My first introduction to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland wasn’t through its author Lewis Carroll or illustrator John Tenniel. It was the Disney animated film. And while the Disney film holds a warm spot in my heart today, it’s the original work of Carroll and Tenniel I appreciate the older I get.

John Tenniel was born in London in 1820. He was blind in one eye (due to a fencing mishap in his youth) and got his big break illustrating cartoons for the British satirical magazine Punch.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was published in 1865 with 42 drawings by Tenniel. Apparently, Lewis Carroll illustrated the first book himself, but Tenniel was hired for the job. Good thing too! Tenniel really brought Carroll’s characters to life, albeit in a rather grotesque, phantasmagorical way. But hey, it’s fantasy.

I wonder what he’d make of the Disney film? Disney animators softened the look, especially the rabbit! That’s no cute looking rabbit in Tenniel’s drawing! Still, I like to think Disney animators respected Tenniel’s original vision.

Sir John Tenniel died in 1914.
The Disney film came out 36 years later.