These are what we call the 'YMMV items.' Things that some people find in this work. We call them 'your mileage might vary' because not everyone sees these things in the same way. This starts discussions in the trope lists, a thing we don't want. Please use the discussion page if you'd like to discuss any of these items.
YMMV: Alice In Wonderland
The books:
Angst? What Angst?: Well, after she almost literally drowned in her own tears, she knew better than to let that emotion get the better of her again.
The entire chapter "Queen Alice". The Red Queen and White Queen finally appear together, and the result is malapropisms and math puns on a grand scale.
Weird Al Effect: Several poems in the books, like "How Doth the Little Crocodile", or "You're Old, Father William", are parodies of Victorian moralistic verses, which were well-known then, but only remembered today because of Alice.
What Do You Mean, It Wasn't Made on Drugs?: A number of fans and/or Moral Guardians seem to believe that Carrol was totally high when he wrote the stories, rather than simply an eccentric man who liked wordplay, satire and logic games. The Annotated Alice argues that specific surreal elements of Wonderland are clues that it's all a dream.
Adaptation Displacement: There are those who only know about this film and don't know about the original book (usually little kids), though it's not nearly as common as it is with many of Disney's other films. Especially since there are so many non-Disney adaptations out there it's hard not to be aware of at least one.
Vindicated by History: The film opened to a lukewarm box office and mostly hostile reviews in 1951. Walt himself voiced Creator Backlash against the film and famously declared that it had failed because "Alice lacked heart" (it's somewhat unclear whether by "Alice" he meant the film or the character). In the decades since, it has become better regarded by both critics and general audiences and is now thought as something of a minor classic.
Interpretations that the White Queen is evil are not uncommon. This is actually somewhat supported by her actress, who claims that she tries as hard as she can to not give in to her "inner darkness".
Alice at the end: Oh, this is fun... Did she leave her Wonderland because there's no place like home, or because she realized Underland was just as restricted as Victorian England because destiny says so, and home is a little more free.
Did she travel to China to become a woman of the modern, career-driven feminist archetype? Or is she going to ditch the company first chance she gets and return to Underland? Hey, before she sailed off she'd pretty much wrapped up her life in England, canceled the engagement, set her brother-in-law straight, said goodbye to her mother and sister, and most importantly, ensured her father's dream reached beyond the limits of his life.
When the Knave of Hearts is told he will be chained to The Red Queen for the rest of their lives, he immediately draws a weapon before being disarmed. Was he about to kill her... Or himself? Or was he going to kill the White Queen (or both queens)? The latter interpretation would account for the Hatter's pissed-off look when he threw the scissors to disarm him.
How about Aunt Imogen's dreams of a prince who can't marry her? Perhaps she was left at the altar by a former betrothed (or engaged to someone who died), and she clung to her delusions rather than accept the painful truth.
Awesome Music: The theme song, Avril Lavigne's "Almost Alice".
The Cheshire Cat and the Mad Hatter's Hat. He brought it on himself.
The White Queen can make furniture fall in love with her. Although that could be a reference to the fact that the role of most furniture is played by animals in the Red Queen's kingdom.
The Jabberwock and the Vorpal Blade sure seem to have a lot of history.
Crack Pairing: Alice/Mad Hatter gets in with a bit of UST. The pairing was originally intended to be canon, according to an early version of the script. Strong hints remain in the film's novelization and one of the visual guides, which states that "Although Alice and Tarrant (The Mad Hatter) do care for each other, they are not compatible because she is always either too tall or too small."
For some, Mad Hatter/White Queen is the preferred ship, and actually receives a bit of supporting evidence in the video game adaptation. Since neither one is precisely sane, it gives a new meaning to Crack Pairing.
Draco in Leather Pants: While most people seem to be doing this to the Knave of Hearts, others were more sympathetic to the Red Queen. Especially when it turns out that he didn't love her as he had been leading on.
Fan Preferred Couple: Alice/Hatter within the fandom and in the movieverse as well.
