Disney’s animated Alice in Wonderland turns 75 in 2026, and the milestone is being marked with Wondrous, a new young-adult sequel by Heather Fawcett.
Alice’s next journey begins in London
The 1951 film adapted Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland into a surreal adventure filled with talking flowers, eccentric tea parties, a White Rabbit and mushrooms that change Alice’s size. After waking from her dream, Alice returns home for tea.
Wondrous revisits Alice years later in 19th-century London. Her parents hope to arrange a marriage to a Baron to save the family estate, but Alice has a very different ambition: she wants to operate a travelling magical tea shop.
A Wonderland mystery with multiple Alices
When Alice follows her ambitions back through the rabbit hole, Wonderland is not quite as she remembers it. Several versions of Alice have appeared, and each insists that she is the genuine article.
The Queen responds by setting the claimants a dangerous challenge. They must stop three mock dragons, with exile from Wonderland awaiting anyone who fails. The premise gives the sequel a new conflict while keeping its focus on identity, independence and the strange logic of Carroll’s world.
Wondrous is scheduled to reach bookshops and other retailers on 6 October. Before publication, Random House and Disney released an excerpt from the opening chapter, which follows Alice as she leaves her responsibilities behind and sets off towards a new adventure.
Inside the opening chapter
The excerpt begins with Alice climbing from a window while her niece, Tansy, watches. After saying goodbye, Alice crosses her father’s estate, thinking about the pressure to marry the Baron and the possibility that the family may sell its fields.
A daughter could be bartered away, while a field could not.
As darkness falls, Alice makes her way towards the public park and the rabbit hole. She feels as though her former self is following her, while memories of Dinah, the cat taken from her by her parents, add to the sense that she is leaving her old life behind.
At the entrance, a hedgehog offers an unusual form of encouragement. Alice pauses as scents rise from the darkness, including ocean air, biscuits and gardens. Rather than fearing what comes next, she decides that returning home is no longer important and jumps into Wonderland.
Why the sequel may interest arcade fans
Although Wondrous is a novel rather than an arcade release, its visual ingredients—impossible creatures, shifting scale and a recognisable fantasy setting—fit naturally alongside the worlds that inspire arcade news and gaming culture.
For readers turning a playroom into a broader entertainment space, the practical starting point is an arcade machine buying guide. A compact bartop arcade can sit beside a bookshelf, while a full cabinet creates a stronger centrepiece for a dedicated games room. Those planning a themed custom build can also explore DIY arcade kits.
A new chapter for a 75-year-old fantasy
The original film ended with Alice waking from what appeared to be a dream. Wondrous instead treats Wonderland as the beginning of another chapter, sending an older Alice back to confront competing versions of herself, family expectations and a trial set by the Queen.
That combination of familiar characters and a new quest gives the anniversary project a clear identity: it is not simply a retelling, but a continuation built around Alice’s decision to choose her own future.
Leave a Reply