Wuh Aall a Lirrel Mad Round Here

I'm currently working on an Alice in Wonderland themed zoetrope, because that is what Jesus would want me to do. Actually its more to do with the 150th anniversary of the books for which local big wigs have asked for submissions in any artistic medium around the theme of Alice in... wait for it... Sunderland. My thinking is that a zoetrope (it's an early animation thingamajig. You'd know one if you saw one) is a more interesting submission than just a picture of the of the mad hatter and march hare, blaked on Frosty Jack and screaming at seagulls. Also it's a fun word to say.

As I've mentioned before the North East has numerous connections to the artist formerly known as Dobson's Victorian masterpiece. Most of these links are highly tangential. In the case of Bryan Talbot's graphic novel Alice in Sunderland that's kinda the point - that everything is connected to everything else and that every community has a wealth of culture and history, often of national or even global significance, if you care to look for it. The local authority appear to have taken this as a starting point and ran with it, leading to the slightly eyebrow raising implication that Carroll's book has the same sort of relationship with the North East as the works of the Bronte's have with Yorkshire or Hardy's to the West Country. Which is bollocks, but understandable given that Wonderland is one of the biggest literary brands this side of Narnia,

The below are works in progress intended to go on the outside of the device, with the inside showing a short animation of Alice falling down the rabbit hole. In case you're wondering, I''ve sacked off the traditional appearance of Alice with blonde hair and blue dress as i wanted to have the city colours of red, white and black prominent and also because I figured she'd be easier to animate in keks. If you're unfamiliar with Sunderland landmarks such as Roker pier and Wearmouth bridge, let me assure you that I've got them spot on and you should be well impressed.

Love and Fishes

Dave Denton