Jungian Perspective and Film Theory

Using key concepts from John Izods ‘Myth Mind and Screen’ this article aims to provide theoretical principles to a brief textual analysis of the (1951) Disney screen adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. To begin with, it’s essential to highlight and interpret the key terminology in order to apply it to the analysis with any success.
In life, there is arguably a great battle between fantasy and reality put in more ‘Freudian’ terms the conscious and the subconscious. As a human being if one is not awake one is asleep creating a pull between the mind of imagination and the world of hard fact. Cinema and the theatre have been compared to the subconscious or dream-like state.

“A lowering of the level of consciousness is experienced in the dark warmth and security of the cinema.”
John Izod (2001:17)

Cinema is considered like this for many reasons, one being that a cinema or theatre can literally draw comparisons with a bedroom; a place where a person is free to relax in the dark and let their imagination run freely. Therefore this medium is where the subconscious mind dominates and is frequently represented on screen.
Key theorist Carl Jung formulated ideas which can be applied to key concepts within Disney’s Alice in Wonderland (1951). Jung highlights the partnership between an act, imagination and the effect.

“Active imagination…a technique of concentrating on dream or fantasy images by lowering the level of conscious activity. This allows the images to develop according to their own logic and provides a means of exposing unconscious contents.” John Izod (2001)

The result of which is an emotional effect upon the person. An active imagination therefore can stir emotions of nostalgia, affecting the perception and thoughts of certain situations.
A further ‘Jungian’ related term, which is used in the definition of the subconscious and the imagination, is that of amplification. The basic idea behind this terminology is the analysis and interpretation of dream images becoming ‘amplified’ and forming archetypes. The archetypes formulated by Jung and analysed by other theorists is the anima and the animus.

“A confusing and deceptive presence with the capacity to engender inner transformation.”
John Beebe (1991: 210) The Anima in Film

The anima is seen as the feminine presence within a man and the animus the masculine presence within the female. This idea however is flexible between both characters therefore considered a ‘deceptive presence’ (Beebe: 1992). The anima can be mistakenly defined as the woman in film, however if she possesses certain traits she can be recognised with ‘the desire to make an emotional connection’ (Beebe: 1992). Whether the connection is positive or negative the anima strives to connect with others. The anima is generally a positive being that enjoys life and can see the best in most kinds of situations with a calming and protective effect on someone else. On the other hand the animus has been described by Jung as a ‘contrasexual stereotype’ although often appearing as the female within film it possesses a masculine complexity. The animus’ traits are turbulent, angry and to a certain degree dominant. There is a pull between the intuition and imagination of the anima and the rationalization and practicality of the animus.

A brief example of these can be seen in the (1967) Disney adaptation of J.M Barrie’s ‘Peter Pan’, where two figures play out the anima and the animus. The parents are preparing for an evening out and are putting their children to bed. The father taking the role of the animus is losing his patience because of his personal disorganisation and the inability to blame himself. The mother is quietly tucking the children in to their beds whilst helping the father to get ready. This emphasises her role as the anima as she has a calming influence over the situation. The father emphasises his role as animus by bursting into a rage and putting the family dog outside for the night. This action provides aspects of practicality as the father verbally justifies his actions which, is a typical trait of the animus. The anima (mother) meanwhile stays content and makes an emotional connection with the children by singing a song to send them to sleep. Her actions typify the archetype. Imagination contrasts with practicality in the conflict between anima and animus.
A further archetype associated in Jungian theory is the ‘child’ and in effect the notion of childhood.

“Child…. usually signalling a beneficial change of personality before it occurs, it represents to the adult instincts experienced in childhood.”
John Izod (2001)

The archetype of the child is important and frequent within Alice in Wonderland and shall be applied extensively. Further to this is the element of ‘shadow’ which appears either as symbolic or when introducing a character. Shadow is often associated with the ‘other side’ and can have strong links with the archetype of a dark figure or trickster;

“Both devil and saviour …his fondness for jokes and his ability to transform himself make him a symbol of enantiodromia.”
John Izod (2001)

This archetype can appear in the behaviour of a character leaning neither to the side of good or bad. The trickster can move between these areas focusing instead to confuse and have fun. This archetype is a key figure found in the film.

