Alice in Wonderland: Plot Summary


Many critics have praised Alice in Wonderland because it reminds us that “we’re going to be very, very happy” (Salerno 1). One of the reasons for this delight is the fact that the movie puts “you in the world more. Plus, with the Alice material, the growing and shrinking and the weird kind of spaces and places you’re in, it just kind of helps with the experience” (Salerno 1). The story begins with near-adult Alice, who views her journey “through a drearier, more dangerous looking-glass” (Coyle 1). Alice is immediately “taken to a garden party where it is hoped that she will accept a marriage proposal from Hamish, the son of one of her father's business partners” (Fox 1). As the two families continue to converse, Alice is “lured back to Wonderland by [following] the familiar, punctually paranoid rabbit” (Coyle 1). While following it, she finds her way to the trunk of an old tree some ways off, and falls down a hole. The film quickly advances as she meets Tweedledee and Tweedledum, the Dormouse, the Caterpillar, the Cheshire Cat, and the Mad Hatter. But even Wonderland has its own problems. Before long, Alice is confronted with questions that concern her identity and whether she really is the “true Alice” who had met these whimsical characters so long ago. However, Burton’s Alice is surer of herself, and contradicts what the other individuals have to say. When all is said and done, Alice in Wonderland contains “some excellent performances, as the caterpillar says to our heroine, it’s merely “almost Alice” (Coyle 1).