Gender Male Nationality Wonderland Dislikes Cats | Significant other(s) The HatterMarch Hare | |
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Personality Lazy, Droopy, Sleepy, Cowardly Appearance Purple vest, Small, Blue eyes, Both pink coat and loose bow tie, White unfastened collar, Slender gray dormouse Likes Jam on his nose, Living in the teapot, tea Similar March Hare, The Mad Hatter, Cheshire Cat, Caterpillar, Tweedledum | ||
The Dormouse is a character in "A Mad Tea-Party", Chapter VII from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.
Contents
History
The Dormouse sat between the March Hare and the Hatter. They were using him, while he slept, as a cushion 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 girls 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.
Disney version
The character also appears in Disney's Alice in Wonderland. Like 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. The Disney version of the character also appears in House of Mouse and Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse.
Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland version
In Tim Burton's 2010 Alice in Wonderland film, the Dormouse is named Mallymkun. Unlike the sleepy character in the book, this Dormouse is an action-oriented swordswoman similar to the character Reepicheep from The Chronicles of Narnia. She is voiced by Barbara Windsor. 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.