Alice in Wonderland and dolls

I'd like to know that too. Good question Eiko!

 

I guess because it offers a plethora of cute/almost gotic/sorta Lolita characters that are easily reconized, either in their original form or warped.

 

Alice in Wonderland is one of those things that a lot of people grew up knowing about in an often child friendly form. Even as growing older though the story can take on a new depth and light as our knowledge of it an perception change. It's a childhood tie that is easy to twist to one's desire.
And, as mentioned, easy to recognize as always.

 

I dunno >_>; But personally, I'm used to seeing Alice everywhere o_o;

 

Lot's of characters, strong personality and fantasy-like clothing....

What's there not to like? Since I am not a Psychology major, but I am sure there is some deeper, inner reasons why Alice in the Wonderland is so popular.

 

Alice in Wonderland is a classic...
Like Snow White and Sleeping Beauty.

Not just the Disney stories... Which happen to always end with "Happily Ever After", but the Brother's Grim tales are a bit more... dark.

The Mermaid story ends with the Prince marrying someone else, and the only way for the mermaid to go back to her family ( become a mermaid again ) was to kill the Prince and his new bride. She doesn't kill him, because she still loved him... and ends up committing suicide instead.

Anyway, I don't think I read the book... but there was a non Disney Alice movie where the Jabberwocky comes into the house where Alice is stuck behind the looking glass, reading the poem about it ( looking glass = mirror) and the movie ends with the beast almost right on top of poor Alice.

I believe it's the fashion ( lolita ) and that it's almost recognizable in any country, language.

 

And then theres the whole thing of MaGee's Alice in wonderland, which is twisted beyond all belief.

 

My thought is that a lot of people associate and dress their dolls in some form of lolita or deviant lolita fashion. Alice is an iconic figure very familiar to lolita... so I just thought it's natural that Alice fashion would also be prominent in the bjd world o.o...

but that was just my natural assumption :3 I could be wrong~

 

dolls + alice in wonderland goes so well together ^^
It fits perfectly, sweet and magical, real lolita! And as you know lolita style is popular ^^

 

It's classic children's literature, for one thing. For another, it is extremely visual and recognizable. Everyone knows the "Alice" look--with the blue dress and white pinafore. The books have always been illustrated. The most known illustrations are by John Tenniel, who established a look that is recognizable to most people, even today. But Arthur Rackham also illustrated Alice (most fans of Children's Book and Fantasy art will know him). The look was also carried on by Disney.

Snow White and Cinderella we mostly know filtered through Disney... and their looks aren't as established. (Anyone see Shrek the Third? I could barely figure out which princess was which. But if there was a girl in a blue dress with a white pinafore, that would be EASY!)

And yes, there's the lolita aspect. And the many related Alice things, like Kingdom Hearts. It's just something that has meaning for people (it was huge in the '60's!). Tons of kids have grown up knowing it.

I'm not sure if I can think of a ton of other characters or stories or visuals that are just so iconic!? Even Dorothy from the Wizard of OZ isn't quite as recognizable without seeing her with a basket and Toto, or with the Scarecrow, Lion and TinMan...

 

I've always been an Alice fan, in all her incarnations and I've noticed that as Lolita has become more popular so has Alice. Which irks me a bit since a good majority of the people who are all of a sudden "YAY ALICE!!!!1!!" haven't bothered to read the books or watch any of the movies beyond the Disney version, which is actually a combination of both books, and then want to act like the be all end all of the Alice fandom. I could go on, but no one really wants to hear it I'm sure.

 

Manda_chan, I'm pretty sure I know which movie you're talking about, and that's actually just the end of the first half. And I always loved that that Alice wasn't in blue!
Actually, between that movie and having read the actual book, I'm a little weirded out by most of the Alice based lolita. And I don't understand how some of the costumes that people call Alice in Wonderland costumes fit in, there's a lot I look at and think, "Nice, but what does that have to do with Alice?"

Hmm, I'll have to go digging, I've got an analysis of the psychology of Alice in Wonderland laying around somewhere...at least, I think I haven't thrown it out.

