Today is October 6th, or 10/6 - Mad Hatter Day. Here are some quotes from the Mad Hatter to help you get you through the day.
'Take some more tea,' the March Hare said to Alice, very earnestly. 'I've had nothing yet,' Alice replied in an offended tone, 'so I can't take more.' 'You mean you can't take LESS,' said the Hatter: 'it's very easy to take MORE than nothing.'
'Why is a raven like a writing-desk?' 'Have you guessed the riddle yet?' the Hatter said, turning to Alice again. 'No, I give it up,' Alice replied: 'what's the answer?' 'I haven't the slightest idea,' said the Hatter.
'If you knew Time as well as I do,' said the Hatter, 'you wouldn't talk about wasting IT. It's HIM.' 'I don't know what you mean,' said Alice. 'Of course you don't!' the Hatter said, tossing his head contemptuously. 'I dare say you never even spoke to Time!'
I love these old illustrations by John Tenniel that appeared in the original edition of the book. Lewis Carroll attempted to illustrate the book first, but then realized he needed a professional. Good call.
Once Upon A Time Wonderland premieres this Tuesday, October 10th. But it won't have a Mad Hatter character to start because Sebastian Stan, the actor who played Jefferson aka The Mad Hatter on Once Upon A Time wasn't available. This clearly won't follow any Alice story we know, the have Naveen Andrews starring as Jafar from Aladdin. That's some rabbit hole.
It's no secret that I am a big Alice in Wonderland and that I also love the show Once Upon A Time. ABC has announced a new show this fall called Once Upon A Time in Wonderland. The premise is that Alice's father thinks she's crazy and that she never went to Wonderland. There's no white rabbit. No Queen of Hearts. No Cheshire Cat. Of course if we believed that, it would be an entirely different show. Of course this time Wonderland is real and Alice winds up going right back down the rabbit hole.
Here's the trailer...
As much as I love the whole Alice story, I am curious how this will play out against the original Once Upon A Time. After all in Storybrooke, the Queen of Hearts is already dead, there is a Mad Hatter alive and well, and I've always though that Emma was really Alice and she didn't know it. I know it's a separate story, and suspended disbelief is necessary in fantasy shows, but still. My jury is out.
Will I watch it? Of course, I'll give it a shot and keep a look out for details from the new show.
And here's the description from ABC:
In Victorian England, the young and beautiful Alice (Sophie Lowe) tells a tale of a strange new land that exists on the other side of a rabbit hole. An invisible cat, a hookah smoking caterpillar and playing cards that talk are just some of the fantastic things she’s seen during this impossible adventure. Surely this troubled girl must be insane and her doctors aim to cure her with a treatment that will make her forget everything. Alice seems ready to put it all behind her, especially the painful memory of the genie she fell in love with and lost forever—the handsome and mysterious Cyrus (Peter Gadiot). But deep down Alice knows this world is real and just in the nick of time, the sardonic Knave of Hearts (Michael Socha) and the irrepressible White Rabbit (John Lithgow) arrive to save her from a doomed fate. Together, the trio will take a tumble down the rabbit hole to this Wonderland where nothing is impossible.
Once Upon A Time In Wonderland stars Sophie Lowe (Beautiful Kate) as Alice, Michael Socha (This Is England) as Knave of Hearts, Peter Gadiot (The Forbidden Girl) as Cyrus, Emma Rigby (Hollyoaks) as Queen of Hearts and John Lithgow (Third Rock From The Sun) as the voice of the White Rabbit.
This week's episode of Once was all Emma, with a little Hook on the side (recap can be found over at Entertainment Weekly). We learn the details of Emma's checkered past and met the guy that we suppose is Henry's father. Turns out he didn't want to desert Emma, but August/ Pinocchio convinced him that it was the 'right thing', because of her DESTINY. Note to self: if Pinocchio shows up trying to talk you into something, maybe this isn't a good thing. He means well, it's just he has a habit of lying... and the whole nose growing thing is just a metaphor, so you can't see it. Geppetto and Figaro forgive him, because that's who they are. But Emma and me, we're different. It's a big bean stalk jungle out there and a girl has to be careful.
Granted, even I know that meeting a guy when you are trying to steal a car and he has already stolen it is not the best way to find your life partner, but still. What else did we learn in this episode? Emma has gotten smarter over the years. Leaving Hook with the Giant for a ten hour head start was genius. The kind of genius not often seen in TV land. Emma, like you and me, is familiar with the Peter Pan story. We know Hook's MO. Despite the fact that this Hook is off the hook good looking. He is still a centerpiece of the Disneyland Halloween Villain Crew, which means he is not your friend, regardless of the photo opps and the occasional appearance at character breakfast. Granted, she would had have been SMARTER if she had given herself, Snow, Sleeping Beauty and Mulan more than a ten hour head start. (Did anyone even believe that Sleeping Beauty thought for a second that she was the best choice to climb the bean stalk? Really? Girl needs some traveling clothes at the very least. And where are these fairy godmothers that we have heard so much about?) Despite all of this, I am ready to nominate Hook for his own TV show. We'll call it, "Hooked."
What did you think of tonight's episode? What do you think Cora is up to? And, with all of this Hook action, where is Tinkerbelle? Next week, the previews tell us that the story will again focus on Red and her wolf issues. Seriously, she is the only person who is better off without magic. I say we throw her over the Storybrooke city line. She could use the memory scrub, especially if it means she is de-wolfed. What do you think? Are you watching? Would you watch the new Hook show that I just made up? Previous episodes of Once Upon a Time and ABC recaps can be found on the ABC website.
I'm still obsessed by Once Upon a Time and tonight's Halloween-themed episode opened the storytelling possibilities even further. (For a recap of the entire episode go here and if you haven't watched the episode yet, come back later.)
Tonight we learned that Dr. Whale (David Anders) is really Victor Frankenstein. Dr. Whale has been working hard, as most mad scientists do, to create monsters and bring people back from the dead. He tried to bring Daniel, Regina's true love, back to life. He managed to do it for a short time before it backfired on all of them, almost making Regina, the Evil Queen, the bride of Frankenstein. What a concept.
I've been wondering who Dr. Whale's character is in fairytale land since last season. Since Victor Frankenstein is a literary character and not a fairy tale character, he was not on my list. A quick Internet search revealed that the director of the 1931 movie, Frankenstein, was named James Whale. So the writers did take the trouble to make a connection, although tenuous, and this reveal seems to have been planned long in advance of tonight's episode.
The really interesting part about this was how they established that they can bring in almost any character from literature that they want. Before it was just fairy tales (or retold stories that Disney adapted like Alice in Wonderland - Jefferson is the Mad Hatter and I think Emma is Alice, but she doesn't know it, and Mulan.)
The writers and producers have created a storytelling playground and any classic character could come into play. What fun.
I also loved seeing Regina come to Jiminy Cricket for psychotherapy. It does seem like she is giving in too easily to her good side and giving up magic pretty easily. This may mean that Cora and Rumple are the real villains of the story, although I hope Regina isn't this nice every episode.
For those of you on Facebook, Once Upon a Time has a great app there for Untold Stories. Go to the regular Once Upon a Time Facebook page and follow Rumple's instructions. He will exchange stories for objects you bring him (found in a game) just like he did with Jefferson (the Mad Hatter) in this episode.
Next week Emma and Captain Hook traverse the Bean Stalk and run into the giant (Jorge Garcia formerly of LOST and the ill-fated Alcatraz). The promo is below.
What did you think of this week's episode? Are you watching Once Upon a Time?
