John Tenniel

Ralph Steadman

Salvador Dali

Tim Burton

Disney

According to Lenny's Alice in Wonderland (n.d) Alice in Wonderland was first produced by Walt Disney back in the 1920's and it was called "The Alice Comedies" which was based on Lewis Carroll's story.

Lenny's Alice in Wonderland (n.d) states that during the 1931 Walt Disney bought the rights to John Tenniel's illustrations to produced the live action animation. Lenny's Alice in Wonderland (n.d) also states that Disney had to reduce the story due to time constrains. Although this was not his intention because some of the characters would have been removed or would have had to make their timing shorter. For this reason Disney had to merge scenes form both "Alice's Adventure in Wonderland" and "Through the looking Glass" but characters such as the Griffin, the Mock Turtle, the Duchess, Jabberwock and Humpty Dumpty had to be left out.

Who was Lewis Caroll

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) was a mathematician at Oxford; he is also known to be the author of the famous tale of Alice in Wonderland. According to Woolf (2010) the first book that was published in 1865 was called Alice’s Adventure Underground, and a year after that an extended version of Alice’s Adventure Underground was published and it was called Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. In 1871 Lewis Carroll had also published a sequel which was called Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There. The tale of Alice in Wonderland has been popular ever since it was first published in 1865. The tale has also influenced many famous artists such as Salvador Dali, Walt Disney, Ralph Steadman and many more including the award winning film Director Tim Burton. Tim Burton’s version of Alice in Wonderland happens to be the latest version so far of at least 20 other film versions and TV shows, all inspired from Lewis Carroll’s original novel.


Woolf (2010) states the tale of Alice in Wonderland was based on the dean’s daughter Alice Liddell, a child that Lewis Carroll knew. Many have wondered about Lewis Carroll’s relationship with the 10 year old girl to whom he first told the story to. Carroll also was a portraitist and also took pictures of Alice Liddell. Out of the 3000 pictures that he took throughout his life half of them were of children and 30 of them happened to be of girls in the nude and seminude. Now a days having nude photographs of children is something socking, In addition to this BBC News Magazine (2012) also states that “to many modern minds, a man who regularly formed friendships with young girls is inherently suspicious”. However Woolf (2010) states that in the Victorian times this was rather normal and that the Victorians “saw children as a state of grace; even nude photographs of children were considered pictures of innocence itself” According to Woolf (2010) Alice was Carroll’s first and most favorite and although there is no strong evidence it has been said that Carroll had an unhealthy attraction towards Alice. However BBC New Magazine(2012) states that although the story was based on a little girl that Carroll know does bring out some taught but the fact that he photographed girls in the nude does not help his case for the modern mind. But it cannot be forgotten that Lewis Carroll lived in a period “were childhood innocence was being forged, influencing how children were represented in the 19^th century literature aimed at them”. In addition to this BBC News Magazine (2012) adds that many experts that analyzed his case states, that Lewis Carroll might have had a desire for little girls, but these desires were not necessarily sexual. Jenney Woolf who wrote the article “Lewis Carroll’s Shifting Reputation” for Smithsonian Magazine in 2010 and the author of “Mystery of Lewis Carroll” also agrees with this theory


Photography by Lewis Carroll 

The Journey of Alice in Wonderland Illustrations in the Digital World

Introduction 

Does the live-action remake of the animated classic “Alice in Wonderland” by Tim Burton recapture the old magic? In this essay I seek to explore different adaptations of the classic cartoon animation “Alice in Wonderland” and the live-action remake by Tim Burton. The research towards this essay will be focusing on the illustrations of Alice in Wonderland by John Tanniel which were found within Louis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland books, and how over the years these illustrations have been transformed into new forms of media, such as the Disney version of Alice in Wonderland and the one of Tim Burton. Apart from John Tanniel’s  and the Disney  illustrations I seek to investigate other artist’s version of “Alice in Wonderland”, such as the work of Mary Blair and the work of Salvador Dali. The work of Marjorie Torrey’s and how Torrey’s illustrations present a less hallucinogenic effect, Alice and the creatures she encounters are portrayed in a more naturalistic manner but yet the illustrations of Ralph Steadman really captured the surreal elements of Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. In this essay I will include the techniques used to create the cel version of the animation and the techniques used to produce the 3D version by Tim Burton including the virtual sets and the number of character that were created using CGI. The essay will also focuses on how the director Tim Burton gave the move a new twist not just to the story but also the graphics of the movie. How he changed “Wonderland” which is known to be a bright, colourful and cartoony place into a place called “Underland” which looks slightly haunted and off including the people within it.