Disney’s adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland (1951) is the story of a young girl named Alice who on one long summer day enters a magical land through a rather large rabbit hole. In this land everything is non-sensical and ‘curious’. The narrative is a metaphor of Alice’s prepubescent state as the life she once knew is on the verge of changing in all sorts of bizarre ways.
The story begins with the brief introduction of an anima figure, it is not clear whether this figure who reads a history lesson to Alice is her mother or sister, but she is certainly not a tutor. She possesses the calming influence common to the anima. However, this is contrasted with ideas of the animus as the narrative expresses a conflict between Alice and the woman. Alice believes that books can only be of interest as long as they have pictures- the woman disagrees. Her point that books have use even without illustrations is a practical element of the animus contrasting with her anima nature.
Alice soon enters the wonderland where things appear backwards, laws are re-written and impossibilities are true. The initial archetype present is shadow amplifying the darkness. This is in sharp contrast to the hot summer day in which the story began and continues to act as a setting for one specific archetype: the trickster. In wonderland this archetype is rife.
Back in the summer setting Alice spots a rabbit running past on its hind legs wearing clothes, holding a pocket watch and muttering to himself. She can hear him say that he is late as he continues to recite a limerick of sorts about his lateness. Alice acts out her archetypal image of the child as her curiosity and excitement force her to follow the rabbit straight down the rabbit hole. Her animus side has clearly not taken form as she hasn’t stopped to consider the impossibility of the situation. However, it does become clear that throughout the narrative Alice plays between various archetypes; the child, the anima and the animus. The rabbit is an enigma luring her to wonderland and challenging Alice with ideas of imagination and reality.
The trickster archetype is rampant in the narrative almost every character who Alice encounters appears to mislead and confuse her. She meets three types of character that are strong contenders of the trickster. The first come as a pair known as Tweedle dum and Tweedle di, creatures who take the form of naughty schoolboys. The shadow has descended upon the scene as the child (Alice) walks hastily through the darkened wood, clearly confused and lost. Enter Tweedle dum and Tweedle di, who offer assistance if she will listen to their story. At first she refuses as she clearly plans to catch up with the rabbit, the tricksters persuade her. They offer a bit of the story to entice her to listen and quite obediently she sits down. The story finishes but they show no intention of helping her, they have intended to merely impede her mission of following the rabbit.
The next trickster Alice meets is the giant caterpillar, unlike the fun associated with the storytelling duo, the caterpillar has a foul temper and switches between calm and serene almost lethargic to a hot tempered fireball. Initially he too comes across as useless it’s not until Alice walks away in frustration that he offers assistance. At this point the caterpillar turns into a butterfly symbolising the transformation from childhood into adulthood; the key theme of the narrative.
The final trickster archetype who literally embodies the definition is the Cheshire Cat. Again, they first meet in a very dark woodland area, Alice is lost. In need of assistance she hears a voice but no-one is visible. A mouth then appears in the darkness and stretches a wide white toothed grin. The rest of the body comes into focus as the viewer is introduced to the Cheshire Cat sitting in the branches of a tree. The child asks for directions and he confuses her by pointing out opposite paths of travel. However he ultimately proves his archetype as a saviour as well as a nuisance by offering an easy, safe route to where she needs to go. Not before he has a little fun though ‘I’m not all here’, he comments as he fades into the shadows.

Alice’s changeability throughout the film from the child to anima and animus mirrors the symbolism of the journey through childhood to adulthood. At various points within the film Alice’s childlike vulnerability is evident when seeking guidance. If advice was not provided and she had to make a decision for herself her emotions would play to the extreme. In one scene she almost drowns in her own tears. However when the no-nonsense animus is portrayed by Alice it is as though the child never existed. This can be seen in scenes with the trickster archetype where her frustration rises and she dismisses their non-sensical ramblings and walks off. The anima within Alice appears as soon as she enters the rabbit hole, childhood curiosity lures her into this portal but, the anima trait is present as she desperately seeks to make an emotional connection with the rabbit throughout the film. It becomes clear however that the dominant archetype is the child as her anima preoccupation of finding the rabbit is overruled by her desire to reach home. This emphasises the confusion over her ever changing state of mind reflecting again the theme of Alice in Wonderland.

The theories and concepts defined by Jung can apply to the characterisation within film. Through definitions and archetypes, characters and narrative can be analysed and interpreted. This essay has used key concepts from John Izod’s ‘Myth Mind and Screen’ and provided a Jungian reading of the 1951 Disney screen adaptation Alice in Wonderland.