Alice in Wonderland was a very puzzling book for me when I was a teenager. I prefer biographies and books which have some semblance of "realism". So imagine my joy when I watched the 2010 Tim Burton version of Alice in Wonderland movie recently.
I was intrigued with the idea of the little child telling her father about a reoccurring vision and then fast forwarding several years to when the girl was now a young lady. I remember thinking that the make up artist got carried away with the pasty face paint and powder because the adult Alice was so fair that it appeared the director was trying to make her look like a corpse.
Alice sees a white rabbit in a coat, but nobody else sees the animal. Per the fairy tail story, Alice falls down a break in the soil and begins her journey in"Wonderland." There is discussion of whether this is the "right Alice" - the Alice from her childhood - and she tries to say she is not the "right Alice" but as time goes on, the young lady remembers her first stay to this imaginary place and accepts that she is the Alice they all have been waiting for. There is a scroll which shows Alice fighting a mighty flying beast and she continually tells everyone she can't and might never ever kill that beast.
Alice has many fascinating adventures and comes upon the Mad Hatter having a tea party. While they are talking, they hear the Red Queen's army. The Red Queen has heard of an intruder, and she has sent her army to find Alice. With some concoction, the Mad Hatter helps Alice shrink to such a small size she fits into a teapot.
Since I am a dog lover, I also enjoyed a subplot concerning a lovable coon hound who was told that if he located Alice he, his wife and pups would be freed from the red queen's clutches. The horse tells the knight, "dogs will believe anything." The pooch knows Alice is in the tea pot but the Mad Hatter tells him something so he runs away. The army takes the Mad Hatter and Alice vows to go get him rather than stay safely away.
In Wonderland, the White Queen had been replaced by the Red Queen in an ill-fated course of circumstances where the Crown landed on the Red Queen's head. The director really created a very fascinating character with the Queen of Hearts - red curls, inthe shape of a heart, ghost ashen face with stripes of blue above her eyes, and crimson lipstick in the shape of a heart on her lips. Her clothing was very regal in a typical ball gown design with gold and ruby colors - and of course, hearts.
Although red hearts are normally associated with kindness and love, this queen is the opposite of good. One of her favorite quotes is, "off with their heads." She is not reasonable, short tempered and not very smart. To underscore the Red Queen's lack of acumen, when Alice is found on the castle grounds, and she is asked her name, Alice knows she cannot tell her "Alice" and in an attempt to stall, replies, "...um..." which the Queen believes is her name.
She proceeds to call Alice "Um" and tells one and all that the lady's name is "Um." In addition, it occurred to me that since this world does not really have citizens like Alice living there, the Queen of Hearts appeared to have no hint that this strange, oversized, person could be Alice!
Alice tries to help the Mad Hatter break out, but it does not go smoothly and he tells her to go get a special sword and take it to the White Queen. Alice is able to get past a large beast to obtain the sword and she takes it to the White Queen. Ultimately the Mad Hatter and hound family (yeah!) join her and the White Queen.
The White Queen seems a bit atypical to me, as she has dark, black lips and black painted fingernails. She has long white tresses and a white ball gown so the contrast of light and dark did not make sense to me. The actress plays the part perfectly with lovely, flowing movements, including arms that seem to constantly be outspread as if they were wings - but seem just right for the White Queen.
After some time the two Queens meet and we find out they are sisters. The White Queen does not want to fight, but the Red Queen refuses to give her back the crown. So the war begins, and Alice, with the special sword, follows the Red Queens example and pronouces "off with your head" when she beheads the Jabberwock.
The fighting stops and then the White Queen banishes the Red Queen and Knight from the kingdom, and no one is to have anything to do with them for the rest of their lives. In the movie, Alice sadly says good bye to her friends and climbs out of the ground and as they say in all fairytales - lives happily ever after!
The recognition of the motion picture characters has created a passion for Halloween outfits from the tale. Costumes for Alice, the Queen of Hearts and the Mad hatter seem to be the most well-liked and can be found in all sizes and price ranges.
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The Tim Burton version of Alice in Wonderland is based on pure fantasy and if you would like to break out of reality this Halloween, you can find plenty of options for every size and budget. The website http://costumequeenofhearts.net has a plethora of womens, mens and child Halloween costumes from the Alice in Wonderland movie - not just the Queen of Hearts. Not sure you want to do Alice in Wonderland but like Disney movies? I have found the best deals for cheap Disney Princess Dresses can be found at http://www.PrincessDressDisney.com. Happy Halloween!
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