| Dodo | |
|---|---|
 John Tenniel's illustration of the Dodo in "A Caucus Race and a Long Tale". An illustration fromAlice's Adventures in Wonderland. | |
| First appearance | Alice's Adventures in Wonderland |
| Created by | Lewis Carroll |
| In-universe information | |
| Species | Dodo |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Bird |
The Dodo is a fictional character appearing in Chapters 2 and 3 of the 1865 bookAlice's Adventures in Wonderland byLewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson). The Dodo is a caricature of the author. A popular but unsubstantiated belief is that Dodgson chose the particular animal to represent himself because of his stammer, and thus would accidentally introduce himself as "Do-do-dodgson".
Historically, thedodo was a flightless bird that lived on the island ofMauritius, east ofMadagascar in theIndian Ocean. It became extinct in the mid 17th century during the colonisation of the island by the Dutch.[1]
In this passage Lewis Carroll incorporated references to the original boating expedition of 4 July 1862 during which Alice's Adventures were first told, withAlice as herself, and the others represented by birds: theLory was Lorina Liddell,the Eaglet was Edith Liddell, the Dodo was Dodgson, and theDuck was Rev.Robinson Duckworth. In order to get dry after a swim, the Dodo proposes that everyone run a Caucus race – where the participants run in patterns of any shape, starting and leaving offwhenever they like, so that everyone wins. At the end of the race, Alice distributescomfits from her pocket to all as prizes. However this leaves no prize for herself. The Dodo inquires what else she has in her pocket. As she has only athimble, the Dodo requests it from her and then awards it to Alice as her prize. The Caucus Race, as depicted by Carroll, is asatire on thepoliticalcaucus system, mocking its lack of clarity and decisiveness.
| Dodo | |
|---|---|
 | |
| First appearance | Alice in Wonderland |
| Created by | Lewis Carroll Walt Disney |
| Portrayed by | Bill Thompson (original) Rich Sommer (Alice's Wonderland Bakery) |
| In-universe information | |
| Nickname | Dodo |
| Species | Dodo |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Sailor Captain |
In the Disney film, the Dodo plays a much greater role in the story than in the book. He is merged with the character ofPat the Gardener, which leads to him sometimes being nicknamed Pat the Dodo, but this name is never mentioned in the film. The Dodo is also the leader of the caucus race. He has the appearance and personality of asea captain. The Dodo is voiced byBill Thompson and animated byMilt Kahl.
Dodo is first seen asAlice is floating on the sea in a bottle. Dodo is seen singing, but when Alice asks him for help, he does not notice her. On shore, Dodo is seen on a rock, organizing a caucus race. This race involves running around until one gets dry, but the attempts are hampered by incoming waves.
Dodo is later summoned by theWhite Rabbit, when the rabbit believes a monster, actually Alice having magically grown to a giant size, is inside his home. Dodo bringsBill the Lizard, and attempts to get him to go down the chimney. Bill refuses at first, but Dodo is able to convince him otherwise. However, the soot causes Alice to sneeze, sending Bill high up into the sky. Dodo then decides to burn the house down, much to the chagrin of the White Rabbit. He begins gathering wood, such as the furniture, for this purpose. However, Alice is soon able to return to a smaller size and exit the house by eating a carrot from the White Rabbit's garden.
The White Rabbit soon leaves, while Dodo asks for matches, not realizing that the situation has been resolved. He then asks Alice for a match, but when she doesn't have any, Dodo complains about the lack of cooperation and uses his pipe to light the fire.
The Dodo later appears briefly at the end of the film, conducting another Caucus Race while Alice is being chased by the Queen of Hearts and her card soldiers.
InAlice's Wonderland Bakery, appears Captain Dodo, being unknown if he is the same character from the film, or a descendant as is the case of other characters from Wonderland in the series (the plot placed several decades after the events in the film). Captain Dodo also has a son named Jojo.
| Uilleam | |
|---|---|
| Alice in Wonderland character | |
 | |
| First appearance | Alice in Wonderland |
| Created by | Lewis Carroll/Tim Burton |
| Portrayed by | Michael Gough |
| In-universe information | |
| Species | Dodo |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Adviser Caddy |
InTim Burton's adaptation ofAlice in Wonderland, the Dodo's appearance retains the subtle apparent nature fromJohn Tenniel's illustration. He bears a down of brilliant blue and wears a navy bluewaistcoat and whitespats along with glasses and a cane. He is one of Alice's good-willed advisers, taking first note of her abilities as the true Alice. He is also one of the oldest inhabitants. His name isUilleam, and he is portrayed by Michael Gough. He goes with theWhite Rabbit,Tweedledum and Tweedledee, andDormouse to take Alice toCaterpillar to decide whether Alice is the real one. He is later captured by theRed Queen's forces. When Alice came to the Red Queen's castle, he was seen at the Red Queen's castle yard as a caddy for the Queen's croquet game. After the Red Queen orders the release of theJubjub bird to kill all her subjects from rebelling, he is then seen briefly running from it when the Tweedles went to hide from it and escaped but was snatched by the Jubjub and was never seen again throughout the film.
His name may be based on a lecture onWilliam the Conqueror from Chapter Three of the original novel. The character is voiced byMichael Gough in his final feature film role before his death in 2011. Gough came out of retirement to appear in the film but the character only speaks three lines, so Gough managed to record in one day.
