Why I Relate to Alice from Alice in Wonderland.
Okay, so this is going to be a personal (and lengthy) post for me so bear with me.
When I was first saw the 1951 Disney animated film at age six, I instantly found Alice to be a compelling character.
Here was a character who felt very real. She didn’t have any extraordinary abilities or powers; she was just a regular girl with a wide array of actual emotions.
This meant that she was very capable of showing vulnerability. Alice cries twice in the film under circumstances that are understandable for a girl her age to do so. When she broke down in tears during the Doorknob sequence, I wondered if she (or the Doorknob for that matter) was in danger of drowning in her own tears.
What I also loved about the character is that she made good efforts to show respect to everyone she met. This quality really added a lot of charm and likability to her. It’s especially admirable considering how wacky and often frustrating the denizens of Wonderland can be.
Of course, this didn’t mean that she was a pushover. Alice was more than willing to stand up for herself, and it was admirable to see a young girl stand up to a number of adult characters who condescended to her.
The moment when I really felt Alice’s frustration the most was when the flowers drove her out of the garden and she responded by telling them about how she could pick every one of them if she were her right size. I remember feeling especially angry about the flowers when they drenched Alice in water. I still wish Alice had gone back to the flowers after returning to her original size to give them a stern talking-to!
But perhaps what I really appreciated about Alice was her curiosity. Her willingness to venture into the unknown and see new places and people intrigued me.
This shot conveys a lot about Alice. Here was a character who was not afraid to run into the darkest and most foreboding places, even without any means to defend herself.
Throughout her adventures, Alice faces a lot of ups and downs in the form of size-changing. Although she never quite gets the knack of it, her willingness to give size-changing a try is further proof of her daring nature. Shrinking in particular gives her the opportunity to explore all sorts of new worlds, and growing almost always makes for some humorous situations.
But I think what I related to most about Alice was her tendency to get lost in her own imagination. Like Alice, I find myself daydreaming a lot in my own little world. It was really pleasant to see a character with such an incredible imagination.
There are times when I wish I had as much gumption as Alice. This girl finds herself tumbling down a rabbit hole and what does she do? She casually waves goodbye to her pet cat. Sometimes, you find yourself in difficult (even seemingly hopeless) situations, and all you can do is roll with it and manage the best you can.
And of course, Alice probably wouldn’t have made nearly as big an impression on me if it weren’t for the fantastic actress who voiced her: Kathryn Beaumont. Kathy’s voice-acting is flawless, and her reading goes beyond most vocal performances of Disney features. As Alice, she creates a complicated character; a real character shines through.
This quote from Kathryn Beaumont (taken from Mark Salisbury’s book Walt Disney’s Alice in Wonderland: An Illustrated Journey Through Time) sums up what makes Alice such an endearing character. It warms my heart to see that portraying Alice had such an impact on her.
In summary, Alice is a fantastic character who made a huge impression on me at a young age, and one whom I continue to appreciate even as I get older. I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of independent female protagonists (ex: Hilda from the series of the same name, Luz from The Owl House, Anne from Amphibia, every protagonist of every shoujo isekai series) owed a lot to Alice.
