Postby Guest » Fri Nov 19, 2010 1:11 am
Comparing any movie to it's respective novel is a heavy order, more so in this case as there have been more movie adaptations for Alice in Wonderland than any other novel-to-movie adaptation of anything in the history of Hollywood. For now, the two biggest film adaptations have been from Disney, the older animated version, and the new live-action 2010 remake.
Disney (an avid fan of Alice in Wonderland himself) combined both AIW and TTLG, either with characters, setting, or both. Regardless, the form of the film follows the same structure as the first book does, making it an accurate translation from fiction to film, to Disney's credit.
The 2010 remake isn't a sequel. Maybe. It's not clear in the movie, and not even the screenwriter, Linda Woolverton, makes this clear. However, Linda has said that her screenplay is a fictional story of the Jabberwocky poem, insofar as the general plot or conflict of the film does what it can (poorly in this case) to match the "story" of the Jabberwocky poem. She heavily and constantly borrows imagery from the books while simultaneously trying to create an original piece of fiction that remains separate from the original novel. The result is a place called "Underland" instead of Wonderland, and characters to have actual names instead of their familiar references (such as McTwisp, formally known as the White Rabbit, even though by all counts he is the White Rabbit).
Something similar that both movies do share is a dark setting. The setting in the films is very dark and brooding; juxtaposed against 'loveable' characters such as seen in the films creates a feeling of terror in the viewer. The books also have a similar, but reversed effect, in that the setting is rather pleasant and comforting, but the characters seem to be hiding something sinister behind already intimidating guises of insanity.
If you have to compare books to their film counterparts, I'd honestly pick a different book! There's way too many Alice in Wonderland adaptations to give any good, clear comparison. Besides, I know by the time I write this the paper in question has been written already. But let this serve any future essays (I say)!