Alice's Adventures . . .

[chelseagirl]

As my default icon suggests, I'm a bit of an Alice fanatic: I've had several articles in academic journals, I collect more than a little. And I am an avid consumer of adaptation and sequels in all media; I've been known to watch replays of the American McGee's Alice games on Youtube. (OK, it was research for one of the articles, but I enjoyed it.) I can even come up with nice things to say about the disappointing Tim Burton Alice movie, because of the ways it plays with the mythos.

But I'm really close to giving up on Once Upon a Time in Wonderland. Since I don't watch the original OUaT, maybe I was under-prepared for all the Disney crossovers, but . . . I'm not a Disney fan, I'm an Alice fan. That includes Disney's animated Alice, though just barely (she's a wimp compared to the original or to most of her incarnations). Sure there is the occasional tip of the hat (or, in the case of this week's Underland, the steampunk top hat and goggles, and why do I think the costume designers just saw pictures on the internet and thought it looked cool?) like the Iggy Pop-voiced Caterpillar (surely a relative of Jabba the Hutt?).

I do like Michael Socha as the Knave of Hearts-- he was a good addition to the cast of Being Human (UK), though I still abandoned that show after Lenora Crichlow -- the last original cast member -- departed. But while I appreciate that Alice's quest to rescue Cyrus puts the woman in the position of rescuer and the man as rescuee, the fact that it's all about the love story is a little tedious and predictable. Also, while I really liked the corset-and-chemise outfit in the pilot, putting Alice in a minidress is just that one step too far that irritates me. (She's still a Victorian, if barely.) Naveen Andrews's OTT orientalist posturings as Jafar are grating on me (and I've always liked him, too).

Maybe it's that I've done the dark Wonderlands and the sunny ones, child Alice and grownup Alice, and this show hasn't got much new to offer. But it would be nice if it did more with ringing the various changes on Wonderland (and the Looking-Glass country) rather than making me feel like I'm watching a Disney infomercial.

Then again, for someone who's never played (or *cough* made her husband play -- I'm not a gamer) American McGee's Alice or read various dark Wonderland graphic novels, maybe this is a fresh new take on Alice. For a Disney fan, maybe this is old home week. As for me, the show's making me think better and better of the Burton movie in comparison (and Disney, that's yours too, so take note).

Except for the futterwacken. Nobody will ever make me think better of that.

Comments

[havocthecat]

Except for the futterwacken. Nobody will ever make me think better of that.

The futterwacken is unbelievably, blitheringly stupid. That whole movie would be better without a hint of futterwackening. (Also, without hints of a romance between Alice and the Hatter. Because boring. In that movie, and to me, at least.)

I haven't watched OUaTiW yet; I'm planning on saving it up for a big marathon concurrent with OUaT. I have no time to follow it week after week, not at the moment.

[chelseagirl]

Since you follow OUaT, you may like it more; I wanted more Wonderland and less Disney canon. Though romance is the entire motivator . . .

I was initially disappointed with the Burton film because I expected something darker, and there are so many dark Wonderland iterations out there that are interesting. But some of what the film does is interesting -- particularly, I would assume, for children watching where it does a lot to counteract the fearful Alice narrative of the 50s Disney animation. (I've had college students reading Carroll for the first time who were amazed at how proactive Alice was in the original because they only knew Disney.) But yeah, the Futterwacken is just silly/stupid, especially in the scene where Alice does it back in England.

[studiesinlight.livejournal.com]

Friday was the designated company dress-up day at my work, and my manager came as the Hatter (whom he pointed out was clearly indeed mad, but was never called the Mad Hatter in the text). His dog came as the White Rabbit, with a timepiece and ears affixed to a little harness. I heard that his girlfriend was dressed as Alice, but I didn't see her; she works in another part of this very large company.

:-)

[chelseagirl.livejournal.com]

Sweet!

Is it funny, for someone who dressed like a Victorian to go to the park yesterday, that I don't really do Halloween costumes? This year I'll be going to a steampunk Halloween party straight from teaching evening class, so I'll be dressed up as a college professor from the 2010s.

[studiesinlight.livejournal.com]

P.S. I'm afraid that I didn't even give Once Upon a Time in Wonderland a try, although I still quite enjoy most Once Upon a Time episodes, and look forward to it each Sunday night.

OuaTiW was billed as a romance, and I wasn't looking for a romance... also, all those mental institution scenes in the commercials turned me right off. I find being abused by authorities in a mental hospital eighteenth/nineteenth-century-style as terrifying as anyone else who's read one or two accounts of that; I would expect nightmares. ~shiver~

[chelseagirl.livejournal.com]

The romance is really tedious and because I have no reason to be invested in it, I'm seeing more chemistry with her male traveling companion.

However . . . the mental institution stuff is incredibly mild and over with in the first 10-15 minutes of the pilot. Various Alice narratives like the American McGee's Alice videogames and the Raven Gregory Wonderland comics play on this in truly disturbing ways -- stay away from those. The fact that it *was* so nothing was only the first of my disappointments with this version.

[ibshafer.livejournal.com]

And as an escapee from OUaT-world (I really must quit that show - it sucks so hard, but I like some of the actors...), I was worried from the beginning that there just wouldn't be enough Alice in this interpretation - and far too many other Disney characters. (And this week's ep even featured a crossover with the other Once - Robin Hood is supposedly the Evil Queens' soul mate...)

That Alice's soul purpose seems to be her missing love, they've rendered her as just another lovelorn heroine, with even less purpose (because, what else is there to her, as we've seen so far) than even the most vapid Disney princess.

While I very much liked Aladdin, I've always found the Jafar character annoying and repulsive, and Naveen Andrews's interpretation isn't changing that opinion.

BTW, WAS that Iggy Pop voicing the Caterpillar? I looked it up, but the character wasn't listed. (IMDB.) I ::blush:: know I'm probably just being gullible, but his voice was very distinctive, so much so that it drove me crazy that I didn't know who it was.

I'm thinking I'm going to give up, though. If the previews for the next episode don't grab you - when they're trying so hard to - that doesn't bode well for the episode.

I don't want to say "I told you so," but I will say I'd had my doubts and I am not surprised. Sad, yes. Surprised, no.

[chelseagirl.livejournal.com]

Yes, it was. Iggy Pop. I googled it generally.

Maybe if I were more familiar with OUaT I would have been less disappointed in this. Though I'm fascinated by the adaptations, for me, the core of Alice is all Carroll and not so much Disney, so seeing it treated like a Disney property just annoys me.