Glass Better | Alice Through The Looking

While the Mad Hatter and the Cheshire Cat dominate the imagery of the first book, Alice Through the Looking Glass introduced characters that have become equally entrenched in pop culture, albeit with a slightly darker edge.

While Burton’s Disney film (directed by James Bobin) is visually stunning, it takes significant liberties. The plot turns Alice into a time-traveler who must save the Mad Hatter by stealing the "Chronosphere" from Time himself (personified as a semi-human character, Sacha Baron Cohen). Purists criticized the film for importing action-hero tropes, but it did introduce a new generation to the concept of the Looking-Glass world. Alice Through the Looking Glass

Lewis Carroll: Through the Looking Glass - University of Glasgow While the Mad Hatter and the Cheshire Cat

To get anywhere, Alice must walk away from her destination. To read a poem, she must hold it up to the mirror. Time runs backwards—the White Queen remembers events before they happen, and the King’s messengers are imprisoned before their trial. This inversion isn’t just whimsy; it is rooted in the 19th-century fascination with non-Euclidean geometry and the physics of reflection. Sacha Baron Cohen).