Hello & welcome back to the Sterling Holloway Spotlight. Today, we are taking a look at Holloway's second big role, The Cheshire Cat from the 13th animated feature from the company, Alice In Wonderland. Like last time, this article will consist of First Appearance, Role, Personality, Favorite Moment, & finally Is The Character Still Around?
First Appearance
As established in the intro, The Cheshire Cat made his debut in Alice In Wonderland but to be more precise, it was about halfway through the film, where he lets Alice know that everyone is a little mad and after watching this film. Yeah, this had to be one of the weirdest Disney film and seriously, everyone seemed like they needed medication. Which would explain why people think Alice is the crazy in the awesome looking Once Upon A Time In Wonderland show. Anyways, here is his first appearance.
It is interesting to note that Holloway was not the first choice to play The Cheshire Cat. Originally the role was suggested for Cliff Edwards, the voice of Jiminy Cricket.
Role
His role in the film is hard to define. Then again, this is a weird movie because while the characters are important, they really don't contribute much to the story. At best, The Cheshire Cat is just there to cause chaos and mischief for his own merriment. Kinda like Discord from MLP but the difference is The Cheshire Cat doesn't really affiliate with good or evil. He's neutral and does whatever he thinks will bring him joy. He doesn't care what it does to the others around him. You know this brings something interesting up, Disney for the longest time included The Cheshire Cat in their villain merchandise as pictured below but I've read a few different Disney forums on this matter and so far, they all agree that he's not a villain. The best description, I found for him was someone calling him a troll.
Sidenote: I want that! Back on topic as I was saying the best description I found for The Cheshire Cat was troll. Let's go to the definition of troll and see if that works.
a person who sows discord on the Internet by starting arguments or upsetting people,[1] by posting inflammatory,[2] extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community (such as a forum, chat room, or blog), either accidentally[3][4] or with the deliberate intent of provoking readers into an emotional response
Yes, this does mostly apply to internet but he was stirring the pot and looking to get a rise out of Alice but he was never interested in actually harming Alice unlike The Queen, who wanted to chop Alice's head off during that bizarre trial (Seriously, this movie makes very little sense) Okay, let's move onto Personality because I think that I spent more then enough time here.
Personality
He's chaotic neutral. The only party he sides with is himself. So, I don't see how he can be viewed as villain. He is a little creepy, sure especially that smile but he is not inherently evil.
Favorite Moment
It was tough to narrow down a favorite moment for this character but in the end, I had to go with him messing up Alice's croquet game.
Why this moment because it perfectly captures The Cheshire Cat's chaotic side with how much fun he is having and he doesn't care what happens. Yes, it does get Alice in trouble and leads to the trial but again, that doesn't really make him a villain in my mind. He's just having fun for his own benefit.
Is The Character Still Around?
Yeah, he's still around. He is one of the most popular Disney characters out there and I never understood this but teenage girls at least in my high school really loved him. I don't know why but they did. I mean Hot Topic sells merchandise featuring this character. Now as for his other appearances, strap in because this is going to be long. He had a cameo in the finale of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, made constant non speaking cameos on House of Mouse.
You can find hi on the Disneyland ride, Alice in Wonderland.
He has appeared in many of the Kingdom Hearts games, where it appears as though he serves as an aid to the main character while in Wonderland.
His latest appearance was the awful short, Electric Holiday, which used the Skinny Disney models. Thankfully, I didn't have to see a Skinny Cheshire Cat, that would've been so wrong. He can also be see in the nighttime shows, World of Color at Disney California Adventure and Fantasminc at Disney's Hollywood Studios. Now what about The Cheshire Cat in Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland Putting aside my disdain for that film and Tim Burton in general, I don't think that is the same character. Now The Cheshire Cat is currently voiced by Jim Cummings. As can be heard here, from him singing the deleted song I'm Odd. This song was apparently cut because the Jabberwock had been scrapped from this film.
I swear that sounds like a demented version of his Pooh Bear. All in all, I like The Cheshire Cat and I don't think it is too surprising that he has lasted and remains a popular character. He is just a lot of fun. Still could someone please explain to me why he has such a huge teenage girl fanbase. No, okay. Join me next time as we look at Amos from Ben and Me. Great, I have to watch that again!
No comments:
Post a Comment