Pupils go through the looking glassfor a day with Alice in Wonderland

IT IS already one of the most anticipated films of the year, with a stellar cast that includes some of Hollywood’s finest acting talent from Johnny Depp to Helena Bonham Carter.

And there was an added resonance yesterday for staff and pupils at an independent school where Stephen Fry, who plays the Cheshire Cat in Tim Burton’s movie adaptation of Alice in Wonderland, used to work as a teacher before embarking on his stage career.

Lewis Carroll’s novel was picked as the title of choice for the annual World Book Day by pupils at Cundall Manor School, near Ripon, on the eve of the film’s release.

There are other local links with the tale as the father of the author, whose real name was Charles Dodgson, was a canon at Ripon Cathedral – and it is thought that carvings of a griffin and rabbit in the building helped inspire the story.

More than 100 children aged between two and seven came to Cundall Manor School yesterday dressed in costume as characters from the book as part of the World Book Day celebrations.

The pupils began the day by walking into the classroom through a wooden frame to depict the famous looking glass. And they joined in a Mad Hatter’s tea party in the afternoon, complete with jam tarts.