Red Is The New Alice

So lately there's been a big Alice in Wonderland resurgence, something I've had zero complaints about as I am a long-standing member of the Alice in Wonderland fan club.  I even have plans for an epic Alice tattoo one day.  But I digress.  

Syfy's (stupidest name change ever, btw...it was much better as SciFi, but again I digress) original miniseries, Alice, was quite good.  Very offbeat retelling of the story, in which a new Alice has to save Wonderland, and our world, from the Queen of Hearts.  Many more science fiction touches to the story, as it revolves around the baddies of Wonderland kidnapping people from our world, more or less turning them into zombies, and then milking them for their emotions.  Said emotions are then later sold to the people of Wonderland by the Queen as a kind of drug.  The acting is decent, and I personally enjoyed the weirdness of it all, even if the pacing was a bit slow.  Plus, Hatter was pretty cute.  ;)

Now we have the giant, zomg, huge names, billboards, big production, big-screen retelling by Disney and Tim Burton of Alice in Wonderland.  Another cute guy playing Hatter, although Johnny Depp doesn't look quite so attractive under all the Hatter makeup.  I am CRAZY (the caps mean I'm serious) excited for this one.  I'm seeing it in 3D IMAX on Saturday night, and I cannot wait.  So while I can't review it yet, I can be fairly certain that my inner fangirl will ensure I like the movie, even if it's terrible, which it won't be.

Now if you're looking for an awesome book series that's a retelling of the Alice story, I highly recommend The Looking Glass Wars series by Frank Beddor.  It's well-written (if a bit fluffy, but I think that's to make it accessible to readers of various age groups), and the story is such a creative retelling that it sucked me in immediately.  Here's a synopsis of the first book from the website:

Alyss Heart, heir to the Wonderland throne, was forced to flee through the Pool of Tears after a bloody palace coup staged by the murderous Redd shattered her world. Lost and alone in Victorian London, Alyss is befriended by an aspiring author to whom she tells the surreal, violent, heartbreaking story of her young life only to see it published as the nonsensical children’s sojourn Alice in Wonderland. Alyss had trusted Lewis Carroll to tell the truth so that someone, somewhere would find her and bring her home.

But Carroll had got it all wrong. He even misspelled her name! If not for the intrepid Hatter Madigan, a member of the Millinery (Wonderland’s security force) who after a 13 year search eventually tracked Alyss to London, she may have become just another society woman sipping tea in a too-tight bodice instead of returning to Wonderland to battle Redd for her rightful place as the Queen of Hearts.

One of the coolest things about this series is the way in which the people of Wonderland can use their imaginations to bring things to life.  Alyss battles her foes by conjuring things up out of thin air through the sheer power of her imagination.  Too awesome.

But then, I heart anything Alice-related.

Now, I also heart anything fairytale-related.  Especially if it's a dark re-telling of a familiar story.  Which leads me to my blog title.  Lately it seems that every website I go to (especially io9) is full of rumors of Red Riding Hood projects in the works.  Which I'm pretty excited about.  I mean, if done correctly, both Alice and Red can show strong, female characters kicking ass.  Which is something I always enjoy (Buffy, anyone?).  So here's what I've seen so far...

SyFy has cast the always adorable Felicia Day to play "a werewolf-hunting descendant of Little Red Riding Hood" in Red.

Amanda Seyfriend (who I adore) is slated to play the title role in a gothic adaptation to be directed by Catherine Hardwicke (of Twilight fame).

"American McGee's Alice PC game is best known for it's warped take on the fairy tale, by making Alice (a) suicidal orphan. His next fairy tale victim is Little Red Riding Hood, and here's a glimpse at the gory concept art."

On that last one, American McGee's Alice remains one of the best games I've ever played.  It was a deliciously dark spin on the story, and the gameplay was excellent.  If his take on Little Red Riding Hood is anything close to that, I will be picking up the game the day it comes out.  Whenever that may be.

So, Red is the new Alice.  And I'm okay with that.

~Dorkopotamus (aka Katy)