Alice in Wonderland, in Linda Woolverton and Tim Burton's vision, is considerably different from its source material, even if it takes many cues from Lewis Carroll's novel. Woolverton updated the story to follow Alice's return to Wonderland, and the plot of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is shown in flashback, a distant memory from Alice's childhood. At the time of its publication, 1865, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll was a widely influential and celebrated book, praised for its structure and fluid use of nonsense and magical elements, which have influenced the fantasy genre to this day.
Carroll based the character of Alice on a real child with whom he was acquainted, Alice Liddell, and there were many elements of Victorian life and of Carroll's own personal life that served as inspiration for the plot. For instance, the character of the mock turtle, who does not appear in the Burton film, was based on a popular Victorian meal, made from cow brains and other unusual cow parts. Additionally, the rapid size shifts that Alice undergoes in Wonderland are said to have been inspired by Carroll's struggles with a rare neurological disease in which he perceived himself to be alternately larger or smaller than his surroundings, although not much is known about this.
Since its release, scholars and readers alike have tried to make sense of the absurdities and nonsensical elements of Alice, and its charming and puzzling story has lent itself to numerous adaptations. Some have commented that the psychedelic element of Carroll's novels reveal an interest in drug use, particularly as opium and laudanum were popular substances in Victorian England. Others suggest that Carroll's obsession with young people, particularly his close relationship with Alice Liddell, was cause for alarm. While the specifics behind the crafting of this iconic children's fantasy are largely unknown, the novel itself stands as a testament to Carroll's imaginative talents, and has been one of the most influential books in the history of Western literature. Queen Victoria was so taken with the novel that she requested that Carroll dedicate his next book to her. He did, but the book was on a much less whimsical subject: An Elementary Treatise on Determinants, With Their Application to Simultaneous Linear Equations and Algebraic Equations.
