This is basically a more in-depth rewrite of something I put on the Brandy and Mr Whiskers boards, because this subject has actuall been intriguing me. Here goes...

First of all, I am going to say that I enjoy watching the Disney cartoon 'Brandy and Mr Whiskers'; its humour and liveliness making it what s probnably my favourite show on the channel at the moment. Also, I am a fan of Lewis Carroll's books 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' and 'Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There', for their wit, symbolism and themes.

Thus I noticed quite a few similarities between the cartoon and the two books.

Granted, many people compare 'Brandy and Mr Whiskers' to the Nickelodeon show 'Ren and Stimpy', but as I haven't seen that show, I can't really comment. However, I do feel it is worth comparing the Alice books and 'Brandy and Mr Whiskers' in characterisation, premise and most importantly, themes. What I found is that the cartoon is more in-depth than the general public realises and that Lewis Carroll's writings are the key to discovering this.

Similarities in Plot

The basic plot of both mediums is similar; a blonde girl goes to a world completely different to her own, meets strange characters and grows along the way. What is even stranger is that the heroines of both stories fall into these worlds, due to a white rabbit.

Similarities in Characters

For this secion, I will be looking at the main characters from 'Brandy and Mr Whiskers' and will compare their personalities to those of the characters from Alice's adventures.

Brandy Harrington - Brandy is definately Alice herself, right down to the colour of her hair. Both of these characters are arrogant, rather bad-tempered and answer back to the creatures they meet. Brandy's arrogance is more clear than Alice's is, constantly shouting and criticising, even when she's doing something kind for Whiskers. In the first episode, she laughs at Whiskers' predicament, then in later episodes, performs such acts as abandoning children she is supposed to babysit in lieu of being with her friends, steals shoes just to save face, makes Whiskers her servant and sometimes even gives in to Gaspar's temptations. Alice can be considered no better; she says it's not a pity when the Duchess is to be beheaded, she frequently interrupts the Dormouse and later says the tea party is 'stupid', she is rude in the face of authority, calling the Queen of Hearts and her rules 'nonsense' and even speaks ill of other children she has met in real life. Both of them also complain a lot; comapre Brandy's desire to go home in earlier episodes with this quote from Alice:

'It was much pleasanter at home,' thought poor Alice, `when one
wasn't always growing larger and smaller, and being ordered about
by mice and rabbits. I almost wish I hadn't gone down that
rabbit-hole--and yet--and yet--it's rather curious, you know,
this sort of life! I do wonder what CAN have happened to me...'

Both complain about the confusion and danger of the worlds they have fallen into, yet both get used to these things, and grow up along the way, which I will cover in more detail in a minute.

Mr. Whiskers - He is the White Rabbit who brought Brandy to the Amazon, so he should be compared to - who else? Both White Rabbits are nervous and panicky, and fear the worst when others are diappointed in them.

It was the White Rabbit returning, splendidly dressed, with a
pair of white kid gloves in one hand and a large fan in the
other: he came trotting along in a great hurry, muttering to
himself as he came, `Oh! the Duchess, the Duchess! Oh! won't she
be savage if I've kept her waiting!'

Whiskers has shown this trait several times on the show, one example being 'Two Heads are not Better than One', where he instantly becomes depressed when his plan to impress Brandy fails, and plans to grow another head so Brandy will like him more. However, one can consider him to also be a surrogate for Alice; he too is a childish creature attempting to survive in a confusing world, but his immaturity is less subtle than Brandy's.

Lola Boa: It was difficult to decide where she fitted in to Carroll's work, but she appears to have strong connections to the character of the Cheshire Cat. Both act as a guide and friend to the heroine, offering advice and companionship by giving directions and engaging in conversation (Lola is even coloured the same way as Disney's version of the Cat). Like the Cat helps Alice navigate through the March Hare's garden, Lola helps Brandy escape from Gaspar and helps her find a good mud bath. Granted, there are other symbols that realte to the Cheshire Cat; felines like Atoro and Lorenzo that are constantly grinning, and Brandy's cat toy, which ends up having only the head remain.

