A sequel, Through the Looking-Glass was an equal success.
Carroll’s other successful works include The Hunting of the Snark and Jabberwocky.
The novel features many characters. The most recognised are: Alice, the White Rabbit, the Dormouse, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, the Caterpillar, the Chesire Cat, the March Hare, the Mad Hatter and the Queen of Hearts.
Dinah (Alice’s cat) has become a popular literary cat.
Twinkle Twinkle Little Bat and How Doth the Little Crocodile are mimicked in the novel.
The Walrus and the Carpenter has also become a successful and well known poem.
The idea for the novel came when Carroll went rowing up the Isis with three young girls; Lorina, Edith and Alice.
Plot development occurred on further boating trips in Oxford.
Many critics claim that Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was based on realistic people and locations.
The title for the original novel was Alice’s Adventures Under Ground.
The original novel was illustrated by Carroll.
Alice, the heroine, is not a blonde as illustrated. The original Alice was a brunette.
When the novel was released, it gained little attention.
Queen Victoria was a known fan.
The novels were banned in China in 1931, on the grounds that ‘animals should not use human language’.
There have been many adaptations of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, including two Disney films; one fully animated, and the other by Tim Burton.
Kathryn Beaumont voices Alice in the Disney animated film. She also voices Wendy Darling in Peter Pan.
It has been depicted on the stage for adults and children alike.
Many comic adaptations have been created, such as Alice in Sunderland by Bryan Talbot.
American McGee’s Alice and Alice: Madness Returns have been successful third person games.
Horror filmmakers have used the idea of Alice for films, such as 2010’s Alice in Murderland.
Alice-in-Wonderland syndrome, which is also known as Todd’s syndrome, is a disorientating neurological condition. It is associated with brain tumours, drugs and migraines.
There have been many drug references within Alice, such as an ‘Eat Me’ cakes which makes you grow, a ‘Drink Me’ bottle which makes you shrink, and a multi-sided mushroom to make you grow and shrink.