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson better known as Lewis Carroll was a mathematician at Oxford; he is also known to be the author of the famous tale of “Alice in Wonderland”. According to Woolf (2010) the tale of “Alice in wonderland” was based on the dean’s daughter Alice Liddell, a child that Lewis Carroll knew. The first book that was published in 1865 was called Alice’s Adventure Underground. A year after that an extended version of Alice’s Adventure Underground was published and it was called Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. In 1871 Lewis Carroll had also published a sequel which was called Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There. The tale of Alice in Wonderland has been popular ever since it was first published in 1865. The tale has also influenced many famous artists such as Salvador Dali, Walt Disney, Ralph Steadman and many more including the award winning film Director Tim Burton. Tim Burton’s version of Alice in Wonderland happens to be the latest version so far of at least 20 other film versions and short TV shows which were created at the Disney Studio all inspired from Lewis Carroll’s original novel.

“Alice in Wonderland” has been interpreted many times by several artists in diverse media such as animation. According to Ceurstemont, (2013)  Marc Azéma from the University of Toulouse Le Mirail in France states animation was born 25,000 years ago in cave paintings. The animation that was done 25,000 years ago does not have the same meaning that we have for it today. It was a form of communication. According to What a Wonderful Dream, (n.d) Although Carroll was the kind of person who was very hard to please which made it very hard for Tenniel to work with, Lewis Carroll’s story and Tenniel’s art work were a perfect match. Tenniel’s Illustrations in black and white and was made through rough sketches which formed the basic shapes. Later Tenniel would adjust further and include detail by using ink and Chinese white before the final illustration goes onto the block wood. Phantomwise (n.d) although the tale of Alice in Wonderland is based on Alice Liddell the character with in the story was not meant to be Alice Liddell. The girl in Tenniel’s illustration was blonde in addition to this Carroll did suggest two blond models for Tenniel these models were Mary Hilton Badcock and Beatrice Henly. However Tenniel did not use a model for the illustrations but his Alice was defiantly a blond. It is also noticeable that Tenniel’s illustrations of Alice tend to have an expressionless face in most of the scenes.

According to Woolf (2010) in 1960’s during the Countercultural Movement this was a protest movement that was led by American youngsters who were forming a culture of their own. During that period Lewis Carroll’s work had been associated with drugs. However BBC News Magazine (2012) states that although Carroll’s work does have drug influences within the text especially when “Cheshire Cat disappears leaving only the enigmatic grin behind. Alice drinks potions and eats pieces of mushroom to change her physical state. The caterpillar smokes an elaborate water pipe. The whole atmosphere of the story is so profoundly disjointed from reality”. In addition to this this was the period were opium was legal, but there is no evidence that Carroll was on drugs when he wrote the story. According to Cox (2014) this association started to make more sense when Salvador Dali’s interpretation of Alice in Wonderland was published in 1969 especially when Salvador Dali stated “I don’t do drugs, I am Drugs” However according to BBC News Magazine (2012) this association had be done during the 60’s 70’s and 80’s this was the period were LSD and other hallucinogenic drugs were very common. Lismore (2014) also states that each of Dali’s illustration represented a chapter from Lewis Carroll’s story and that “Dali’s boldly coloured, paint splattered work captures that hedonism of the storyline”.

Just like Salvador Dali, Ralph Steadman illustrations tend to bring out a surreal feel to Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. According to Lismore (2014) this is portrayed in the way the characters look because just like Tenniel’s illustrations Ralph Steadman illustrations are rather simplistic. Lismore (2014) also states that although Ralph Steadman’s Illustrations happen to fall in a dark atmosphere Steadman’s illustrations are quite appropriate. When comparing Steadman’s Illustrations with the illustrations of   Marjorie Torrey 1955 one can notice the contrast between both styles. Lismore (2014) states that Marjorie Torrey’s illustrations are more natural and the way Marjorie Torrey illustrated Alice with brown hair brings out the original Alice Liddell.

