Thursday, July 15, 2010

Tim Burton Directs a Travesty

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"

He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought --
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.

And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

"And, has thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!'
He chortled in his joy.




I'm a Johnny Depp fan. I love Capt. Jack Swallow and even Sweeney Todd gets a smile from me. Dillinger is maintained as a Chicagoland legend by Depp. I won't, however, subject myself or anyone I care about to Edward Scissorhands, not even once.

That made it inevitable that I should acquire Alice in Wonderland. The trailer made it a natural for demonstrating the miracle that is 1080p Blu-Ray. Two nights ago was the viewing event. Ptui!!!!

I'm older than dirt, but I still remember reading Lewis Carroll as a boy. I remember seeing the Disney movie with Ed Wynn as the Mad Hatter. It was true to the story which is fascinating enough on its own.

Why then did Tim Burton have to bastardize it?

The beast is the Jabberwock, not the Jabberwocky. The poem is Jabberwocky. The poem is the only mention of the Jabberwock in the story. It is not a dragon which preys on the kingdom. And don't even get me started about the domestication of the Bandersnatch.

Kids today will never read the book. There's no doubt of that in my mind. Now, they will never know the story either as Burton has abandoned it in favor of sensationalism and a fight scene.

The parallels to British parliament, history and politics which Carroll addressed allegorically are lost to posterity forever. A shame.

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