"Oh, that one. That's one of your weird ones."
I like ALICE IN WONDERLAND. OK, more than "like." I went thru a period in my 1970s teenagehood where I carried the book with me to high school every day. Go ahead, make fun. People have carried weirder things in their backpacks.
I'm not a fan of the Disney version. My man is Tenniel. Seminal Tenniel. I have a number of books with different illustrators doing their take on the Lewis Carroll story (including the author), but Tenniel is above the rest. They're dark and realistic and it makes me believe the place. Everyone else follows in his wake.
When I was a kid, my folks bought a Caedmon LP of ALICE with Joan Greenwood (photo above) in an audio adaptation of the book. Greenwood has a smoky voice, and probably sounded way too old and sexy to be a little girl. But I grew up with this recording, and accepted the thing. Although it's been years since I listened to it, I still remember passages.
This cartoon doesn't work if you don't know the above floating head of the Cheshire cat drawing. And, obviously, the pros at Brandweek did!
To draw it, I looked at the Tenniel art and then drew the cat. I drew it fast and freehand, without pencils. It has the spirit of Tenniel, but it's not an exact copy.
Image of Ms. Greenwood from this tribute site to her and Margaret Lockwood.
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