Alice In Wonderland: 10 Things You Didn’t Know About The White Queen

Anne Hathaway’s White Queen in Alice and Wonderland is very different from the book version – here’s everything you didn’t know.

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The White Queen rose to prominence as a literary figure in Lewis Carroll’s storybook Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There, where she became a prominent part of Alice’s fantasy adventures in Underland and a means for her to grow and mature. She was placed in Tim Burton’s 2010 live-action version of Alice in Wonderland in a very different capacity, and became a dominating part of its sequel Alice Through the Looking Glass.

Played by Anne Hathaway in a flowing white gown and platinum locks, she’s a far cry from the White Queen of Carroll’s novel, and assumes an almost Glinda-like quality with a backstory that might have been taken from the pages of The Wizard of Oz. Despite -or perhaps because of- the differences between her cinematic and literary form, she became a popular character, but there’s always more to know about her.

10 She was almost cast as Alice

Prior to Disney’s announcement that gothic auteur Tim Burton was going to be involved with bringing Alice in Wonderland to life, Anne Hathaway was offered the title role, but she felt that the part of Alice was too much like other roles she’d played.

A fan of Burton’s work, she opted for another part that allowed her to stretch her acting skills, and she was eventually cast as the White Queen. She was able to shoot all of her scenes in just two weeks.

9 She never had a name

In Lewis Carroll’s original Alice in Wonderland storybooks, none of the principal characters in “Underland” had proper names. They were simply referred to as the “White Queen”, the “Red Queen”, and the “Knave of Hearts”. Tim Burton desired to flesh the characters out so he gave them distinct monikers.

The White Queen became Mirana Crimms, and she was given a backstory involving the Red Queen, who was known as Iracebeth Crimms, and made to be her sister (and not to be confused with the Queen of Hearts).

8 She was originally a mess

When she first appears to Alice in Lewis Carroll’s two books, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, the White Queen is an unkempt, anxious, absent-minded woman who Alice has to take care of.

Alice has to help reunite her with her crying child, fix her hair and shawl, or sing her a lullaby. The character of the White Queen was meant to instigate a role reversal, whereby Alice appears as the adult and she the child. In that way, her character allows Alice to feel mature, organized, and even superior.

7 She wasn’t a beautiful young woman

In Lewis Carroll’s stories, the White Queen is a homely woman who needs constant help from Alice, unlike the ethereal and beautiful woman she’s portrayed as in Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland.

Anne Hathaway hints at the original White Queen’s delicate nature with her body language, always holding her hands at eye level and peering innocently with a doe-eyed stare, but she’s far from the frumpy depiction Carroll envisioned.

6 She’s supposed to be married

When Alice first encounters the White Queen in Alice and Wonderland, she’s noticeably alone, absent any sort of romantic partner. In Lewis Carroll’s novels she’s married to the White King, who also happens to be one of the first “chess pieces” Alice encounters on her adventures.

The only king that appears in Tim Burton’s films is King Oleron, the father of Iracebeth and Mirana (the White Queen). It’s implied that he’s supposed to be the stand-in for the White King’s character.

5 She wasn’t originally the focus of Through the Looking Glass

Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland (2010) borrows elements from both of the novels by Lewis Carroll, but Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016) is nothing like his second novel and focuses on the Mad Hatter’s origin as well as the feud between the Red Queen and the White Queen.

The White Queen wasn’t the focus of Carroll’s second book, but she becomes central to the plot of Burton’s film, with her feud progressing from an all-out war to a climax where the two queens -also sisters- eventually make amends.

4 She was based on Mrs. Wragge

Wilkie Collins, a celebrated author from the Victorian Era, whose critically acclaimed novels include The Woman In White and The Moonstone, created a character for his book No Name that became the model for Lewis Carroll’s White Queen.

Her name was Matilda Wragge, wife of Captain Horatio the swindler, and a giantess who had the mind of a child. Her lumbering absent-mindedness and oafish confusion over the complexities of the simplest tasks contributed to the White Queen’s quirky personality in Lewis Carroll’s novels.

3 Anne Hathaway made her into a vegan punk rocker

There’s a moment in Alice in Wonderland when the White Queen explains that she has a vow to “harm no living creature”, which was something that struck actress Anne Hathaway, who decided to invent a backstory for her reasoning process.

According to her backstory, she decided the White Queen’s parents saw what eating meat did to her sister the Red Queen, and thought they could curb any potential violent tendencies by making her vegan. Thus the White Queen acquired the “vegan punk rocker” sobriquet on set.

2 She was inspired by Debbie Harry and Nigella Lawson

While trying to draw inspiration for the White Queen, Anne Hathaway collaborated with Tim Burton to find female icons of the music entertainment industry that best reflected the personality they wanted her to have.

Burton suggested Nigella Lawson, an English food critic, and Hathaway decided to comb through video clips of the enchanting Greta Garbo and the frenetic Debbie Harry to inform her performance.

1 Her costume was incredibly delicate

Though she’s been banished from Wonderland, the White Queen nevertheless lives in a beautiful white castle and wears a glistening white dress, both things that reflect the ethereal and graceful aspects of her upbringing.

Anne Hathaway stated in a lengthy Facebook Q&A when Alice in Wonderland was first released that the dress designed by Colleen Atwood was incredibly fragile despite looking heavy, and she was always worried about stepping on it when she was supposed to “run like she was dancing” and “walk like she was floating”.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/alice-in-wonderland-white-queen-facts-trivia/