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Mome Raths are a species featured on ABC's Once Upon a Time in Wonderland. They are native to Wonderland, and appear in the ninth episode.
Mome raths are based on the species of the same name from the novel, Through the Looking-Glass, and the mome raths from the animated Disney film Alice in Wonderland and the live-action Disney film of the same name.
Biology
Mome raths are feline creatures with black fur and a mouth so full of fangs that it's like being pressed together by two beds of nails. They have purple eyes, which glow in the dark. Mome raths are savage and deadly, and anyone who crosses their path runs a high risk of being attacked and eaten alive. Mome raths are attracted to bright lights. ("Forget Me Not," "Nothing to Fear," "Dirty Little Secrets")
History
In Jafar's tower, the Red Queen and Jafar are coming up with a plan to force Alice to make one of her wishes. The queen flips through a large book and begins to read out loud names of various creatures to send after Alice so she will be forced to make a wish. First she suggests the mome rath, which is said to have a mouth so full of fangs that it's like being pressed together by two beds of nails; however, Jafar reminds her that they don't want to kill Alice. ("Forget Me Not")
Later, Alice, her lover Cyrus, and the queen are tied to stakes in an open field by a group pf angry villagers. At their feet are several lit torches because the mome raths in the forest are drawn to the light. They try to kick the torches over to put them out but they hear growls from the edge of the forest which signal the mome raths' arrival. Then they see the glowing eyes of the mome raths emerge from the woods. The torches are almost all out, but the creatures continue to move forward, as they are drawn by Alice's necklace, which is glowing more brightly than ever before. She manages to free an arm and tear the necklace off, but hesitates to get rid of it, as it has been her only connection to Cyrus for so long. She throws it and the creatures are distracted by it. The three prisoners are able to slip out of their binds and escape, but Alice hesitates again as the amulet is torn apart, and Cyrus has to pull her away. ("Nothing to Fear")
After this, the trio try to come up with a plan to defeat Jafar. The Red Queen says that they need an army, but Cyrus reminds her that her army has deserted her and her former subjects were willing to let her get eaten alive by mome raths. The queen responds that she is aware of people's feeling towards her and is determined to prove them wrong. ("Dirty Little Secrets")Trivia
On-Screen Notes
- In Jafar's book, mome raths are depicted as three-headed creatures. ("Forget Me Not")
Production Notes
- The design of the mome raths was inspired by the aliens from the 2011 science fiction horror comedy film Attack of the Block,[1] which are also savage, four-legged creatures with black fur and sharp, fluorescent teeth.
Fairytales and Folklore
- The mome raths are mentioned in the opening and closing stanza of the nonsense poem "Jabberwocky" from the first chapter of the novel Through the Looking-Glass:
- In the sixth chapter, Alice repeats the stanza and asks Humpty Dumpty about the mome raths, to which he explains, "Well, a 'rath' is a sort of green pig: but 'mome' I'm not certain about. I think it's short for 'from home'—meaning that they'd lost their way, you know."
Props Notes
- The picture in Jafar's book is an altered version of "Icon Monstrosae cuiusdam Chimaerae," an illustration by the sixteenth century Italian naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi, from his book History of Monsters (Monstrorum historia cum Paralipomenis historiae omnium animalium), published posthumously in 1642. The original illustration shows a two-headed creature that is half lion, half goat. In the show's version, the creature's heads have been replaced, turning the creature into a three-headed monster that is half boar. ("Forget Me Not")
Appearances
| Once Upon a Time in Wonderland | ||||||||||
| "Down the Rabbit Hole": | "Trust Me": | "Forget Me Not": | "The Serpent": | "Heart of Stone": | "Who's Alice": | "Bad Blood": | ||||
| Absent | Absent | Mentioned | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | ||||
| "Home": | "Nothing to Fear": | "Dirty Little Secrets": | "Heart of the Matter": | "To Catch a Thief": | "And They Lived...": | |||||
| Absent | Appears | Mentioned | Absent | Absent | Absent | |||||
References
- ↑
Jenn Kao (@kaogirl) on X, formerly Twitter: Mome rath monster inspiration came from @adam_nussdorf - he showed the room scenes from Attack the Block (March 6, 2014). (backup link; original post has been deleted) (archive screenshot)
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