 

I really don't think that many are "die hard" Alice in Wonderland fans or even care that much about the story at all, they just like the costume. My girlfriend for example owns a lolita-style Alice dress and she just likes it "because her outfit is cute" so that may be why people buy it.
Sure there may be some that are like "OMG, Alice! *buy*" but how many I wonder?

I'd buy one, I think the blue dress is cute.

 

I'm a big fan of Alice but mostly because I love Lewis Carroll and his twisted stories and poems. I find the outfit cute and that's probably a reason why people like it, as well as the lolita factor and known costume design. As others have pointed out, her outfit is recognizable, even in a crowd.

 

I agree about the fashion. That seems to be the biggest reason most people like it... to me that's the only good thing about it... Alice in Wonderland was so boring when I was a kid (please don't hate me - I might like it now if I watched it )

 

If you're truly an Alice fan, then do yourself a favor and read both of the books. They did come first <nudge nudge>.

There is also a potential dark side to the Alice fantasy. The author was known to be a paedophile. Alice may live in men's hearts as the perfect "girl" figure, never woman and therefore easier to deal with.

 

OT but I'm actually really into fairytales as well as Alice so...

The Little Mermaid was first "written" by Hans Christian Anderson ^^;
Sleeping Beauty was first "written" by Charles Perrault ^^;

The Grimm brothers actually started the process of cleaning up fairy tales and making them something for children. Many of the tales started as stories to be shared in French Salons for adults, like Beauty and the Beast.

Going back on topic, I loved Disney's Alice as a little girl, it was just the idea of how chasing a rabbit and being curious could lead to all sorts of adventures. I also remember watching Dreamchild and I remember the two part TV special which was more "Through the Looking Glass" based though that nearly all that Jabberwocky thing was added. It was interesting that Alice wore I believe pale orange, but she still had the long blond hair and the pinafore. I loved that in Dreamchild Alice was a brunette. lol

In high school or college I read the actual stories and I liked them immensely. I have both a handmade MSD sized Alice dress bought at Dolpa and a Dollheart sized Yo-SD dress.

I think part of Alice's appeal is her curiosity and the fact she is a very active heroine, making her seem more modern. Alice explores and has adventures, much like a prince typically does. Princesses are generally passive and let others make their decisions for them.

 

I never read the proper version of Alice through the looking glass. Tho i like the brother' grimme versions more than the disney stories...

Anyway Alice in Wonderland is just such a classic and it's themes are fun to work with. Right now my line of designs are based on a 'modern' mad hatter. no short fat and old man sitting drinking tea. I have a hip, tall, thin bishounen for my mad hatter it's just so open to interpretation also! it's so old there is no copyright issues anymore.

 

In my opinion (being a huge Alice in Wonderland fan) it's just a fantastic story. I've read both stories and I find them very enjoyable (if not a tiny bit confusing, but that's how they are supposed to be. XD) I've always liked stories that involve children being put into unreal, magical worlds. They are on their own, without an adult and I think it's interesting to see them go it alone in a strange world by themselves. Other stories like The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe, Peter Pan, The Wizard of Oz, and The Jungle Book are wonderful books that do the same and they are my favorites (though AIW is my most favorite.) I know that's why I find Alice In Wonderland so interesting to me (I can't say what the appeal is to others.) That's just how I feel about it.

As for the doll part, I think the dolls are so real that, it would be fun to dress them up like AIW characters and kind of get into that world, by doing AIW photoshoots. I don't think it's something you can do with regular toys. I'd imagine it wouldn't fit well. Another thing is in AIW, Alice goes through a lot of size changes, so it's fun to play with the sizes of these dolls, sticking them in a doll house that's to small for them or letting them stand in a garden, where the flowers are huge in comparison. And of course, there's the Lolita Fashion that's become so popular. You can dress big girls up as Alice and I think it's just another twist to the story portrayal. Although there are illustrations in the book, I don't think there's any one way to go about portraying the dolls as the characters.

The Disney movie was nice, as I had never heard of Alice in Wonderland until I saw that version. But I realized they left so much out, so reading the books is best and I recommend it to any and everyone. Now there are movies out that do a better job of portraying Carroll's plot and characters (I also recommend those.)

AIW is just a fun story that I think appeals to the kid in us that still believes in magic and make believe creatures, that's why I think it's so popular. And with the combination of BJDs, it kind of makes that story come to life.