Normally I would begin with a quick summary but I truly believe that Lewis Carroll requires no introduction. The tropes and ideas he created in ‘Alice in Wonderland’ are so prevalent across modern culture that I challenge you to find one person who has never heard the story before. As a result, there are several on screen adaptions the most recent and adventurous of which is Tim Burton’s 2010 version.

Mia Wasikowska, who plays the main character Alice Kingsleigh, manages to perfectly balance the bravery, adventurousness and the touch of madness that makes Alice so iconic. In fact, the entire cast is perfect, featuring iconic names such as Helena Bonham Carter (Red Queen), Anne Hathaway (White Queen), Johnny Depp (Mad Hatter) Stephen Fry (voice of the Cheshire Cat) and Alan Rickman (voice of the blue caterpillar).

It is a classic Tim Burton film, that is if any of his films can truthfully be called classic, featuring vivid visuals and disturbing undertones. Although I have been unsure of other Burton adaptations which haven’t quite suited this style, ‘Alice in Wonderland’ is the perfect candidate and it is only improved by his quirky take. He manages to create a Wonderland that people want to visit rather than one they are scared of, as is true with previous adaptations.

The most notable difference between the book and the film is that the book frames Underland as a place in Alice’s dream but the film presents it as being real. Alice’s realisation that her previous memories are in fact real instead of dreams is a key turning point in the story. It allows her to embrace her true identity and consider the impossible task of defeating the Jabberwocky.

Although there are differences in the way that they are approached, the central themes remain the same in both the book and the film. Nothing is impossible and to achieve the impossible you need only believe it is so. Lewis Carroll has been credited with some of the greatest quotes in the English language like: ‘Alice had begun to think that very few things indeed were really impossible’. For this reason, I feel that it is only right to recommend the book before the film because to do otherwise is simply impossible.