 Tenniel drew Alice in a blue dress, white pinafore and blond hair. This look had been widely used and became well known in later works of Alice in Wonderland such as Disney’s 1951 Alice in Wonderland. According to Lenny’s Alice in Wonderland Site (N.A) the idea of Alice in wonderland had started back in the 1920 this was when Walt Disney had produced “The Alice Comedies”. In 9133 Walt Disney bought the rights to Tenniel’s Illustrations the reason for this was so that they will use Tenniel’s illustrations as the basis of the characters for the live action remake. According to Kate Lismore (N.A) it was Disney studio’s story board artist David S Hall who first proposed Alice in Wonderland.

The original 1938 storyboard by David Hall

The Story Board by David Hall has been created in pencil which bears a resemblance to the engravings of Sir John Tenniel, but the work of David Hall shows a lot more precision and contrast. David Hall created the illustrations for Alice in Wonderland during the 1930’s. Due to the fact that it was the 1930’s Hall was able to use a combination of mediums to create his work. Unlike Tenniel were during the Victorian era the printing media was very limiting but Tenniel’s attention to detail was still impeccable. David hall used a mixture of pencil, watercolour, and ink to create his illustrations. When comparing both John Tenniel’s and David Hall’s work it is easily noticeable that Alice seems to be too little compared to her surrounding and this is seen is most of the scenes.

In Hall’s picture, colour and space are displayed on a much more captivating way than Tenniel’s original

Instead of the Cross hatching and the counter lines that Tenniel used to create the Illustrations Hall blended watercolours to create a smooth translucent in the gradient and the hues. By doing so this added depth to the illustration which made the illustration dimensional instead of that flat look that is seen within Tenniel’s illustrations. Although Davis Hall’s work shows a lot of imagination and impeccable artistic qualities the story that was created was very dark, much darken than the Carroll’s novel which might have been quite terrifying for a children’s story. However, according to Pickavance (2011) their concepts for the live action remake had been rejected by Disney because their concepts visually resembled the works of Sir John Tenniel. In addition to this Lenny’s Alice in Wonderland Site (N.A) states that their concept art had the visual style of Tenniel’s because the animators used Tenniel’s work as a starting point and to as the basis for the characters as Walt intended. Pickavance, (2011) also states that “The modernist look of Wonderland, was created by background artist Mary Blair, was dramatically enhanced by exceptional use of colour, which is much more striking than the previously muted pastel shades that audiences had experienced with Dumbo and Bambi”. 

It was the 1940 when the Alice in Wonderland film concept had been taken up again and this time according to Pickavance, (2011) it was the background artist Mary Blair who was hired by Walt Disney to create the illustrations. Mary Blair’s illustrations of Wonderland have a modernist approach unlike John Tenniel’s illustrations. Mary Blair’s illustrations tend have a less complicated approach especially when crating the characters and more streamlined. Unlike the illustrations of David Hall, which were very realistic Blair’s illustrations did not display depth actually they are very flat but very imaginative and playful. Blair’s medium was Gouash paint which happens to be thicker than the usual water colour and dries more densely. 

Together with Mary Blair, Bill Peet who was an animator at the Disney Studio also worked on the storyboards both Blair and Peet made the film come together. Bill Peet’s drawings focus more on the characters rather than the settings. According to Carroll & Hopkins 349S, (n.d) In Peet’s drawings “Alice’s expressions are amplified when as she interacts with the creatures and explores Wonderland”. The final work for the movie is two-dimensional with flat bold colours that resembles the work of Mary Blair. In the scenes there are hardly any shading the only shadows that are shown are not shaded with grey or black pigments, but a darker hue of the same colour. There are barely any changes in the thickness of the lines used as well. 

