Alice in Wonderland

This version begins with Alice lying on a riverbank with her sister. Suddenly, she sees a white rabbit run past. And she soon realises that this is an extraordinary rabbit. She has to follow him!

Following him into a rabbit hole, Alice slips and finds herself falling, very slowly. Along the walls of the hole, Alice can see cupboards and bookshelves. And then suddenly, she lands on a pile of leaves. As she lands, Alice sees the rabbit turn a corner. But once she gets there, she finds herself in a hallway lined with doors, and the rabbit having totally disappeared. After checking the doors and realising that they are locked, she finds a golden key that fits a tiny door, leading to a beautiful garden. But she can’t fit through!

Alice then notices a bottle marked DRINK ME. She does so, and her whole body shrinks! After trying the door again, she realises that it’s locked again and she can’t reach the key sitting on a table. She then begins to cry.

At that moment, Alice notices a little box under the table which contains a small cake. She decides to eat it, in an attempt to make herself bigger again. But it makes her grow so tall, her head hits the roof! She quickly grabs the key and unlocks the door, but realises that she is again too big to fit through. She begins to cry once again.

Then, to Alice’s surprise, the white rabbit comes back, holding a fan and a pair of gloves. Alice calls out to him, but the rabbit becomes scared, drops his fan and gloves and quickly runs away. She picks up the gloves and fan and begins to think. Whilst thinking, she begins to shrink. Upon realising this, she drops the fan having caught onto the fact that it was the cause of her now only being two feet tall! Quickly, she runs to the door, only to discover that it has swung shut again and is once again locked.

Alice then accidentally slips over and finds herself swimming in her own tears. She soon notices that she’s not alone, swimming quite close to a mouse that she begins talking to. As they talk, the water fills with more creatures that have fallen in.

Alice and the creatures all swim to shore and decide to complete a caucus race to get dry. The Dodo declares that they are all winners and Alice gives them all a piece of candy for a prize.

After everyone settles down, Alice asks the mouse to finish the tale he began whilst in the water. But her constant interference and silly comments get the better of him and he leaves. Soon, the others leave too and Alice is by herself until the rabbit comes by again, looking for his gloves and fan.

The rabbit mistakes Alice for his maid, Mary Ann, and orders her to run home and fetch him another pair of gloves and a new fan. She does so, quite obediently, and as she is fulfilling his request, she sees a bottle marked ‘Drink Me’ (Pg 16, 1990). Believing it will make her taller, Alice drinks some of the liquid and finds herself so tall, she has to put one foot up the chimney and one arm out of the window. The rabbit comes back impatiently and finds he can’t enter the house.

Calling for a creature named Pat, he states he wants the giant Alice out of his home. After trying to get somebody into the house (and Alice kicking him up the chimney), they throw little cakes into the windows. Alice decides to eat one, hoping that it will make her smaller. It does exactly what she wished.

Being smaller, she managed to run out of the house and into nearby woods. There, she meets a beautiful blue caterpillar who tells her that one side of the mushroom will make her bigger, and the other will make her smaller. First, she accidentally eats the mushroom that makes her smaller and has to quickly eat the other before she disappears altogether. But this makes her a giant again and is then accused of being a serpent. Slowly, she nibbles on each piece of mushroom to make her the right height.

As Alice begins to continue her walk through the forest, she crosses the path of a little house. Standing from a distance, she watches two footmen, one a frog, the other a fish, exchange an invitation from the queen to the duchess to play croquet later on that day.

Before walking towards the house, Alice eats a little mushroom to make her smaller. She manages to enter the house and finds the duchess, a cook, a cat with a wide grin, and a baby that looks like a pig all sitting in the room. The cook begins to throw pots and pans, and when the duchess goes to get ready for croquet, Alice leaves with the baby.

The baby then turns into a pig and runs off into the woods. Alice looks up and sees the Cheshire Cat who sends her in the direction of the March Hare’s house. Before entering, she makes herself a little taller with the mushroom and walks up to the house. She takes a seat and begins to have tea and talk with the Dormouse, the Mad Hatter, and the March Hare.

But before long, Alice becomes quite frustrated with the trio and decides to leave. When doing so, she notices a tree with a door at the base of its trunk. Walking through this door brings Alice bake to the first hallway, where she finds the key, unlocks the door and eats a little mushroom to make her smaller. Finally, she reaches the beautiful garden.

When she steps in, she sees card painting white roses red. She talks to them for a short while until a procession begins and the queen appears. She asks Alice if she plays croquet to which Alice replies yes, and they move off to begin the game.

At that moment the white rabbit appears and tells Alice the duchess is not attending because the queen has ordered her beheading. The game begins and the queen orders many guests to be beheaded. Then the Cheshire Cat appears and the queen orders for him to be beheaded. An argument begins between the executioner and the king, and it is decided that the duchess must be called as it is her cat. She is then given a second chance if she goes home instantly.

The queen then states that Alice must meet the Mock Turtle. She does so, along with a Gryphon and listens to the turtle’s sad story. The turtle then teaches Alice the Lobster Quadrille.

Alice is then told the trial (against the knave for stealing the queens tarts) was about to begin. Several witnesses are called, including Alice. During the trial, the mushrooms start to wear off and Alice grows taller, back to her normal size. As her normal size, Alice stands up to the queen, at which the deck of cards all swarm onto her. She tries to protect herself by waving her arms about…Only to be woken by her sister telling her she is just having a dream.

Later, whilst having her tea, Alice remembers her dream and wonders, is there really a Wonderland?

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