- “Off with their heads!”
- ―The Red Queen[src]
Iracebeth of Crims, also known as the Red Queen, is the main antagonist of the 2010 film Alice in Wonderland, and returns as the main antagonist turned major character and anti-heroine of its sequel Alice Through the Looking Glass. She is the tyrannical queen of Underland and possesses a bloodthirsty personality, commonly sentencing people and animals to be beheaded for the most ordinary of situations. She maintains a difficult relationship with her younger sister, Mirana the White Queen.
Other incarnations of the Lewis Carroll character have also appeared before, although in rather minor roles, and for simplicity's sake are also covered on this page.
Background[]
Development[]
Screenwriter Linda Woolverton created Iracebeth by fusing two different characters from Lewis Carroll's stories, the Queen of Hearts from the original Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and the Red Queen from its sequel Through the Looking-Glass. When asked about the decision of fusing the characters to create just one, Woolverton explained:
- “Cos we need one villain. I learnt that from Howard Ashman, the late, great, who I wrote Beauty and the Beast with. He wrote the lyrics. He taught me a lot. And he said why have two average characters when you can have one great character? Put these two together and make one great character, and she does an amazing job.”
- ―Linda Woolverton
This is not new to Disney adaptations of Caroll's works; the Queen of Hearts of the 1951 animated feature was also based in part on the Red Queen (notably saying some lines originally spoken by the Red Queen in the book).
Appearances[]
Alice in Wonderland[]
Ever since Alice Kingsleigh first left Underland, the Horovendoush occurred and the Red Queen had overthrown her sister, the White Queen, and took control of Underland. Her right-hand man is the Knave of Hearts. She has an army of Armoured Cards, Frog Servants, Monkey Servants, and a very bad temper. The Red Queen was so paranoid, she even had her husband executed, believing he would leave her for the White Queen. She was often referred to as Bloody Big Head, possibly because all her power, which she stole, literally went to her head.
Her rule was harsh for all of Underland. Those that opposed her rule were hunted down and executed. Even her most loyal advisers feared her so greatly that they would deform themselves with fake noses and ears just so she would not punish them for being more attractive than she was. However, she does show affection for Knave of Hearts (this romance, however, is one-sided).
On Griblig Day, the Red Queen screams out in anger that someone had stolen three of her tarts. After finding out it was one of her Frog-Footmen, he is later to be executed. The Queen informs a Fish-Footman to choke the frog's children so she can eat them on a meal with caviar. She is informed by the Knave of Hearts that Alice has returned to Underland, the Red Queen assigns Bayard Hamar, the Bloodhound, to pursue Alice for his imprisoned wife and pups, and his own freedom.
Later, the Red Queen sees an oversized Alice in her garden, and to avoid suspicion, Alice tells the Queen her name is Um from Umbridge and that people make fun of her height. The Queen accepts Alice's story and welcomes her to her court. Alice soon finds herself at the Red Queen's side and the Mad Hatter's trail, which eventually the Red Queen is persuaded by Tarrant to become her hatter.
The next morning while Tarrant is hatting the Red Queen, she hears the news about how the Knave had advanced towards Alice. The Knave attempts to lie on how it's Um (Alice) that's obsessed with him, which the Queen believes and orders the capture of Um. Alice returns to Tarrant and Mallymkun but right away is charged of seduction. However, Alice manages to escape with the Vorpal sword.
On the day of Tarrant and Mallymkun's execution, the executor severs Tarrant's head but his body disappears with only the hat floating in the air. Tarrant was substituted by Chessur and the real Hatter is up with the Red Queen. Tarrant reveals that all of the Red Queen's followers are phonies and Tarrant makes a speech for all those willing to rebel against the Bloody Bighead to rise and escape to the White Queen's side. In retaliation, the Red Queen orders the release of the Jubjub Bird which terrorizes the people. Tarrant manages to escape with Mallymkun, the Tweedles, Nivens, and Bayard's wife and pups, and the Cheshire cat returns his hat and asks Alice how her arm is. The Red Queen then tells the Knave to prepare the Jabberwock for battle as it is time to visit her sister.
Frabjous day has finally arrived with both Red Queen and White Queen's armies prepared for the epic battle. Alice dons the armor and Vorpal sword. Both armies arrive at a chessboard-like battlefield for the battle between Alice and the Jabberwock.