Although David Hall’s concepts had been rejected due to having the visual style of Tenniel’s illustrations, by looking at both Tenniel’s and the illustrations of Alice in Wonderland that are done by Mary Blair and Bill Peet one can notice many similarities in the characters. According to Frost (n.d) When observing Tenniel’s Illustrations and compering them with Disney’s illustrations one can notice many similarities such as Cheshire Cat “the cat is occupying the same bodily position, but despite being slightly more caricatured, he appears very much the same.”

Dodo is another example where a lot of similarities can be noticed. According to Frost (N.A) Disney’s Illustration of Dodo have the same body form as Tenniel’s illustrations of Dodo in a way this may be the possibility that “Disney’s illustrators stayed true to Tenniel’s illustration then the Disney writers did to Carroll’s text

The same goes with the Tenniel’s illustrations of Tweedledee and Tweedledum and Disney’s illustrations. It is hard not to notice that Disney’s illustrations have been drawn upon Tenniel’s illustrations.

How the Movie got Started 

According to Thomas and Johnston, (1981) at the Disney Studio animation was given a whole other meaning. Thomas and Johnston, (1981) also ststes that Walt’s aim was to entertain. According to Wonderful Dream, (n.d) the production of Alice in Wonderland started during the 1946 and took 5 years to finish. According to Thomas and Johnston, (1981) this was not Disney’s first attempt to making Alice in Wonderlad. Disney had produced a mini TV sceries of Alice in Wonderland based on the tale of Lewis Carroll back in the 1920’s. Wonderful Dream, (n.d) states that Disney’s Alice in Wonderland animation has a combination of both Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland and Through the looking Glass. Although this was not intended, it had to be done or else many characters from the animated film would have been eliminated of have their screen time reduced. Alice in Wonderland Behind The Scenes - Live Action Reference (1951), MOVIECLIPS Extras (2012) states that Disney’s 1951 Alice in wonderland was done by using the Live Action reference technique. The live-action reference technique is also known as Live-Action Footage. According to Thomas and Johnston, (1981) Live action is when filming the actors preforming the scenes that are planned for the cartoon animation. Thomas and Johnston, (1981) also states that this technique has been widely used at the Disney Studio which lead to important discoveries, but during the 1930 animators drew from the models regularly.   

Thomas and Johnston, (1981) states that as for drawing the model in movement it had to be drawn by the animators frame by frame this was to reveal the intricacies of a living form action and that this had to be done by using the rotoscope machine. Thomas and Johnston, (1981) (p.322) also states that “the rotoscope machine was a projector converted to focus on one image at a time, from below, onto a square of clear glass mounted on a drawing board.” A piece of paper was then placed over that glass then the tracing can be made. Thomas and Johnston, (1981) (p.322) also states that this was tedious works and took a lot of time to be done, but at that time that was the only way that had to be done. 

Looking back at Disney animation according to Thomas and Johnston (1981) Walt’s attempt to film- making had failed several times but his first completed film was Alice in Wonderland  in addition to this Pickavance(2011) also agrees that Disney attempted to produce the Alice in Wonderland film several times but had failed every time. Pickavance(2011) also states the Disney 1951 Alice in Wonderland was an inspiration of that Alice’s comedies. The Disney version of Alice in Wonderland was produced in 1951 this was when the Golden age was fading out. According to Pickavance(2011) this was the age when “inventions such as the multiplane camera, multiple exposure shots and rotoscoping was progressing in the art of animation”. Thomas and Johnston (1981) stated that the animators at the Disney Studio also made use of the rotoscoping technique. This technique helped produce the animation of Disney’s 1951 Alice in wonderland. The background artist Mary Blare gave the Alice in Wonderland film a modernist look with bright colours scheme that she used to create the scenes. Although the film was bright and colourful. Pickavance(2011) also states that many people were disappointed with the film as it did not do justice to Louis Carroll’s story.

