful, and mental/emotional.