Curiosity is a superpower. So please tuck it safely into your pocket when you head to the latest travelling exhibition at WA Museum Boola Bardip.

You’ll need to take it out and use it to believe as many as six impossible things before starting your adventures in “Wonderland”, a colourful exhibition which explores Lewis Carroll’s 1865 book Alice in Wonderland, and its many re-imaginings on the silver screen.

“Wonderland” is a place where big might be small, you could lose your head, a tea party isn’t quite what it seems, taking photographs are allowed and dressing up is most definitely encouraged.

For over 150 years, Alice’s adventures have delighted audiences and inspired visual artists. Adapted into more than 40 films by leading directors such as Cecil Hepworth, Walt Disney, Jonathon Miller, Jan Svankmajer and Tim Burton, the story’s film incarnations include the iconic 1951 Disney animation as well as more recent blockbusters. And Alice‘s cinematic evolution traces the development of special effects; through pre-cinematic entertainment, silent film, black and white, stop-motion, live action, videogames, CGI and beyond.

Designed and created by the team at Melbourne’s ACMI – the museum of screen culture – “Wonderland” draws together a remarkable selection of behind-the-scenes material from around the world, inviting visitors to take a chair at the Mad Hatter’s tea party in a journey of imagination.

ACMI Director of Exhibitions and Touring, Chris Harris, who was also instrumental in the exhibition’s design, says the exhibition leverages as many of the versions of Alice in Wonderland on screen as the team could find.

“It turned out to be a rich film culture,” he says. “The more we looked at these works the more we realised how different they were.”

The exhibition showcases more than 300 unique objects that follow Alice’s stories from page to screen. It features a range of illustrations, scripts, storyboards, concept and production design drawings, character sketches, animation reels, costumes, masks, props and more.

“Wonderland” also premieres a series of imaginative, playful and wholly bespoke digital activities that draw upon the magic and curiosity of Carroll’s tales – a 3D tea party table, an oversized chair, a tiny house to squeeze into and a chance to insert your own face into an animation on the Queen’s croquet ground.

The whole tea party experience is CGI – the walls and the tables change in front of you. Different versions of technology have been used to create versions of the same story.

Together all the objects and activities build into an enchanting and theatrical environment that captures the different and wondrous worlds of Alice’s adventures such as the Hallway of Doors, Pool of Tears and White Rabbit’s House.

Physical treasure maps embedded with chips contain riddles and clues which activate experiences throughout the exhibition. There are four different maps – ones suitable for kids and families and a more bawdy one for adults. They also offer extra adventures accessible at home.

“There’s a lot of theatre and a lot of selfie moments,” says Harris.

“The exhibition includes a White Rabbit house from a film made in the early 1950s which we have recreated alongside some beautiful colour animation work from the 1951 Disney version everyone knows and some watercolours from production designer Mary Blair.

“There’s lots of original Disney stuff as well as a first edition of the Lewis Carroll book and drawings from John Tenniel, who did the original drawings.”

A favourite part of the exhibition for Harris is the collection of puppets from a 1988 live action and stop motion animation movie called Alice by Czech film maker Jan Svankmajer.

“They are very surreal and quite macabre but popular and often turn out to be the most photographed part of the exhibition. Alice is a totally different take on the whole story.”

It was important to the ACMI team to make sure the exhibition had a strong feminist theme – celebrating an empowered young girl through different versions of her story.

Not only does the exhibition depict the many interpretations of Alice and her adventures over more than a century, but her story is also a perfect explanation to show and examine the progression of film and special effects over that time, starting with hand drawings through to the use of modern techniques.

“There’s a thread through the exhibition of the history of special effects and it takes you through some early era effects, animation and stop motion through to CGI. The whole tea party experience is CGI – the walls and the tables change in front of you. Different versions of technology have been used to create versions of the same story.”

It was also important to the ACMI team to make sure the exhibition had a strong feminist theme – celebrating an empowered young girl through different versions of her story.

“She goes on an adventure and she’s really brave and has to face some scary situations. She confronts them and gets answers. It was important for us to speak to young girls and young women.

“It’s a timeless story and Alice has proved to be timeless. It was such an incredible feat of imagination. If you read bits of the story without looking at the drawings, it feels so contemporary as well as surreal. It’s a highly unique universe.”

“Wonderland” premiered at ACMI in Melbourne in April 2018 and has since been to Singapore and Wellington. The exhibition has also played host to a wedding with the bride and groom and all the guests dressing as characters.

“I hope people come away having learnt something but also having had a fun and joyful experience,” says Harris.

“Wonderland” visitors start their journey in Lewis Carroll’s drawing room, where he wrote the book.

How do you get out? The big door and a small door?

It only gets curiouser and curiouser!

“Wonderland” opens at WA Museum Boola Bardip 16 December 2022 and continues until 23 April 2023.

Special events accompanying ‘Wonderland’

Illuminate: Alice
Illuminate: Alice is a free projection event on the outside of the museum starting at 7pm nightly while the exhibition is on. Perfect for young and old, it features iconic scenes from the exhibition in a multisensory and nostalgic large-scale piece by locals VJzoo.

Mad Hatter’s Tea Parties
From red velvet cupcakes to cherry tomato toadstools, the Mad Hatter’s Tea Parties happen on Fridays and Sundays. Enjoy a long table tea party of things sweet and savoury followed by a curated tour through the exhibition.

Exhibition talks
There are also a number of Wonderland exhibition talks, including one with Chris Harris on 17 December, and Walking with Tricksters in March.

Pictured top: An in situ image of ‘Wonderland’, ACMI. Photo: Phoebe Powell