Friday 19 April 2019

Once Upon A Time in Wonderland

This spinoff of the popular Once Upon A Time series aired on ABC from October 2013 to April 2014.  It takes place in the same universe as its parent show, but is based on the Lewis Carroll stories Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass.

A now-adult Alice, played by Australian actress Sophie Lowe, has returned home to Victorian England following the apparent death of her true love, a genie named Cyrus, played by Peter Gadiot.  Her family believes her to be insane and place her in an asylum, where the doctors propose a radical cure for her: lobotomy.  Fortunately the Knave of Hearts (Michael Socha) and the White Rabbit (voiced by John Lithgow) rescue her and spirit her back to Wonderland with the news that Cyrus is in fact still alive.

From there the series goes into an intense and well woven story, centered mainly around Alice's quest to find Cyrus, and the machinations of the evil Jafar (Naveen Andrews) who wants to get his hands on the genie's power.  Supporting characters include Whoopi Goldberg as the voice of Mrs. Rabbit, Barbara Hershey as Cora Mills/Queen of Hearts, and Iggy Pop as the voice of the Caterpillar.

Despite the splendid rendering of the CGI elements and the good chemistry between the various cast members, reviews were mixed.  Some critics didn't like the convoluted plotlines and the unlikeable inhabitants of Wonderland in general.  Executive producer Edward Kitsis stated: "However many [episodes] we wind up doing this season, what we're planning to do is tell a kind of complete tale with a beginning, middle and end.  If it does well and people like it, hopefully we'll come back and tell another adventure with this cast." 

As of this writing there has been no planned release of the series on DVD.  However all the episodes are available for purchase through iTunes and Amazon Prime.

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