Dodo (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)

The Dodo is a fictional character appearing in Chapters 2 and 3 of the book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson). The Dodo is a caricature of the author. A popular but unsubstantiated belief is that Dodgson chose the particular animal to represent himself because of his stammer, and thus would accidentally introduce himself as "Do-do-dodgson."

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

In this passage Lewis Carroll incorporated references to the original boating expedition of 4 July 1862 during which Alice's Adventures were first told, with Alice as herself, and the others represented by birds: the Lory was Lorina Liddell, the Eaglet was Edith Liddell, the Dodo was Dodgson, and the Duck was Rev. Robinson Duckworth. In order to get dry after a swim, the Dodo proposes that everyone run a Caucus race — where the participants run in patterns of any shape, starting and leaving off whenever they like, so that everyone wins. At the end of the race, Alice distributes comfits from her pocket to all as prizes. However this leaves no prize for herself. The Dodo inquires what else she has in her pocket. As she has only a thimble, the Dodo requests it from her and then awards it to Alice as her prize. The Caucus Race as depicted by Carroll is a satire on the political caucus system, mocking its lack of clarity and decisiveness.

Interpretations

Disney animated film version

In the Disney film, the Dodo plays a much greater role in the story, and plays the role of Pat in Alice's infamous growth-in-the-house scene. He is animated by Milt Kahl.

Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland version

The Dodo, who in this adaptation of the book is named Uilleam and is portrayed by Michael Gough,^[1] bears a down of brilliant blue and is one of Alice's advisers, who also took first note of her identity as the true Alice. Mysteriously, the dodo vanishes during the final battle in the film. The character only has three lines in the film. "You don't think she would have remembered this from the first time", ''We should consult Absolem" and "your majesty".

References