Friday, July 24, 2009

Alice In Wonderland (SPOILERS AHOY)

You know it all.
Here's a detailed summary of the script draft floating around.

At a garden party, Hamish proposes to Alice. Scared of the proposal, she rushes away and falls down the rabbit hole. She sees a tiny door and drinks a potion which makes her shrink. She goes through the door and ends up ends up in "Underland," the real name for Wonderland.

Once she's in Underland, it's revealed that she was brought there by the White Rabbit because of a scroll which predicted that she would be the one to slay the Red Queen's champion beast, the Jabberwocky. The red queen is a hateful ruler who uses animals as slaves/servants and takes off the heads of anyone who dares to make her angry. Alice doesn't believe she could ever slay the Jabberwocky and wants to go home. Meanwhile, the Red Queen gets news of Alice's arrival and sends a bloodhound and the Knave of Hearts to find her and behead her.

As Alice talks with the Dormouse, a creature of the Red Queen's (called Bandersnatch) swoops in and wounds Alice, cutting her arm badly. Dormouse manages to pluck out the Bandersnatch's eye and keep it as a souvenir. Alice gets away and encounters the Cheshire Cat, who has an odd talent of being able to disappear and re-appear in different places with his head separate from his body. The Cheshire Cat tells Alice that the Hare and the Mad Hatter can help her. He takes her to see them and they interrupt the tea party.

At the tea party, the bloodhound and the Knave of Hearts show up sniffing around for Alice. The Mad Hatter quickly forces Alice to drink a potion, shrinking her to three inches tall. He stuffs her into a teapot before the Knave can see her. The bloodhound catches a new scent and rushes off with the Knave following behind.

The Mad Hatter tells Alice about the backstory of the Red Queen and the White Queen. There was a huge massacre and the Red Queen took all ruling power, banishing her sister (the White Queen) to live in another land. The Hatter is very bitter about this and swears that he will do everything in his power to bring down the Red Queen. He says that the only way to bring down the Red Queen is for Alice to slay her beast, the Jabberwocky. However, Alice isn't sure that she's capable of slaying a creature of that magnitude. The Hatter tells Alice to go see Absolem, the caterpillar. He's wise and might have the answers she needs.

Alice goes looking for the caterpillar and ends up in a field of giant mushrooms. It's there that she encounters Absolem, the hookah-smoking caterpillar. Absolem reminds Alice that she has been here before, she just doesn't remember it. Suddenly, all the memories come flooding back to her. Alice wants to know how she can get home and Absolem tells her that she can only leave by doing what she's supposed to do -- slay the Jabberwocky.

Alice leaves the mushroom forest just in time to spy the Knave of Hearts dragging the Mad Hatter to the Red Queen's castle. They plan to imprison him and torture him until he confesses Alice's whereabouts.

Alice sneaks into the Red Queen's courtyard where everyone plays croquet. Alice is horrified to see that the croquet ball is actually a hedgehog that's been rolled up and tied by its feet. The mallet is a flamingo, also tied up. Alice encounters the White Rabbit, who gives her a bite of cake and makes her grow large again. The Red Queen sees Alice, but doesn't recognize her now that she's older. She's impressed by Alice's large head and decides to make her the new "favorite."

In the castle, Alice finds herself in an uncomfortable situation when the Knave of Hearts tries to kiss her. The kiss is seen by Lady Long Ears, who relays the information to the Red Queen. Clearly, the Red Queen is jealous (it appears she's in love with the Knave) and immediately demands "off with her head." Alice is taken to the court room where she reveals that all of the Red Queen's courtiers are phonies who wear fake prosthetics (fake noses, chins, ears, etc.) to impress the queen. This starts a bit of an uproar and Alice is able to sneak out without being noticed.

Alice sneaks down to the dungeon and tries to rescue the Hatter, but she fails in her effort. The Hatter tells Alice that she can find the sword to slay the Jabberwocky by following the White Rabbit. He touches her cheek and they have a tender moment before Alice leaves. Alice is nervous as the White Rabbit leads her to the stable holding the Bandersnatch -- the same beast that cut her arm earlier in the script. She realizes that the beast is guarding the sword. Alice rushes away to find the Dormouse, who still has the Bandersnatch's eye as a souvenir. Dormouse gives it to Alice and then Alice gives it to the Bandersnatch as a peace offering. The beast is thankful and licks Alice's wound clean, taking out all the infection. Alice grabs the key from around the beast's neck and uses it to unlock the chest which holds the sword.

Meanwhile, the Red Queen decides to behead the Mad Hatter. He's taken to the beheading platform, but just before the blade comes down, his head disappears. It is revealed that the Mad Hatter had actually escaped and it was the Cheshire Cat wearing his hat who was taken to the gallows. Clever trick. The Mad Hatter appears and urges all the servants to stand and battle the Red Queen. The crowd of angry servants cheer wildly. The queen's face flushes red with crimson anger and she releases a giant bird to kill her disobeying servants.

Meanwhile, Alice goes to see the White Queen, who tells her that she can only slay the Jabberwocky if she truly believes it's possible. Alice isn't sure if she can really do it. Suddenly, the Mad Hatter arrives with all the others (the Dormouse and the White Rabbit, etc.) to celebrate Alice as their champion. Alice is relieved to see the Hatter alive and they share an emotional reunion. However, she's nervous about battling the Jabberwocky and rushes away into a garden...

Once in the garden, Alice encounters the caterpillar. She is curious about why he's hanging upside down, and he tells her that he's "transforming." Alice is confused and the caterpillar tells her that perhaps they will meet again in another life. He disappears and Alice goes back to the White Queen.

The Red Queen arrives and the stage is set for battle. The White Queen has her warrior -- Alice. The Red Queen calls her warrior -- the Jabberwocky. At first, Alice is terrified by the size of the beast and thinks it's impossible for her to kill him, but then she recalls a time when her her dad told her that he "believes as many as six impossible things before breakfast." This gives her the confidence she needs to do battle, and she uses the sword to cut out the Jabberwocky's tongue and then chop off its head, killing it instantly. In this scene, Alice is described as having blood lust and she even cries out "OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!" as she swings the sword.

Everyone cheers. The Red Queen loses her crown and the White Queen banishes her to live in a foreign land forever. The Knave of Hearts is banished to live there as well, but he begs to be killed because he doesn't want to live with the Red Queen.

The White Queen puts a drop of the Jabberwocky's blood into a vial and hands it to Alice. Reluctant, Alice realizes that drinking the blood is her only way home. The Mad Hatter begs her not to drink it; he doesn't want her to leave. Everyone wants her to stay. The Hatter abruptly kisses Alice and whispers into her ear, but she drinks the vial of blood and bids farewell anyway.

Suddenly, Alice blacks out and finds herself at the top of the rabbit hole again. She's confused, dirty, and seems to have no memory of what just happened. She goes back to the garden party where Hamish is waiting for an answer to his marriage proposal. Alice tells him that she cannot marry him because he's not the right man for her. The script closes with Alice standing by the shore, watching a ship sail away on its maiden voyage. As she stares into the distance, a beautiful monarch butterfly lands on Alice's shoulder and she says, "Hello, Absolem" with a knowing smile on her face. The caterpillar has transformed.

THE END.

--Michael

2 comments:

Jessica Sargent said...

Do you know what the mad hatter whispered to Alice before she left wonderland and returned home?

esteban sosa said...

he said Fairfarren which means Farewell. May you travel far under fair skies.