After the Jabberwock is slain, the Red Queen orders her troops to kill Alice but they no longer follow her since the death of the Jabberwock. Chessur crowns the White Queen as once again the queen of Underland. The White Queen banishes the Red Queen to the Outlands along with the Knave. The Knave, unable to live with the Red Queen, attempts to kill her but is quickly stopped by Tarrant, and both the Red Queen and The Knave are carried off of battle field.
Helena Bonham Carter's portrayal of the Red Queen was nominated for Best Villain at the 2010 MTV Movie Awards, which is chosen by fans.
Alice Through the Looking Glass[]
After Alice steals the Chronosphere and travels back in time, the Red Queen urges Time to go after Alice and have him bring back the Chronosphere. Alice attempts to go back to the Horovendoush day when the Jabberwocky attacked Witzend but is caught up to by Time and accidentally flies to the day of Iracebeth's coronation.
At the coronation, a younger Tarrant begins a mockery of the Red Queen when the royal crown doesn't fit on her abnormal head. This causes Iracebeth to have a meltdown, and her father deems her too inappropriate to rule Underland, and passes the title of queen to her younger sister Mirana, the White Queen.
During another one of Alice's time traveling instances, on the Fell day, it is revealed that a young Mirana steals a tart from her mother and eats it, leaving the crumbs under Iracebeth's bed. When consulted on the issue by their mother, Mirana lies about eating the tart, and Iracebeth is unfairly accused, causing her to run out of the castle in sadness. Alice sees her about to run into a clock, the event that deforms her head and personality. She is able to get the clock out of her head's way, but fails to change the past as Iracebeth trips and slams her head anyways.
The Hatter, Alice and the rest of the Underlanders all go to the Red Queen's organic castle in the outlands, where they believe Tarrant's family to be. The Hatter finds his family to be shrunk and trapped in an ant farm. Prepared for their arrival after being informed by Time, Iracebeth apprehends them and steals the Chronosphere from Alice, taking Mirana back to the day she lied about the tart.
When Iracebeth and her past self see each other as Iracebeth attempts to stop Mirana from lying, time becomes irrelevant, and Underland begins to freeze. Using the Chronosphere, Alice, the Hatter, Mirana, and a frozen Iracebeth race back to the present, where Alice only just is able to place the Chronosphere back in its original place.
With the Chronosphere stabilized, Underland reverts back to normal. Mirana apologizes to Iracebeth for lying, and both of them make amends. In one of the 2D animated scenes which was shown during the credits, both Iracebeth and Mirana are seens drinking tea but have a funny lite for their crown.
Adventures in Wonderland[]
The Red Queen appeared in the series, portrayed by Armelia McQueen. The Red Queen is Wonderland's sole monarch. She is strict but fair, often citing her mother and grandmother's example in her ruling. Unfortunately, the Queen is occasionally a source of trouble, usually due to her selfish attitude. As queen, she expects to get whatever she wants right away, and often pouts when things go wrong - often to the point where she says "Oh harumph!" She usually ends up eating crow by the end of the episode, but sometimes, she offers solutions to problems other Wonderland residents face. Deep down, she cares greatly for her subjects (especially the White Rabbit), throwing them parties and celebrating their accomplishments. As for her appearance, she is a dark skinned woman with black hair who carries her jewellery with her at all times.
Relationships[]
White Queen[]
Growing up with her younger sister Mirana, later know as the White Queen, Iracebeth seemed not to show her future evil personality to her family. It is possible that she was not evil while a child (Mirana once said that Iracebeth "wasn't always that way"), but she left small clues of her greedy obsession of rulling over all of Underland while still growing up. For example, while her sister chose to study how to Produce Medicinal Cures and Potions, Iracebeth preferred to study Dominion Over Living Things.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Her appearance in the Tim Burton live-action movies is heavily based on depiction of Queen Elizabeth the First of England.
- Iracebeth's name is a portmanteau of the word "irascible" (meaning to be easily angered) and the name Elizabeth.
- She is a combination of the Red Queen, the Duchess and the Queen of Hearts from Lewis Carroll's novels.
- On a related note in the 1951 film, several of the Red Queen's lines are given to the Queen of Hearts, despite the Red Queen herself being a separate character who did not appear in this film.
- In a commercial promoting Halloween on Disney+, the Red Queen was mislabeled as the Queen of Hearts.
See also[]
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