Bill the Lizard
Bill the Lizard is a fictional character appearing in Lewis Carroll's 1865 novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
Fictional character biography
Introduced in "Chapter Four – The Rabbit Sends a Little Bill", Bill the Lizard is perceived by Alice to be someone who does all of the hard work for the White Rabbit and other Wonderland denizens. When Alice becomes stuck in the White Rabbit's house due to drinking from an unlabeled bottle that made her grow uncontrollably, the rabbit's attempts to get in through the door and window fail. Bill the Lizard is sent to go through the chimney to investigate, since he and another creature have a ladder in their possession. Unwilling to let Bill get through the chimney, Alice uses her now huge foot, which is in the chimney, to kick Bill into the air. He manages to survive the fall thanks to fellow creatures.Reappearing in "Chapter Eleven – Who Stole the Tarts?", Bill is a juror in the trial of The Knave of Hearts' supposed theft of The Queen of Heart's tarts. When his pencil squeaks too much on his slate, it annoys Alice to the point that she takes the pencil from him. Not knowing where it went, Bill the Lizard starts using his finger to write, even though it leaves no mark on the slate. In "Chapter Twelve – Alice's Evidence", he becomes disheveled when Alice disturbs the jury by messing up the jury box. When Alice puts Bill the Lizard back in his place, he stares blankly up in the sky. Then later, the Queen provides ink for Bill when she spills ink on his face.
In other media
1915 film
Bill appears about 13 minutes into the 1915 silent film version of Alice in Wonderland.Disney version
Bill makes a brief appearance in the 1951 Disney animated film based on the book. In this version, he is portrayed as a chimney sweep with a Cockney accent, voiced by Larry Grey. Bill is recruited by the White Rabbit and the Dodo to go down the Rabbit's chimney to pull the "monster" out of the house. He seems to accept the task at first, but when he sees Alice in the window and realizes that he's been asked to retrieve a "monster", he tries to run in terror. However, the Dodo catches him and forces him down the chimney, telling him this could be his moment of glory. Unlike in the book, Alice does not kick Bill out, since her hands and legs are sticking out outside of the house. Instead, he spreads a lot of soot, causing Alice to begin to sneeze. Hearing her inhale frantically, the White Rabbit hides and the Dodo is knocked off the roof as Alice wriggles inside, trying to suppress the sneeze. Bill, however, cannot escape in time, and Alice's sneeze is so big it blows all of the soot out of the house and rockets Bill into the sky, after which he is not seen again for the rest of the film.A lizard identical in appearance to Bill, voiced by Wayne Allwine, is a member of Ratigan's gang in the 1986 film The Great Mouse Detective.
Bill make cameo appearances in the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit, where he is helping someone hold a ladder in the studios of Maroon Cartoons, and in the television series House of Mouse, being seen walking along with Dodo in the opening sequence.