Alice in Wonderland comparison: Carroll vs. Svankmajer

The story of Alice in Wonderland is almost always associated with childhood, and can usually be interpreted as a child-like narrative. What I mean by this is that the situations and types of conflict which occur in Alice’s experiences in Wonderland seem to mimic the way in which children emotionally and logically experience situations they may not fully comprehend in the adult world. This element of child-like logic is an integral part of the Alice in Wonderland narrative, and is present in almost every version of the story. However, what differs between versions of the Alice story is in what way this child-like logic is portrayed. A child's view of the world can be magical and fanciful, while at the same time being violent and confusing. It all depends on the way it is presented and the perspective of the situation. One important characteristics of the Alice story is that the narrative lends itself not only to the wonderment and imagination-rich element to childhood (which is usually the focus in most versions of Alice) but also the darker more confusing elements of childhood. Perhaps the most interesting polarity in the Alice narrative itself is how the same experiences in Wonderland can be metaphor for both positive and negative experiences in childhood based on the way the events themselves are portrayed. As compared to the Lewis Carroll's original stories Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland(1865) and Through the Looking Glass(1872), which presents a very playful yet traditional view of childhood, Jan Svankmajer’s Alice (1988) represents the opposite and darker side of childhood. Although the events in Svankmajer’s Alice are based in Carroll’s text, his reinterpretation of events changes the mood of the story entirely, creating a disturbing yet relatable version of Alice. It is interesting to consider the importance of emphasis and perspective in the portrayal of the Alice narrative, and how the same events can take on drastically different moods when told from different perspectives
In Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, Alice is characterized as a precocious child who, despite being very curious, generally goes out of her way to obey rules, be polite, and try and maintain order. Alice is characterized as being on the cusp of young adult-reasoning, having one foot in the door of both childhood and adolescence. Because of this she has the ability to be logical, but also because of her age she is still naive. This dichotomy is important in understanding the way she interacts with the things and situations in Wonderland, which seems to mimic how a child would understand and feel in situations with adults that they don’t fully understand. To a child the actions, reasoning and explanations they receive from adults can be just as confusing as any of the experiences Alice has in Wonderland. Despite being puzzled by many of the things she experiences, Carroll’s Alice is very accepting of the bizarre world around her and tries to obeys its strange rules. Alice’s attitude towards Wonderland seems rooted in a very traditional idea of how a child should act in adult situations ( i.e, obey with out asking questions) mixed with a more realistic idea of how a child would actually act ( be inquisitive, perhaps naggingly so). This places Carroll’s Alice as a kind of prototype child who is at the same time a realistic representation of childhood and relatable in that way, but also slightly idealized. For Carroll, the things Alice experience in Wonderland do not scare her, but rather display the positive sides of childhood imagination. Although it might seem the things Alice encounters through her adventures would be scary for a child, by leaving Alice calm and accepting of the world around her Carroll makes Wonderland a exciting exploration of the child's imagination. It is this fact which makes Carroll’s story popular for children and mainstream culture because it taps into the social ideas of idyllic childhood and fairy-tale. However, with slight change in perspective what once seemed charming and fun could also seem sinister and scary.
In Svankmajer’s Alice we are introduced to a situation which is familiar to us because it is based on Carroll’s narrative, but through Svankmajer’s reinterpretation the actions take on an entirely different mood. One of the reasons Svankmajer’s version is so effective is because it presents the narrative of Alice in Wonderland in a very traditional way, but uses this familiarity as a foundation to play with many of the other ideas which can be associated with themes from the original works. The use of stop motion animation, freely using both inanimate and live objects to represent the same characters, over-pronounced sound effects, and frankenstien-esque monsters, Svankmajer presents us the Alice in Wonderland we know but in an entirely new and horrifying way. There is something shockingly candid about Alice, not in its action which is obviously fantastical, but the way in which the character of Alice reacts to the situations she finds herself in, which on the whole creates a darker less-perfect Alice than we are traditionally confronted with. Like Carroll’s version, Svankmajer uses fantastical situations which vaguely resemble real life situations to portray child-like reasoning and emotionality. And although his version appeals to the more chaotic parts of childhood, Alice’s reactions are recontexualized through the darker frame of Svankmajer’s image of Wonderland. One example which sticks out in my mind in Svankmajer’s version is the Mad Hatter and the March Hare’s tea party. One of the most famous instances from the original Alice stories, Svankmajer takes the action of that scene and transforms it into a frantic, circular and nightmare-esque sequence. In Svankmajer’s version the absurdity of the situation is not emphasized by what the March Hare and Mad Hatter are literally saying to Alice ( like in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland), but rather by emphasizing the absurdity of the actions and how scary the chaos of Wonderland could really be. Although Alice is equally as calm and accepting in Alice, it is partially because she too has a dark twisted side. Carroll’s Alice is the epitome of a sweet little girl who has manners and self control, where Svankmajer’s Alice is a little more gritty, unruly and apt to handle the chaos of his Wonderland. This difference is important in this interpretation of Alice because, being a character which is well loved and emulated even today in our society, to knock Alice off of her pedestal so to speak is a powerful statement on the nature of childhood itself.
I found Svankmajer’s Alice to be repellant at times, but overall a very appealing version of the narrative because it highlights the horrific aspects of Wonderland which are often glossed over. Although I enjoyed Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, after seeing Svankmajer’s version I became fascinated with the darker side of the story and how Wonderland seems to exist in a transient place between nightmare and fantasy . Perhaps the reason this narrative is such an important classic is because of how relatable it is, because of its flirtation with both chaos and beauty, and the important role perspective plays on deciding which sphere Wonderland really exists in.
The 1972 movie-musical version of Alice, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland seems to combine both ideas on childhood which were presented in the Svankmajer and the original novel. Because the story sticks so closely to the original story, while at the same time using intense visuals and costumes, both the dream like ideal childhood and nightmare quality of the story are seen. Alice in this version is perhaps the most closely related to Alice from the novel, and is the most likable version of Alice for me personally. However, because the pace of the novel is so slow, and many of the costumed animals are so creepy, it does take on the sense of a nightmare. I enjoyed this film version because it did seem to be a hybrid of many of the childhood themes I had picked up on from other versions of Alice, while at the same time maintaining its originality. Because it was able to combine both the idyllic childhood with the nightmarish elements, this version of Alice was a great way to round out our look at the narrative because it was simultaneously faithful to the original stories intentions, while at the same time adding its own unique visual spin on the story.