Ed: At first, I compared this character to that of the Hatter; 'Ed Otter' and 'Mad Hatter' sound fairly similar, and if you compare Tenniels illustration with the way Ed is drawn, you would assume both go to the same dentist. However, after some thought, I feel Ed has more in common with the character of the Dormouse; both are dull and dopey, and tell rambling stories that go nowhere. Ed rambles incoherently in 'Paw and Order' and 'Funky Bunny' and the Dormouse rambles about the three sisters and their treacle-well.

Cheryl and Meryl: I would definately compare the toucans to Tweedledee and Tweedledum of 'Through the Looking Glass'. Here is the nursery rhyme from which Carroll derived the twins:

Tweedledum and Tweedledee
Resolved to have a battle
For Tweedledum said Tweedledee
Had spoiled his nice new rattle

But along came a monstrous crow
As huge as a tar barrel
It frightened both our heroes so
They quite forgot the quarrel

The rhyme alone shows similarities between the Tweedle twins and the toucan twins; both twins argue over trivial matters (the toucans more than the Tweedles) and both even relate to big black birds. However, both pairs do show some compassion and respect for each other.

Gaspar Le Gecko: Gaspar is a figure of tyranny, using fear and intimidation to gain the most out of his loyal subjects, not unlike the Queen of Hearts. Both are portrayed as murderous beasts; the Queen wants people decapitated, Gaspar wants to eat as many delicious morsels as he can. Most importantly, both of these characters are defeated by the heroine when she realises that they are nothing but nonsense; they are rulers of limited power that rule by fear, and are helpless when no-one fears them.

Two more characters that relate to Gaspar are the Walrus and the Carpenter from 'Through the Looking Glass'. The characters from the poem seek to eat the oysters after tricking them with the promises of 'a pleasant walk, a pleasant talk, along the briny beach'. Gaspar follows their example, tricking Whiskers so he eat him, one example being 'Trouble in Store' where he uses a credit card to put Whisker's life at risk. This 'Walrus and Carpenter' motif is put to work in several episodes, like Atoro the ocelot pretending to love Brandy, when all he wants is to devour her, and 'The Vic' allowing Whiskers into his club as a way to have his friend as dinner.

Margo: She is not really an important character, so I won't go into much detail concerning her, but she is somewhat like the Caterpillar; small, has several legs, is arrogant ('three inches is a very good height to be') and asks 'Who are you?'.

One might conclude that these simlarities in characterisations could be considered 'ripping off', akin to Peter Griffin of Family Guy fame being like Homer Simpson. However, I feel simialrities in characterisation and premise are important to note, as they draw attention to Carroll's themes being echoed in the series.

Similarities in Themes

Growing Up: Both Wonderland and the Amazon in 'Brandy and Mr Whiskers' can be seen as representing the adult world, one that starts off as confusing and difficult but improves as the child experiencing it improves.

Thus, the heroines of both stories are faced with tasks that need adult thinking.

If Alice is to change her size so she can reach the Queen of Hearts' beautiful garden, she must use logical thought and reasoning. At first, she finds this task impossible, choosing to cry over it rather than continue to solve the problem. Later, after a series of strange events, she is faced with the task again, but succeeds; after facing myriad nonsense and learning to deal with it, problems are easier to solve. Throughout her adventures, she is faced with more adult tasks: she has to care for a baby mistreated by the Duchess, she has to learn how to fit in at a tea-party, she must help the Tweedle twins prepare for battle, she must hand out plum cake and must learn what it means to be Queen of the Looking Glass creatures.

Brandy enters the Amazon with a huge responsibility resting on her shoulders: Whiskers. At first, she ridicules Whiskers and belittles him, but later realise that Whiskers needs her; he is an immature child, and there is no-one else to teach him right and wrong. This means that he has spent some episodes acting as arrogant and showy as Brandy has, even becoming the fashion guru Brandy aspired to be. It is only as Brandy grows that Whiskers must grow too, a philosophy that is put to the test in 'Mini Whiskers', where Brandy must helpo Whiskers to grow so he can help a baby tapir to grow (tapirs are animals that resemble pigs, the very animal that the Duchess' baby transformed into). Brandy is only saved from danger when the tapir saves her, due to Whiskers' actually showing positive influence.

