Down the Rabbit-Hole: The 10 Weirdest 'Alice in Wonderland' Adaptations

Since it was first published in 1865, Lewis Carroll's novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland has been adapted and translated hundreds of times — into films, comic books, stage productions and other books.

The latest adaptation, Tim Burton's new Alice in Wonderland movie, opens today. Starring Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, this is actually a sequel to the original story, set 10 years after the events we all know by heart, as Alice returns to the land beneath the rabbit hole and finds herself once again embroiled in the dangers of Wonderland.

Here's the trailer:

With its mix of real actors and computer animation, Burton's version will definitely be weird (it is Tim Burton after all), but will it be the weirdest? The movie would be hard-pressed to stand up to ten of the weirdest Alice in Wonderland adaptations that have already been loosed upon the world.1. American McGee's Alice (2000) - Also a sequel (of sorts) to the original books, this macabre and gothic video game starts with Alice's escape from a mental institution, where she has lived since her first trips to Wonderland. The game features a skeletal Cheshire Cat, lethal toys and music by Marilyn Manson. In order to win the game, you must restore Alice's sanity. A film version of the video game is currently in pre-production.2. Irwin Allen's Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass (1985) - Telly Savalas as the Cheshire Cat? Sammy Davis, Jr. as the Caterpillar? Ringo Starr as the Mock Turtle??? Produce Allen (The Towering Inferno) pulled out all the stops for this mid-Eighties TV miniseries. I vaguely remember this from my high-school years, and now that I see the cast list, I have got to see it again.3. Dreamchild (1985) - You'd think any movie that had the involvement of Jim Henson's Creature Show would be light and airy, right? Well, not so much this time around. Written by legendary British scribe Dennis Potter (The Singing Detective), Dreamchild features an aging Alice Liddell (the real girl who inspired Carroll to write his books in the first place) remembering her past and hallucinating about the Mad Hatter and the March Hare, played by real actors wearing Henson-created animatronic heads. Creepy, in an enjoyable and thought-provoking kind of way.4. Captain Carrot in the Oz-Wonderland War (1986) - Here's a fun one. Captain Carrot was walking, talking, super-hero rabbit published in a few short series by DC Comics. In this three-issue mini-series (sadly not in print), artist Scott Shaw! (yes, the exclamation point is legally part of his name) drew the adventures of Captain Carrot and his intrepid Zoo Crew as they tried to stop hostilities between Wonderland and neighboring Oz. A forgotten gem.

5. Lost Girls by Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie (2006) - Another comic, but definitely not one for the kids. Moore (V for Vendetta, Watchmen) used this graphic novel (started in 1991 but not completed until 15 years later) to put a modern spin on Victorian erotica, in stories starring Alice, Dorothy Gale from The Wizard of Oz and Wendy Darling from Peter Pan. Gebbie's fully painted artwork is astounding, and Moore remains one of comics' best writers, but the book has been controversial from day one, and will likely remain so.

6. Alice in Zombieland (2010) - In the tradition of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies comes this dark "mash-up" novel combining Carroll's original text with extra scenes of zombie mayhem by author Nickolas Cook. Fun for the whole family!7. Alice (2009) - The Syfy channel aired this wildly imaginative miniseries last year, taking the Alice story on a decidedly science-fictional bend. Alice (played by Caterina Scorsone), is an adult, an expert at judo and possibly a descendant of the original Alice from 150 years ago. She gets wrapped up in a rebellion against the villainous Queen of Hearts, who is kidnapping people from our world so she can drain their emotions. This was actually director Nick Welling's second take on the material; he directed a fairly straightforward Alice in Wonderland TV movie in 1999 which won several Emmys for costuming and visual effects.8. Neco z Alenky (1988) - This film from Czechoslovakian writer/director Jan Svankmajer is definitely one of the most mind-blowing adaptations I've seen. A mix of live action and stop-motion animation, Neco z Alenky holds fairly close to the original Alice novel, if you don't mind occasional digressions like slabs of living meat. Some of the animated characters are quite complex -- the White Rabbit is wonderful -- but others are surprisingly simple, like the Caterpillar, which is just a sock puppet with glass eyes. (This is available on DVD under the simpler title of Alice.)9. The Looking Glass Wars (2006 - present) - Novelist Frank Beddor has spun his take on Alice in Wonderland into a whole series of novels, comic books, claymation videos, music and collectible card games. In Beddor's series, Alyss Heart, heir to the Wonderland throne, fled her alternate world to avoid a coup. She ends up on Earth, where she meets Lewis Carroll, who then writes her story, but gets everything wrong. With the help of her fellow revolutionaries, Alyss returns to her own dimension to battle for her rightful place as Queen of Wonderland. The war must not be going well; book three of the series came out last year.10. Lost (2004-2010) - Lost may not be a direct adaptation of Alice in Wonderland, but this twisty-turny TV show is ripe with direct references and allusions to Carroll's books. Some episodes are named directly after elements of the books (none more so than that the first two episodes of Season 3, titled "Through the Looking Glass"). White rabbits play important functions in the plots of several episodes, and characters are seen reading from the book throughout the series. Of course, none of these adaptations could be so weird if it weren't for the original weirdness of Carroll's books. Why not give them a re-read before seeing how Tim Burton and Johnny Depp compare?Photos:Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, courtesy of Disney Pictures.American McGee's Alice © Electronic Arts.Poster for Dreamchild, via Wikipedia.Alice in Zombieland, courtesy of Coscom Entertainment.Captain Carrot in the Oz-Wonderland War © DC Comics.The Looking Glass Wars, courtesy of Dial Books.