The Lion and the Unicorn

The Lion and the Unicorn are characters from Lewis Carroll's works, Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There. They are based on the symbols of the United Kingdom of the same name whom Alice encounters in Wonderland. Despite originating from Lewis Carroll's works, they have rarely appeared in many Disney-related Alice in Wonderland media.
==Background==
===Origins===
The Lion and the Unicorn are based on the characters of the same name from Lewis Carroll's story Through the Looking Glass, the symbols of the United Kingdom, and the characters from the English nursery rhyme of the same name. The original nursery rhyme shows that the Lion and the Unicorn were competitive to know who gets to be the crowned ruler and it is said that they were given plum cakes that sent them out of town; yet, Lewis Carroll's version of the story shows that the Lion and the Unicorn were fighting over the White King's crown to know who gets to be crowned ruler.
==Appearances==
===Alice in Wonderland (1951)===
The Lion and the Unicorn were deleted characters from the final version of Disney's animated adaptation of the film. They were originally going to sing a deleted song titled "If You'll Believe in Me" which was originally written for them but their role was unfortunately cut in the final version of the film.
===Alice Through the Looking Glass===
The Lion and the Unicorn were going to appear in the sequel to Tim Burton's 2010 adaptation of Alice in Wonderland, where they were supposed to serve Time who works in a clock-themed castle with the Lion and the Unicorn serving as his minions, but their roles were ultimately cut. Concept art shows that the Lion is depicted as an anthropomorphic lion (whose head is represented as a realistic lion head) with human characteristics with the Unicorn depicted as an anthropomorphic unicorn (whose head is represented as a realistic horse head whose horn closely resembles that of an actual unicorn) with human characteristics just like the Lion, but their roles were ultimately cut in the final version of the film for unknown reasons.
==Printed material==
===Mickey Mouse Weekly===
In the comic, Alice enters the Looking Glass world where she meets the Unicorn who has become somewhat fierce and is always willing to fight to recover the White King's crown. The Unicorn even challenges to fight the Lion who is rather lazy, so Alice decides to warn the Lion. Alice gets the train moving just as the Unicorn appears and crashes into the train. When she reunites with Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee, who begin acting out their poem, the Unicorn arrives scaring them away. As soon as Alice reaches the eighth square, where she sees the Lion and the Unicorn acting out their rhyme, she stops them by explaining that the Walrus had stolen the White King's crown. She mounts the Unicorn who starts chasing the Walrus; once the Walrus is trapped by the Lion, the Unicorn knocks him into the air, allowing Alice to recover the crown and return it to the White King. At the end of the comic, the Unicorn and some of the other characters watch Alice talking with her sister on the other side of the mirror.
===Alice in Wonderland Again===
Despite being deleted from the film, the Lion and the Unicorn somehow appeared in a Disneyland magazine story inspired by Alice in Wonderland published on September 19, 1972.
In the story, the White Rabbit recites the poem to Alice about the Lion and the Unicorn's feud to know who wins the crown to which upon remembering the nursery rhyme, the White King approaches Alice warning her that neither the Lion or the Unicorn will achieve his crown, halting the feud and telling the duo, "Ten minutes allowed for refreshments" in which the White Rabbit serves them refreshments so they can get ready to compete again. Alice then starts thinking to herself that "everyone would be happier if the Lion and the Unicorn were friends", to which she decides to ask the Mad Hatter to make hats for the Lion and the Unicorn so they can get along. However, before they can start competing for the crown again, the Mad Hatter arrives at the spot where the Lion and Unicorn are at, to which Alice asks him to make two crowns for the Lion and the Unicorn so that they no longer need to fight for the crown once again. The Mad Hatter's plan was a success, giving the Lion and the Unicorn each a crown, causing them to no longer fight anymore, making them into friends.
It is to note that the Lion uses a design different than the one seen in concept art in this story inspired by the Alice in Wonderland movie.
==Gallery==
Disney's Alice in Wonderland - The Lion and the Unicorn - Deleted Concept Art - The Lion.jpg|Concept art of the Lion from the animated version of Alice in Wonderland, the only surviving sketch of the Lion for the 1951 animated film so far
==References==
==External links==
*The Lion and the Unicorn on Alice in Wonderland Wiki.
Category:Alice in Wonderland characters
Category:Lions
Category:Unicorns
Category:Deleted characters
Category:Disney characters
Category:English characters