In the first season, Brandy has showed a constant desire to go home, yet she has been denied this chance several times even when coming close, possibly because her coming of age is not yet complete. She even denies being rescued herself; even when Tiffany Turlington offers her a ride home, she refuses so she can help Whiskers, a selflessness that shows she is not the same Brandy that was shown in the first few minutes of the pilot episode.

Death and Black Humour: Since the Alice books revolve around life and the growth from infancy to adulthood, mortality must be addressed as well. Death is hinted at several times in both books, from the Queen's boisterous demands for execution, to Alice talking to herself about jumping off the roof of her house, to a discussion with Humpty Dumpty about how Alice cans top growing with 'proper assistance'. 'Brandy and Mr Whiskers' pulls out jokes that relate to death; Whiskers fears Brandy will play 'pretend funeral' with him, he says that birthdays are one day closer to the 'big dirt nap', when he thinks Brandy is ill, he uses several colliquialisms for death and in one scene, Ed turns into a brain and is fed to piranhas, but is later 'resurrected'.

Differences Between Higher and Lower Classes: Lewis Carroll was a Victorian and lived in a time where differences between classes and aristocracy was at its most important. His writings reflect his views on higher society and class; the Hatter, Humpty Dumpty and the Duchess are quite uppity and fit somewhat into Victorian aristocracy, and this makes them condescending, critical and grumpy. The Dodo and his companions are like politicians, their Caucus race is neverending like a debate. The highest ruler, the Queen of Hearts, is the most bad-tempered and dangerous character. Characters from simpler backgrounds, like the Gryphon, the Mock Turtle and the White Knight are kinder and get on better with Alice.

A quote from 'Through the Looking Glass' perfectly sums up Carroll's attitudes to the aristocracy: 'Five times as warm, AND five times as cold--just as I'm five times as rich as you are, AND five times as clever!' If warm and cold are opposites, thus rich and clever are too.

Brandy starts off as being a part of a prestigious family, and thus starts off as a condescending, mean character. It is only when she becomes 'poor' that her character begins to improve. Even when she discovers a mall, she still doesn't have enough 'shiny rocks' and must earn them. She has to do the work she previously entrusted to staff, and improvise without luxury. She actually finds out in one episode that she was adopted into the rich family she was formerly proud of, making her previous lifestyle seem artificial and gives ehr all the more reason to reject the arrogance that came with it. The main villain is the 'richest', as is shown in 'Blind Ambition' and thus is the most cruel of the cast, possibly what Brandy could have ended up like had she stayed in Florida. Lola, Cheryl, Meryl and Margo are middle-class, more friendly but still a little rude and sarcastic, while simpler beings like Whiskers and Ed are the kindest and friendliest.

Wordplay and Puns: The Alice books delight in wordplay; it's arguably their most famous trait. The Red Queen mistakes 'flower' for 'flour', the lessons at a scholl include 'French, music and washing', a reference to what counts as 'extras' on a bill for education, a tortoise is only a tortoise if he 'taught us', 'axes' and 'axis' get confused, colloquialisms aout time are used to describe it as a real person and famous cliches, mad as a hatter/march hare, smiling like a cheshire cat, are made physical. The old cliche 'two heads are better than one' is made physical in 'Brandy and Mr Whiskers', with the second head excelling over the first in terms of intellectualism and grace, a huge argument is had over 'Deja Vu', Whiskers says butterflies don't taste like real butter ('Through the Looking Glass' had a 'bread and butterfly') and titles like 'Con Hare' and 'Lame Boy' are puns.

Conclusion

I can enjoy both Alice and Brandy because they are like children; confused beings in a surreal, difficult world, facing difficult tasks and responsibilities that require thought, logic and maturity. In order for the world to improve, children must improve themselves and must reject nervous naivete and tears (like Alice) as well as blatant egotism (like Brandy). They must learn to be sensible, selfless people, inflict this sense and selflessness onto others much younger than them and face the adult world unafraid and confident, like both Alice and Brandy learn to do.