Hilarious in Hindsight: When first presented the Oraculum, the Red Queen states that "[She] would know that tangled mess of hair anywhere." Later, Alice is in front of the Queen, buck naked and twenty feet tall, and the Queen doesn't recognize her.
Narm: The futterwacken. Maybe if it was more like a Highland reel?
Nausea Fuel: Alice crossing the moat of heads; later, the White Queen's recipe for pishalver (shrinking potion) which includes "buttered fingers", horsefly urine, and spit.
Older Than They Think: People have been lauding it for being a Darker and Edgier sequel to the Alice books (based on the trailers and information available). Burton personally preferred it when it was interactive. Interestingly, it might count as a subversion of the (now fairly cliched) Dark Alice idea, given that its tone is cheerfully eccentric rather than depressing and the later reveal that when younger, Alice had the lighter adventures of the novels; things are darker in her second trip because of the Red Queen taking over.
Purity Sue: The White Queen when we first meet her. Everyone loves her, she won't hurt a living thing, and her lethal cooking turns into a save-the-day cure. Subverted hard when she delivers a bout of Cruel Mercy to her sister and the Knave. There IS a reason Hathaway's performance is more memorable than our leading lady's. According to the actress, her over-the-top "princess" mannerisms are the character overcompensating for fear of becoming evil. Note how much more naturally she behaves in the scene with the dog after her courtiers have left.
Uncanny Valley: Aside from Alice, every single character, even the ones that are supposed to be neutral or the good guys, look unsettling as hell. To put in perspective, the Cheshire Cat with his perma-grin looks the least scary.
The Red Queen. Probably counts as Draco in Leather Pants...except what she does isn't forgivable.
Not necessarily unintentional either...
The Jabberwocky seemed like a pretty cool guy. You probably could have made a deal with him to leave the field if you'd just given him the stupid sword, Alice. Given that the Jabberwock is the only one who stuck with the Red Queen by his own free will (all the others were just afraid of him) instead of just toasting the wench, it is probably safe to assume he is really her loyal pet, or a kind of construct at her service, or simply an immensely evil being amused by the sight of Underland suffering the tyranny of the Queen.
What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?: People gripe about the basic plotline and lighthearted tone—only to be shocked when they see that it is, in fact, targeted towards children.
What Do You Mean, It's Not Political?: The movie is arguably a result of Burton running with the theory that Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was at least in part political commentary of the Wars of the Roses, with the Queen of Hearts being combined with the Red Queen of Through the Looking Glass (thus taking the possible symbol of "painting the roses red" — possibly an allegory for Lancaster aggression against the house of York, which was symbolized by white roses—and combining it with the imagery of Red (Lancaster) and White (York) Queens going to war). Evidence for this interpretation includes Johnny Depp's deliberate switches to a ridiculously over-the-top Scottish accent whenever he talks about rising up against the queen.
The Woobie: The March Hare, who comes pre-broken (and to get this out of the way, arguably, the Hatter in his less subversive moods).
The console version got average reviews; the DS version, however, got a few fans and is considered fairly good.
Other adaptations:
Adaptation Displacement: Movies based on both books are often titled Alice in Wonderland and have left most people unaware that there are in fact two books and many of the cherished elements attributed to the first are actually in the second.
Lampshaded in Sesame Street's Abby in Wonderland. Bert and Ernie appear as Tweedledee and Tweedledum only for a moment when Abby runs past them.
Bert as Tweedledee: Is that our whole scene? Ernie as Tweedledum: Well, we're not really in this story. That's a common misconception.
Memetic Outfit: The 1985 version changes Alice's dress from blue to orange, probably to accommodate Chroma Keying (since only blue screen was available in the '80s).
On a minor scale, this has also happened to "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Bat", which is an Affectionate Parody of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star". In both the 1950 Disney version (see above) and the 1999 Hallmark version, musical style of this trope plays when this song is performed.
Villain Decay: The Queen of Hearts in the Disney Channel series is good-natured, though still a little short tempered (particularly toward the White Rabbit). She seems to be based more on the Red Queen from Through the Looking-Glass (she's even called "the Red Queen" roughly half the time).
