Adventures in Wonderland "White Rabbits Can't Jump" (lost unaired episode of musical television series; 1993)

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Cover of the episode's picture book adaptation.

Status: Lost

Adventures in Wonderland is a live action/puppet musical television series broadcast on The Disney Channel from 1992 to 1995 that was based on Lewis Carroll's novel's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass.

The series revolved around Alice travelling to Wonderland through a magic mirror in order to find solutions to problems she is facing, whereupon she partakes in a strange adventure with its inhabitants which relates to her problem in some capacity. The show was another attempt by Disney to adapt one of their popular animated films into a serialized live-action television series similar to the previously produced Welcome to Pooh Corner and Dumbo's Circus.

Another similarly these three programs share is that they are all currently impossible to view in their entirety, with 25 of Adventures in Wonderland's 100 episodes currently being considered lost media. This includes one episode that was unaired outright due to the unfortunate timing of its production.

"White Rabbits Can't Jump"

"White Rabbits Can't Jump" was the second-to-last episode of the series to be produced, and was notable for featuring a guest appearance from actor and former football player O.J. Simpson. The basic plot of the episode revolved around the White Rabbit being reluctant to participate in the annual Wonderland Leap Year Games out of fear that he'll lose. He then receives encouragement from an imaginary representation of O.J., who gives him the courage he needs to take part. The Games eventually end in a tie, with Rabbit having to take part in the tie breaker event. He loses due to his poor jumping ability, but his spirits are lifted significantly when he is presented a second place trophy from the real O.J. Simpson.[1]

Availability

Production on the episode wrapped in late 1993,[2] with it being set to air at some point the following year as part of the show's third and final season. These plans were immediately halted on June 17th, 1994, when O.J. was arrested for the alleged murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and restaurant waiter Ron Goldman. Since then, the episode has yet to see a release of any sort, likely due to how poor taste the idolized portrayal of O.J. showcased in the episode would have seemed in hindsight. Ironically, the episode was one of only two throughout the entire series that was adapted into a picture book, the accompanying images from which currently serve as the only visual evidence of its existence.

Adventures in Wonderland has yet to be released on any form of streaming service (though Disney has officially listed the show as one of the titles planned to be available on its streaming service Disney+ on April 30th, 2021),[3] and any release that may occur in future would likely omit this episode due to O.J.'s presence, leaving the chances of it resurfacing slim to none.

Video

DefunctTV episode on Adventures in Wonderland, mentioning the episode. (22:25-24:02).

See Also

References