Alice in Wonderland is one of my favourite books and one of the classics that I love to see being re-imagined by authors and on screen. I love reading and watching the new ways that creators re-imagine the classic tale, or take inspiration from it to create something entirely new. And with a new anthology of tales inspired by the story, Wonderland: an Anthology, I thought that it would be fun to recommend some of my favourite re-tellings and re-imagines of Alice in Wonderland.
Books:
There are many, many books based on Alice in Wonderland and sadly I haven’t read them all. There are many that I want to get my hands on and read but sadly don’t have the money or time too. But I have read enough to have a few favourites, so here are three of my favourite books/series based on, inspired and are re-tellings of Alice in Wonderland.
The Looking Glass Wars trilogy by Frank Beddor
Lewis Carroll got the story wrong. Alice (Alyss) wasn’t just some girl that fell down a rabbit hole. No. She lived there. She was Wonderland’s princess, the next in line to the throne, until her aunt took everything away from her and forced her to leave everything she knew behind and come to live in our world as a child.
Forced to adapt to live outside of Wonderland, Alyss grows up as just another girl. She looses her powerful imagination, her royal power to make whatever she can imagine real, as she is forced to forget her life and convinces herself that it was all a dream. Until she is dragged back to Wonderland and must come to terms with her past and the role she has to pay in the future of her kingdom.
This is one of my favourite book series based on Alice in Wonderland. I love how creative Beddor was with the world and the characters. Changing so much of the story to create something completely new and different, and planting so many little easter eggs in the three books. I really loved reading this series and would highly recommend it to anyone that loves Alice in Wonderland.
Ever Alice by H.J. Ramsay
Alice’s stories of Wonderland did more than raise a few eyebrows—it landed her in an asylum. Now at 15 years of age, she’s willing to do anything to leave, which includes agreeing to an experimental procedure. When Alice decides at the last minute not to go through with it, she escapes with the White Rabbit to Wonderland and trades one mad house for another: the court of the Queen of Hearts. Only this time, she is under orders to take out the Queen. When love, scandal, and intrigue begin to muddle her mission, Alice finds herself on the wrong side of the chopping block.
I really loved how this story explored what might happen after Alice left Wonderland and returned home after her adventures down the rabbit hole. This was more of a continuation than a retelling or reimagining of the original tale, but I feel like it can still count. I really loved that Ramsay kept the essense of the original story and built on and kept the whimsy, maddness and nonsensical nature of Wonderland alive in this story. I also really loved how the existing characters were explored, and I felt that the new characters introduced fit so well. I was very lucky to recieve and eARC copy of this book from NetGalley, it is now published and you can read my review here.
Alice by Christina Henry
Locked away in a hospital for reason she doesn’t know in a warren of crumbling buildings and desperate people called the Old City. The woman doesn’t even know who she is, all she can remember is long ears, a tea party and blood from long ago.
Then, one night, a fire at the hospital gives the woman a chance to escape, tumbling out of the hole that imprisoned her, leaving her free to uncover the truth about what happened to her all those years ago.
But she is not alone. Some dark and dangerous escaped with her. To find the truth she will have to go into the very heart of the Old City, where danger lurks around every corner, where the rabbit waits for his Alice.
This is another take on what happens after Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Expect she never came back to our world. Instead these worlds are one in the same. I really liked that Alice has to rediscover what had happened and what had happened to her when she was younger, and how it landed her in an asylum.
TV Shows:
Sadly there aren’t that many TV shows based on Alice in Wonderland. Which is very disappointing in my mind. And so, I only have one recommendation for this category (if you know any more I would love to hear about them), so here is my recommended TV show based on Alice in Wonderland.
Alice (2009) also known as Syfy’s Alice 2009
Set 150 years after the first Alice fell down the rabbit hole, a modern Alice falls through the looking glass into an advanced Wonderland still ruled by the Red Queen with fear, her temper and iron fist. Alice is unwillingly tangled up in a power struggle between the rebels and the Red Queen when she is given a key part to run the looking glasses that connect the two worlds. Alice, with the help of the Mad Hatter, tries to find and rescue her fiance Jack so that they can return home and continue their lives. But Jack has secrets, secrets that tie him to Wonderland and are the very reason why he was kidnapped in the first place.
This is one of my all-time favourite shows. I love this miniseries so much. I think that it’s fun and creative and a really unique take on re-imagining the story and bringing it into the modern era. It takes inspiration from both Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. It’s a great watch, sometimes a little corny, but really fun. This miniseries is only two episodes, is about 3-hours long, and can be easily watched in one go (if you want too).
Films:
Unlike TV shows there has been plenty of films based on Alice in Wonderland over the years. Many of which only portray the original story, sometimes mixed with Through the Looking Glass, and not that many were the re-imagine the story to make a new one. The two films that come to mind for me are Disney’s/Tim Burton’s adaptions. As the are set when Alice is older and returns to Wonderland.
Alice in Wonderland (2010) and the sequel Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016)
A young girl when she first visited magical Underland, Alice Kingsleigh is now a teenager with no memory of the place, but still holds onto her strong imagination and unique mind. She can only remember Wonderland now in in her dreams. Her life takes a turn for the unexpected when, at a garden party when she’s being proposed to, she spots a certain white rabbit and tumbles down a hole after him. Reunited with her friends the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat and others, Alice learns it is her destiny to end the Red Queen’s reign of terror.
Both of these films are really fun and put a new spin on the world of Wonderland and it’s characters. It’s made up of a wonderful cast who I think portray the characters brilliantly. I really do love the story that is told and how Alice deals with having to save Wonderland and try to remember things from her childhood. I also really liked that in these films Alice isn’t ostracised from society or sent to an asylum because of her talk about her childhood adventures. As much as I enjoy that kind of plot I do think that it is beginning to get over used in adaptions/re-tellings.
Lastly here are two film adaptions that I love that I think deserve honourary mentions; Alice in Wonderland (1951), an animated Disney film, and Alice in Wonderland (1999) which is a live adaption. These are two adaptions that I really loved growing up and hold a special place in my heart. Especially as they are a huge part of why I love the story so much.
Have you read or watched any of the books, TV shows or films I’ve mention? If so what do you think of them? And are there any that you think I would enjoy? Please let me know down in the comments, and I hope that if you read or watch any of my recommendations you enjoy them as much as I did. 😊
Sarah's Book Life 