Memories Dreams Reflections 14: Alice

Before I can talk about Lewis Carroll's Alice books, first I need to talk about Windham Classics (a company I briefly mentioned back in entry #6 in this series, the one devoted to video and computer games). A subsidiary of Spinnaker Software, this Cambridge, Massachusetts-based game developer was founded in 1984 and had a very short shelf life, going defunct sometime in the mid-1980's. In their brief existence, they still found the time to publish five adventure games for the Commodore 64 and the Apple II (most of which fell into the "Point and Click" category), that were aimed at younger children (and all of which were based on famous children's novels). Their best-known game was their first one, Below the Root, which came out in 1984. Developed by Dale Disharoon (who sadly passed away in 2008) and with some frankly stunning art by William Groetzinger, the game was a sequel to Zilpha Keatley Snyder's Green Sky Trilogy (which I've sadly never read, for some bizarre reason): in fact, she even helped write the game. It's now considered one of the first important open world/Metroidvania games, in that many areas of the game are inaccessible until you obtain new items/powers, meaning much backtracking is involved. 

I won't bore you to death with too many details about the game (as you can easily find such information online: this blog article on it is especially informative: https://blog.stahlmandesign.com/below-the-root-a-story-a-computer-game-and-my-lifelong-obsession/), but I will say that as a kid, playing this game on the Commodore 64 in the early 1980's was a very magical experience for me. The world of Green-sky (as depicted in the game) seemed vast and mysterious to me, and I loved the game's graphical style. I never got very far in it (heck, I never even got below the root itself!), though I did finally complete it many years later, via emulator, and with some help from GameFAQS. Anyway, below is a map of the complete game world (taken from the aforementioned blog), which I still think is a thing of beauty: 

In 1985 Windham Classics released their 4th game, Alice in Wonderland, again for the Commodore 64 and the Apple II (and once again, I got the Commodore 64 version): the game is an adaptation of the two Alice books by Lewis Carroll. Like Below the Root I never got super-far in the game, but many years later (again like with Below the Root) I finally beat it thanks to an emulator and GameFAQS. Here are some screenshots of the game that I took during that playthrough: 

Essentially, you play as Alice. The game is roughly divided into two halves, with the first half corresponding to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, while the second half corresponds to Through the Looking-Glass. And although some liberties are taken with the story, for the most part it follows the sequence of events in the novels pretty well, and almost all the major characters make appearances in the game in one form or another. To progress various riddles must be solved, items must be gained, and Alice also needs to learn several songs. Like Below the Root this is essentially a non-violent game: there are creatures that are antagonistic to Alice (such as bees and pack rats), but the worse they'll do is briefly knock her down or (temporarily) steal her items. The true enemy in the game is the clock: you have 51 game days to get Alice out of Wonderland, before the Red King wakes up and the game ends. But really, if you know what you're doing, it should take no longer than 15 "days."

Obviously the subject matter of the game was something that appealed to me as a kid: the premise of playing as Alice and actually walking around and interacting with the inhabitants of Wonderland captivated me, and I was fascinated by the bright colorful graphics. This game and Below the Root were the first games I played that really showed me the magic that some video/computer games can achieve: the ability to temporarily step into a world different from our own.

I don't remember exactly what year my parents got the game for my brothers and I: I want to say it was either the year of its release or 1986. What matters is that I loved that game as well, so much so that my parents also got me a small paperback novel containing Carroll's Alice books shortly thereafter (at least, I think I played the game before I read the book). So I must have been around 5 or 6 at the time. The Alice books weren't the first books I ever read, but they WERE the first books I ever loved, and to this day I consider myself a big fan of them, to the extent that I'll give them a reread every couple of years. I just loved Carroll's characters and the overall story, and of course, adored the iconic John Tenniel illustrations.  Over the course of my life I've slowly amassed a decent collection of Alice in Wonderland-related memorabilia, mainly books but also some DVDs, games and dolls/figurines, which I keep atop my bureau (though I have to dismantle it for one month every December to make room for my Cat Nativity manger scene). I thought today would be a good time to share some pictures of my collection: 

A general overview of the main collection

Detail of some of my Alice books

Some more Alice/Alice-related books 

Back in the 80's and 90's, due to lack of space in our living quarters, our father would often break down the boxes of our video and computer games, keeping just the carts/disks themselves, the instruction booklets (which sometimes got lost), and the front box cover. In hindsight, not the smartest of moves, but at the time none of us had any idea how valuable such games would be in an intact state in the future. I still have the front box cover and disk of my old Alice game, but the instruction booklet and the character chart that came with the original game are long lost. However, this month (January 2023) I finally got my hands on an intact version of the old Commodore 64 game, purchased from a Canadian dealer on eBay. Though not sealed, the box itself is still in very good shape, and has all its original contents, including TWO of the character charts! I now consider this to be the crown jewel of my Alice collection. 

Finally, here are two pictures of my very first copy of the Alice books, published by Watermill Classics in 1983. The cover art is somewhat uninspiring and it's missing many of the original John Tenniel illustrations (including the Jabberwocky one!), but I've always said that if one could choose one last book to read at the end of their life, I'd probably read this edition, because I like the idea of the symmetry of it I suppose: Alice was there for me near the start of my life, I'd like the idea of her being there for me one last time at the end of it, to guide me through the Last Dark. 

"A boat, beneath a sunny sky

Lingering onward dreamily

In an evening of July

Children three that nestle near,

Eager eye and willing ear,

Pleased a simple tale to hear

Long has paled that sunny sky;

Echoes fade and memories die;

Autumn frosts have slain July.

Still she haunts me, phantomwise,

Alice moving under skies

Never seen by waking eyes.

Children yet, the tale to hear,

Eager eye and willing ear,

Lovingly shall nestle near.

In a Wonderland they lie,

Dreaming as the days go by,

Dreaming as the summers die;

Ever drifting down the stream

Lingering in the golden gleam

Life, what is it but a dream?"

-Lewis Carroll 

Finally, here's a picture of Siouxsie Sioux as Alice: