The White Rabbit | |
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Alice character | |
First appearance | Alice's Adventures in Wonderland |
Created by | Lewis Carroll |
Information | |
Species | European rabbit |
Gender | Male |
Occupation | Page |
Nationality | Wonderland |
White Rabbit | |
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Disney character | |
First appearance | Alice in Wonderland (1951) |
Created by | Lewis Carroll |
Voiced by | Bill Thompson (original film) Corey Burton (House of Mouse, Kingdom Hearts, and all other appearances) Jeff Bennett (Kinect Disneyland Adventures) Shigeru Ushiyama (Japanese, Kingdom Hearts series) |
Information | |
Species | Rabbit |
Gender | Male |
Occupation | Page |
Nationality | Wonderland |
Nivens McTwisp, The White Rabbit | |
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Alice character | |
First appearance | Alice in Wonderland |
Created by | Lewis Carroll/Tim Burton |
Portrayed by | Michael Sheen |
Information | |
Nickname(s) | The White Rabbit |
Species | Rabbit |
Gender | Male |
Occupation | Page |
Nationality | Underland |
The White Rabbit is a fictional character in Lewis Carroll's book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. He appears at the very beginning of the book, in chapter one, wearing a waistcoat, and muttering "Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late!" Alice follows him down the rabbit hole into Wonderland. Alice encounters him again when he mistakes her for his housemaid Mary Ann and she becomes trapped in his house after growing too large. The Rabbit shows up again in the last few chapters, as a herald-like servant of the King and Queen of Hearts.
In his article "Alice on the Stage," Carroll wrote "And the White Rabbit, what of him? Was he framed on the "Alice" lines, or meant as a contrast? As a contrast, distinctly. For her 'youth,' 'audacity,' 'vigour,' and 'swift directness of purpose,' read 'elderly,' 'timid,' 'feeble,' and 'nervously shilly-shallying,' and you will get something of what I meant him to be. I think the White Rabbit should wear spectacles. I'm sure his voice should quaver, and his knees quiver, and his whole air suggest a total inability to say 'Boo' to a goose!"
Overall, the White Rabbit seems to shift back and forth between pompous behavior toward his underlings, such as his servants, and grovelling, obsequious behavior toward his superiors, such as the Duchess and King and Queen of Hearts, in direct contrast to Alice, who is reasonably polite to everyone she meets.
In Disney's animated version of the book, the Rabbit seems to have the most logic out of all the Wonderland characters. Thus, he is often the straight man for their zany antics; when he asks the Dodo for help on getting the "monster" (Alice) out of his house, Dodo's ultimate solution is to burn the house down, to which the White Rabbit is greatly opposed. At the Mad Tea Party, the Mad Hatter and the March Hare try to "fix" his watch, proclaiming it "exactly two days slow". Through various food they put in the watch (butter, tea, jam, and lemon), the two cause it to go mad, and the Hare smashes it with his mallet. The Rabbit was perhaps most famous for the little ditty he sang at the beginning, "I'm late! I'm late! For a very important date! No time to say hello, goodbye! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late!" The Rabbit was voiced by Bill Thompson.