Doll Maker's Diary, Part 33: Down The Rabbit Hole
Recently, I discovered yet another one of Azalea's Dolls' Flash games. This one, called the Alice in Wonderland Dress Up Game, is inspired by (or unofficially based on) the Alice in Wonderland animated film (and by extension, Lewis Carroll's book Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, on which the film was based). It is notable for giving players the opportunity to create artworks reminiscent of various scenes from the film, with several backdrops available. To start things off, here are a few examples of artworks I made in this game.
Above: A fair-haired young girl in the hallway, about to explore a variety of weird and wonderful worlds. Below: Another young girl, this one raven-haired, being invited to take part in a royal parade with an equally beautiful queen.
It's obvious from the moment you start playing it that this game perfectly captures the bizarre surrealism that characterized the source material. The way you change backgrounds is a case in point: from the introduction, you have to click on the White Rabbit in the bottom right-hand corner to go to the Rabbit Hole. This is where you'll find the dress-up menu, where you can select from a wide variety of tops, skirts, shoes, and even hand-held items such as books and knives, among other things. And at each screen, you can go back to the previous one by clicking on Dinah, the cat.
From the "dress-up" screen you can click on the rabbit again to go to the next scene, which shows three doors. The first door from the left opens to reveal a sign that reads "KEEP OUT"; clicking it again will close that door and allow you to click on the door in the center of the scene. This reveals a message that initially reads: "Her Majesty has not invited you. You may keep your head." (If you have already visited the scene depicting the Queen of Hearts, the message changes to "Come at once, our dear guest! Or we shall schedule your execution.") Clicking on that door will close it again and cause a glass table to appear with a potion labeled "Drink Me". Now click on the potion, and a key will appear alongside it; click on it to allow yourself to venture into the next scene by clicking on the rightmost passageway.
Speaking of the next scene, this one is where the source material's surrealism becomes readily apparent for the first time. It depicts the talking caterpillar sitting lazily atop a mushroom in a garden filled with talking flowers. There's nothing to do here, however, except save the current scene as a JPG file, click on the cat to go back, or click on the rabbit to go to the next scene - which depicts a tea party with the Mad Hatter. You can customize his appearance and attire here, and when you're done, you may go to the next scene after this one, which depicts your doll standing somewhere in the dark forest that is Tulgey Wood.
In Tulgey Wood, the Cheshire Cat will appear and disappear a few times, before the White Rabbit appears. You can either click on the sign marked "Rabbit Hole" to return to the dress-up menu, or click on the Rabbit to make the Queen of Hearts' castle appear. Once it shows up, you can click on the castle to go to the penultimate scene, where you can customize the Queen's appearance. From here, click on the White Rabbit again to go to the final scene, which shows the Queen quivering with fear as an oversized White Rabbit makes his way along a floating path with a checkerboard pattern on it. Click anywhere in this final scene to return to the title screen.
Abov: The title screen of the Alice in Wonderland Dress Up Game. Below: The rabbit hole is where you can design your doll. You can open the designer by clicking on the desk lamp in the center of the scene.
From the "dress-up" screen you can click on the rabbit again to go to the next scene, which shows three doors. The first door from the left opens to reveal a sign that reads "KEEP OUT"; clicking it again will close that door and allow you to click on the door in the center of the scene. This reveals a message that initially reads: "Her Majesty has not invited you. You may keep your head." (If you have already visited the scene depicting the Queen of Hearts, the message changes to "Come at once, our dear guest! Or we shall schedule your execution.") Clicking on that door will close it again and cause a glass table to appear with a potion labeled "Drink Me". Now click on the potion, and a key will appear alongside it; click on it to allow yourself to venture into the next scene by clicking on the rightmost passageway.
The scene depicting your doll in a garden filled with talking flowers (above) is as bizarre as it gets - even more so than the one depicting the Mad Hatter at the tea party (below), where you have the option (not shown here) of giving him a hat from which tea comes out.
Speaking of the next scene, this one is where the source material's surrealism becomes readily apparent for the first time. It depicts the talking caterpillar sitting lazily atop a mushroom in a garden filled with talking flowers. There's nothing to do here, however, except save the current scene as a JPG file, click on the cat to go back, or click on the rabbit to go to the next scene - which depicts a tea party with the Mad Hatter. You can customize his appearance and attire here, and when you're done, you may go to the next scene after this one, which depicts your doll standing somewhere in the dark forest that is Tulgey Wood.
In Tulgey Wood, the Cheshire Cat will appear and disappear a few times, before the White Rabbit appears. You can either click on the sign marked "Rabbit Hole" to return to the dress-up menu, or click on the Rabbit to make the Queen of Hearts' castle appear. Once it shows up, you can click on the castle to go to the penultimate scene, where you can customize the Queen's appearance. From here, click on the White Rabbit again to go to the final scene, which shows the Queen quivering with fear as an oversized White Rabbit makes his way along a floating path with a checkerboard pattern on it. Click anywhere in this final scene to return to the title screen.
Above: It's easy to get lost in Tulgey Wood... but it's easier to find a way out, as the White Rabbit proves. Below: The escape from Alice's adventure (which in the source material is revealed to be a dream) is every bit as surreal as the worlds she just visited.
Thus ends our brief tour of the Alice in Wonderland Dress Up Game. In the next post in this series, I shall take a look at yet another one of the many games offered by Azalea's Dolls - one that is simply out of this world.
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