Beware The Jabberwock!

I think I've mentioned that Jabberwocky is among my favorite tell-aloud poems/stories of all time. I wouldn't be my father's child if I hadn't memorized this infamous verse at a very young age, and it's always there...lurking in the background of my consciousness, drooling on my dendrites and breathing heavily down my brain stem. It seems to be much the same for the many artists who have depicted the eponymous monster. (By the way - check this keen post from a like-minded blogger: http://www.murmur.com/literature/the_many_faces_of_the_jabberwock.html)

The original Jabberwock was drawn by John Tenniel, and is adorably menacing (like a lot of his illustrations). I must admit, my favorite features of this design are those rodential incisors and the waistcoat.


Artists have used this as the inspiration for later designs, including those involved with the PC horror game American McGee's Alice - a GREAT game if you like darker stuff - geek moment: and the sequel just came ooooouuuuutttt! Squee!
Images from: wikia.com

Here are a couple of other versions. These two books are in my collection.
This one was bequeathed to me by my parents, and was the first printing of Jabberwocky to which I was introduced. I always got a little scared by the picture of the hero snicker-snacking the Jabberwock's head off, but otherwise it is quite tame and I love the color scheme of predominantly faded blues and greens. Illus: Jane Breskin Zalben

This next one (below right) was picked up for my mother's classroom collection by someone, but turned out to be a much gorier, scarier, more darkly surreal version than deemed appropriate for 8/9 year olds. We liked it, but it also came to yours truly in the end. Cause I'm messed up like that and my family knows it.

Illus: Stephane Jorisch

I responded to this Jabberwock in part because as in any good horror film, you don't ever SEE all of the monster. You get impressions of enormous size, sharp teeth, and general bad temper...but nothing distinct. I also like the scratchy-sketchy, red-spattery backgrounds in this one. They seem fragile and uncomfortable, sort of the way the language might make one feel reading it for the first time - like you are entering a world with rules you don't understand but that you might just need to learn fast if you want to survive to the last stanza.

This might be a good time to mention that I read the Alice stories as being very much about growing up in general. Rules rules rules...and none of them really make much sense or are adequately explained to you. You just sort of have to go with the flow to survive. And let's not start with all the Now-You're-Too-Big and Now-You're-Too-Small motifs...oh wait, I just did.

So far, as a favorite illustration, I simply must go for the original, but now let me tell you about my least favorite version.
Image from: wikia.com
This was the Jabberwock from a 1980's made-for-TV version of Alice in Wonderland that included elements from Through the Looking Glass (which featured Roddy MacDowell and other big names). Seriously. Yup it's a suit with a giant headpiece, and those little nubby arms flail around comically the whole time it's on screen. In this light, I think it looks like a gooey, sentient booger with wings, but maybe that's just me. The best movie depiction by far in my humble opinion is in the latest Tim Burton film - voiced by Christopher Lee, who will never admit that he is the reincarnated and heavily disguised Jabberwock himself. (I'm on to you, Mr. Lee!)

Snarky and mucus-related comments aside, do any of you have favorite versions of the Jabberwock, or those mimsy borogoves, or perhaps the frumious bandersnatch to share? This poem is in the public domain, and is such a ripe ground for creativity that many artists around the world have tackled illustrating it. I haven't even begun to really delve into all the visions of this strange world I have seen just with an image search on Google. If you have a favorite, please cite it in the comments!