ABSOLEM
"Who are you?"
Absolom, voiced by Alan Rickman (that's Snape, by the way), is the advice-giving blue caterpillar with a hookah. His signature "move" is blowing a cloud of smoke into Alice's face. Absolom is an invention in the 2010 movie, since in the previous Disney adaptation as well as the original novel, he is only referred to as "the Caterpillar".
In the 2010 film, Absolom is transfigured into a "wise old man" figure--he may not necessarily be old, since he will eventually turn into a butterfly and supposedly, he is in his "baby form", but his deep voice certainly "ages" him.
Just like all other characters in Alice in Wonderland, Absolom undergoes an appropriate maturation in character and appears less kiddish. At times he serves as sort of a spiritual guide for Alice, and he seems to be a "measure" or "scale" that confirms Alice's strengthening identity from time to time. He is the one who is asked to confirm Alice's identity when she is first brought to Underland, and later, he is also the ones who declares to Alice that "you are nearly Alice."
In addition, Absolem is also a symbol for Alice's transformation. As he warps himself into a cocoon and is ready to transform into a butterfly, these scenes are intercut with Alice's decision-making process of becoming a champion and facing the Jabberwocky.
Although he is a relatively a minor character, he certainly has a "heavy" and irreplaceable presence in the movie.
In the 2010 film, Absolom is transfigured into a "wise old man" figure--he may not necessarily be old, since he will eventually turn into a butterfly and supposedly, he is in his "baby form", but his deep voice certainly "ages" him.
Just like all other characters in Alice in Wonderland, Absolom undergoes an appropriate maturation in character and appears less kiddish. At times he serves as sort of a spiritual guide for Alice, and he seems to be a "measure" or "scale" that confirms Alice's strengthening identity from time to time. He is the one who is asked to confirm Alice's identity when she is first brought to Underland, and later, he is also the ones who declares to Alice that "you are nearly Alice."
In addition, Absolem is also a symbol for Alice's transformation. As he warps himself into a cocoon and is ready to transform into a butterfly, these scenes are intercut with Alice's decision-making process of becoming a champion and facing the Jabberwocky.
Although he is a relatively a minor character, he certainly has a "heavy" and irreplaceable presence in the movie.
The Caterpillar in the 1951 is a sulky, impudent and demanding insect. He appears right after the singing flower scene, and is heard singing his famous vowel song "A, E, I, O, U" when Alice approaches him. Similar to the 2010 movie, he blows a heck lot of smoke into Alice's face while sitting on a mushroom, except that the smoke is shaped into alphabets that resonate to whatever he is saying. Eventually, he ends up frustrating Alice into leaving, but quickly calls her back:
"You there! Girl! Come back! I have something important to say!"
And after telling her to "hold her temper", Alice accidentally infuriates him by complaining about her hight, which is 3 inches at the time and is also the Caterpillar's hight. In his anger, he begins to smoke incessantly, breathing heavily from his hookah and after a dramatic swirling of smoke--he disappears but is promptly seen in the sky as a butterfly. He then instructs Alice about the size-changing mushrooms with his boisterous attitude.
This tip is probably one of the most important clues Alice receives--since later, she is going to eat the mushroom and grows significantly during her trial. The mushroom advice is one of those plot mechanisms that "keeps it rolling".
Last but not least, since he is essentially a cartoon figure, his insect form is inevitably personalized as all cartoon seems to do with its animal characters. Unlike in the movie, Absolem is a much more realistic Caterpillar than the one in the cartoon.
"You there! Girl! Come back! I have something important to say!"
And after telling her to "hold her temper", Alice accidentally infuriates him by complaining about her hight, which is 3 inches at the time and is also the Caterpillar's hight. In his anger, he begins to smoke incessantly, breathing heavily from his hookah and after a dramatic swirling of smoke--he disappears but is promptly seen in the sky as a butterfly. He then instructs Alice about the size-changing mushrooms with his boisterous attitude.
This tip is probably one of the most important clues Alice receives--since later, she is going to eat the mushroom and grows significantly during her trial. The mushroom advice is one of those plot mechanisms that "keeps it rolling".
Last but not least, since he is essentially a cartoon figure, his insect form is inevitably personalized as all cartoon seems to do with its animal characters. Unlike in the movie, Absolem is a much more realistic Caterpillar than the one in the cartoon.
In the novel, Absolem is equally annoying and contemptuous. The conversation he has with Alice in the novel is pretty consistent with the 1951 adaptation, though it is completely altered in the 2010. In the novel, he also orders Alice to recite "You are old, Father William" and criticizes her for not saying it right after she is finished. And believe me when I say, he is not a nice caterpillar, as he says things like "It is wrong from beginning to end" in addition to "That is not said right."--not bothering to be polite whatsoever.
He is probably the most important, self-serving and contemptuous character in the novel. He becomes extremely offended when Alice says "three inches is such a wretched height to be"--just like he does in the 1951 adaptation. However, unlike the 1951, the blue Caterpillar does not transform into a butterfly. He merely crawls down the mushroom lazily.
Other than those small details, the Caterpillar's qualities in the original novel is well captured in the cartoon version of Alice in Wonderland, and, as mentioned before, is completely changed (like many other characters) in the 2010 movie.
To end with a side note, in the novel's illustration, the Caterpillar has rather Asian looking sleeves--and this Asian-ness is adapted and reflected as the apparently Indian shoes with curly tips along with the Hookah. The bulgy part of his head is somewhat shaped like a turban. This reference to the Middle East is unexplained in the novel, and perhaps it is just an attribute that Lewis Carroll decides to give him.
He is probably the most important, self-serving and contemptuous character in the novel. He becomes extremely offended when Alice says "three inches is such a wretched height to be"--just like he does in the 1951 adaptation. However, unlike the 1951, the blue Caterpillar does not transform into a butterfly. He merely crawls down the mushroom lazily.
Other than those small details, the Caterpillar's qualities in the original novel is well captured in the cartoon version of Alice in Wonderland, and, as mentioned before, is completely changed (like many other characters) in the 2010 movie.
To end with a side note, in the novel's illustration, the Caterpillar has rather Asian looking sleeves--and this Asian-ness is adapted and reflected as the apparently Indian shoes with curly tips along with the Hookah. The bulgy part of his head is somewhat shaped like a turban. This reference to the Middle East is unexplained in the novel, and perhaps it is just an attribute that Lewis Carroll decides to give him.
