Alice (Hyperion Heights)

"But I'm not like you. I'm not an outcast. I'm not an orphan or a street rat or some crazy girl who's lost her way. You chose hate. But I choose love."

- Tilly to Eloise Gardener

Alice, also known as Starfish and Tower Girl, formerly known as the Guardian, and currently known as Tilly, is a character on ABC's Once Upon a Time. She débuts in the first episode of the seventh season. She is portrayed by guest star Rose Reynolds and co-star Elle McKinnon.

Alice is based on the titular character from Lewis Carroll's novels, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There, and from the Disney film, Alice in Wonderland. She is also an allusion to Sophie from the novel The BFG, Russell from the Disney/Pixar film Up, and Rapunzel from the Disney film Tangled.

Trivia

 * -|Character Notes=

Etymology

 * Her father named her Alice after his own mother.
 * The name "Tilly" is a reference to Tillie, one of the three sisters in the story that the Dormouse tells Alice at the Mad Tea Party in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Tillie, Elsie and Lacie live at the bottom of the Treacle Well.
 * The names of the three sisters refer to the names of Alice Liddell and her sisters. Tillie is the diminutive form of "Matilda", a name given to Edith Liddell by her sisters.
 * The missing girl Rogers is looking for and feels a familial bond with is named Eloise Gardener. The name Tilly is a clue to her being Rogers' and Eloise's daughter: To "till" means to prepare and cultivate land for crops, which is what people do with a garden.
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Production Notes

 * According to Edward Kitsis, "Alice is a character in the vein of Rumplestiltskin in that you don't really quite know what she's up to, where she's going or where she's been".
 * As her Alice is meant to be very different from the spin-off's Alice, Rose Reynolds purposely did not watch Once Upon a Time in Wonderland to be sure she would not base her Alice on the first one.
 * The casting call name for Alice was "Carol". Auditioners were given sides of one of Jefferson's scenes with Emma in "Hat Trick".
 * The name "Carol" is a reference to the last name of Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass.
 * After the airing of "Beauty", Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis said that Eloise Gardener was Rogers' missing daughter. This information turned out to be wrong as Eloise is the mother of the missing daughter, who is Tilly.
 * Rose Reynolds originally signed on for five episodes.
 * In a segment with AfterBuzz TV, Rose revealed that unlike her character Alice, she does not like marmalade.


 * -|Set Notes=

Props Notes

 * The illustration of Alice and the Caterpillar in Henry's storybook is a colorized version of one of John Tenniel's illustrations from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
 * The same illustration is on the cover of the book that Will Scarlet steals from the library.

Set Dressing

 * Among the many fairy tale illustrations pinned to the wall in Henry's room are:
 * "Her eyes met those of a large blue caterpillar" by the American artist and illustrator Bessie Pease Gutmann. An illustration of Alice and the Caterpillar, from the 1907 edition of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
 * "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - A Mad Tea-Party" (1907) by the famous book illustrator Arthur Rackham. It is an illustration of a scene from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, with Alice at the Mad Hatter's Tea Party with the March Hare, the Dormouse and the Mad Hatter.
 * An illustration by the American illustrator Jessie Willcox Smith, from Nora Archibald Smith's book Boys and Girls of Bookland (1923). It features Alice in a scene from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, surrounded by the characters of Wonderland, including the Queen of Hearts, the Mad Hatter and the White Rabbit.
 * "At this the whole pack rose up into the air and came flying down upon her" (1907) by Arthur Rackham, based on the playing cards scene from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
 * "Advice from a Caterpillar" (1907) by Arthur Rackham, which depicts the scene with Alice and the Caterpillar.
 * The framed prints in the hallway of Jefferson's Mansion are John Tenniel's illustrations of Alice and scenes from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, including:
 * "The Jabberwocky" (behind Jefferson when he asks Emma to tie Mary Margaret back up)
 * "Alice and the Baby Pig" (top picture on the right while he's standing in the doorway watching Emma and Mary Margaret)
 * "Oh, You Wicked Little Thing" (bottom picture on the right as he closes the door)
 * In Emma's New York apartment, there is a poster by Arthur Rackham, which contains one of his illustrations from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. It depicts a scene from the book, in which Alice is surrounded by a group of creatures.

Costume Notes

 * A woman in Seattle is dressed up like Disney's Alice for Halloween.
 * The blouse Alice is wearing when she first meets Mr. Gold is the same garment worn by Marian in "Heart of Gold". Alice wears the blouse again in "Pretty in Blue", "The Eighth Witch" and "The Girl in the Tower".