On the other hand Chandle (2013) suggests that the Disney version of Alice in wonderland brings out the original nature of Louis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland story with its bright colours and bright coloured characters. Chandle (2013) also suggests that Tim Burton’s version resembles Louis Carroll’s novel “Through the Looking Glass” rather than “Alice’s Adventure. In addition to this, Pickavance(2011) also states that in Tim Burton’s version of Alice in wonderland there are characters which are taken form “Through the Looking Glass” and that these characters did not bland in well with the story. However, Its art meg (n.d) states that Tim Buston’s version is based on Louis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

Tim Burton put a fresh spin to Alice in Wonderland. Tim Burton’s aim was to create something completely different to what has been created before. Burton wanted to change the whole idea of “Wonderland” and instead he called it “Underland” According to Its art meg (n.d) Burton gave Lewis Carroll’s story an imaginative twist. Its art meg (n.d) also states that Tim Burton wanted to get rid of that lively cartoony place that is known as “Wonderland” and change it to “Underland” a place where everything is slightly off including the people within it. Unlike Disney’s animated version, Tim Burton’s version was done by using a mixture of visual effects techniques. Its art meg (n.d) states that almost the entire film was shot in front of the green screen which also required the actors to act in front of the green screen which was a very challenging task. In addition to this Its art meg (n.d) states Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland a blend of different techniques to help create that very unique look that Tim Burton had envisioned. All of “Underland” scenes were shot on the green screen stage but the Live-action sequence that involved Alice was shot in Cornwell in England but these were only the scenes of Alice in the real world.  Its art meg (n.d) also states that working on Helena Bonham which played a the Red Queen was another challenge. This was because the Red Queens head, had to be twice as big while still keeping her body together. To do so Its art meg (n.d) states that a special camera had to be created to shoot the scenes where the Red Queen was being shot to keep her head large. The White Rabbit, the Dormouse, the Jabberwocky, the March Hare and the Dodo were created entirely in CGI and while shooting these CGI creatures had be presented on the scene either by cardboard cutout of the character, or a person dressed in green. Although Tim Burton’s version of Alice in Wonderland is very refreshing Ortiveztm (2010) states that the film is too heavy on CGI and that the story could have easily been represented through 2D. When compare Berton’s version and Disney’s it can easily be noticed that Burton’s version goes into a darker atmosphere. This is projected through the characters and the colour scheme that has been used. Burton’s version emphasizes on the colours red and black. Similarly Ortiveztm (2010) states that the red and black in the movie brings out the feeling of “terror and dread that is associated with the red queen”. In addition to this Chandler (2013) states that although Tim Burton did an impeccable job with casting his version of the film and chose great actors for the job especially Johnny Depp with his role as the Mad Hatter none of the characters were prominent enough except for Cheshire Cat and the queen of Hearts with her oversized head.

The Journey of Alice in wonderland had been on for 150, even though it’s been 150 years the tale of Alice in Wonderland has been an inspiration to many famous artist till this very day. It all started with the works of Sir John Tenniel whose work was a perfect fit to Carroll’s story. Although Tenniel’s illustrations were done during the Victorian era where almost ever media that is known of today did not exist back then, his work were still very inspirational to other famous artists. The artists that were inspired by Tenniel were also influenced by the era that they were living in. During the 60’s Salvador Dali did his interpretation of Lewis Carrols Alice in Wonderland. Due to the fact that it was the 60’s and the way he interpreted Alice in Wonderland society started to associate the tale of Alice in Wonderland with drugs. The same with Ralph Steadman’s illustrations of Alice in Wonderland but even though Steadman’s illustrations tend to have a surreal feel Steadman’s illustrations are quite appropriate for children. Disney was also highly influenced by John Tenniel this is clearly seen when comparing artworks especially the illustrations that had been done by David Hall. In fact David Hall’s concepts had been rejected due to having the same visual elements of Tenniel’s illustration. Even though David Hall’s illustrations had been rejected, by analyzing Mary Blair’s and Bill Peet’s Concepts a lot of similarities can be seen within the illustrations. Mary Blair’s illustrations tend have a less complicated approach and more streamlined. Unlike the illustrations of David Hall, which were very realistic Blair’s illustrations did not show a lot of depth in fact they are very flat but very imaginative and playful. In the 2010 a new spin was given to the tale of Alice in Wonderland and his was Tim Burton’s version. In Breton’s Version a lot of CGI is seen and it happens to fall into a darker sphere which was quite refreshing compared to other versions of Alice in Wonderland