| Dormouse | |
|---|---|
| Alice character | |
 The Hatter with the Dormouse asleep on the left. Illustration by John Tenniel. | |
| First appearance | Alice's Adventures in Wonderland |
| Created by | Lewis Carroll |
| In-universe information | |
| Species | Dormouse |
| Gender | Male |
| Nationality | Wonderland |
The Dormouse is a character in "A Mad Tea-Party", Chapter VII [1] from the 1865 novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.
The Dormouse sat between the March Hare and the Mad Hatter. They were using him as a cushion while he slept when Alice arrives at the start of the chapter.
The Dormouse is always falling asleep during the scene, waking up every so often, for example to say:
`You might just as well say,' added the Dormouse, who seemed to be talking in his sleep, that "I breathe when I sleep" is the same thing as "I sleep when I breathe"!'
He also tells a story about three young sisters who live in a treacle well, live on treacle, and draw pictures of things beginning with 'M', such as mousetraps, memory and muchness.
He later appears, equally sleepy, at the Knave of Hearts' trial and voices resentment at Alice for growing, and his last interaction with any character is his being "suppressed" (amongst other things) by the Queen for shouting out that tarts are made of treacle.
| The Dormouse | |
|---|---|
| Disney character | |
 | |
| First appearance | Alice in Wonderland (1951) |
| Created by | Lewis Carroll |
| Voiced by | Jimmy MacDonald |
| In-universe information | |
| Species | Dormouse |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Mad tea party entertainer |
| Nationality | Wonderland |
The character also appears in Disney's Alice in Wonderland . As in the book, he is sleepy and lazy, but unlike in the book, he sings Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Bat instead of telling his story about mouse sisters to entertain the tea-party participants.
He panics at the mention of the word "cat", much like The Mouse from the book, and needs to have jam spread on his nose in order to calm down. This first happens when Alice talks about her cat Dinah, causing the March Hare and the Mad Hatter to chase after it in order to administer the jam.
The Dormouse later appears as the second witness at Alice's trial, where two playing cards had to have the Queen of Hearts question it quietly and he once again sings Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Bat. When Alice points out that the Cheshire Cat is on the Queen of Hearts' crown, the Queen of Hearts quotes "cat", causing the Dormouse to panic, with the March Hare, the Mad Hatter, and the King of Hearts running around trying to catch him, with comical results.
The Disney version of the character also appears in House of Mouse and Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse .
| Mallymkun, The Dormouse | |
|---|---|
| Alice/Disney character | |
| First appearance | Alice in Wonderland (2010) |
| Created by | Lewis Carroll Tim Burton |
| Voiced by | Barbara Windsor |
| In-universe information | |
| Nickname | Mally |
| Species | Mouse |
| Gender | Female |
| Occupation | Swordfighter |
| Nationality | Underland/Wonderland |
In Tim Burton's 2010 Alice in Wonderland film, the Dormouse is a small, female mouse named Mallymkun. Unlike the sleepy character in the book, this Dormouse is an action-oriented swordfighter in training similar to the character Reepicheep from The Chronicles of Narnia . She is voiced by Barbara Windsor. [2]
She is initially seen with the group Alice first meets in Wonderland, and saving Alice from the Bandersnatch by plucking out its eye. She is seen a second time at Thackery Earwicket, the March Hare's tea party having tea with the March Hare and the Mad Hatter.
She is seen a third time rescuing the Hatter from the Red Queen. She is seen a fourth time at the end, fighting the Red Queen's forces. She also appears in the movie's 2016 sequel in the beginning when Alice returns to Wonderland, and later when Time travels back to the past and encounters her, the Hatter and the March Hare having a tea party, which he curses to last forever after he realizes they are stalling him. [3]
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The Dormouse's foremost recognition in popular culture stems from the American rock band Jefferson Airplane's song "White Rabbit", which dramatically repeats the line: "Remember what the dormouse said: feed your head, feed your head". The cadence of this enigmatic lyric has inspired references over the next century, including the title of John Markoff's 2005 book, What the Dormouse Said: How the 60s Counterculture Shaped the Personal Computer Industry . [7]
