The Back of the Class: The Characters of Alice in Wonderland

Tim Burton debuts his newest movie this week. While I am not one of those crazy fanatics who will bum-rush Hot Topic for Johnny Depp-drenched t-shirts and shoulder bags, I will end up seeing this movie. And in anticipation I did a little research on the adaptations of Alice.

With the arrival of Tim Burton’s version of Alice in Wonderland, the official adaptation tally for Alice and her adventures will be 20. Three silent pictures, three made-for-tv movies, several animated versions, and one X-rated musical are among the multitude of adaptations for this classic tale. Alice and her adventures in Wonderland have inspired very bright and shiny adaptations and have also inspired very grim tales, Tim Burton obviously being part of the latter.

For all the adaptations, these 20 televised and film versions hold some surprising casting. Much like a Shakespearian play, actors love to work with something as familiar and rich with characters as this. Since 1903, there have been many actors to step into the various roles of Alice in Wonderland. I was very interested to see how many iconic actors have portrayed the various characters. Here are the most interesting actors, and even some with links to videos.

Not all of the characters are listed because some simply didn’t have any one, or any more than one, interesting actor or actress in the role, such as Peter Sellers as the March Hare. It is also interesting to note that Denzel Washington and Howie Mandel have both portrayed Humpty-Dumpty, but not for Alice in Wonderland. This list includes the animated versions also.

The Cheshire Cat:

Stephen Fry - 2010

Whoopi Goldberg - 1999

Telly Savalas - 1985

Sammy Davis Jr. - 1966

Arthur Treacher - 1954