The Accordion Owl is a character featured in Disney's 1951 animated feature film Alice in Wonderland. It is one of the creatures that Alice encounters at Tulgey Wood.
Background[]
As its name implies, the Accordion Owl is a red owl that can stretch its own neck due to its accordion-like neck and whenever it stretches its neck, it not only hoots but also makes accordion sounds. It has a plumage of red feathers and a pair of pale yellow eyes with black pupils in it.
Origins[]
The Accordion Owl has no existing counterpart from the original Alice in Wonderland story by Lewis Carroll and is completely unrelated to the Owl from the Caucus Race sequence and the Owl that was among the jurors during Alice's trial.
Appearances[]
Alice in Wonderland[]
When Alice is exploring Tulgey Wood, she encounters the Accordion Owl after encountering the Cage Bird where the Accordion Owl is seen sitting on an oak tree. It is then seen hooting and stretching its accordion-like neck as it flies across Tulgey Wood. Upon seeing it, the Accordion Owl flies over Alice to which she crouches to avoid getting hit just as Alice comments, "Oh, it's so nice if something would make sense for a change." It later appears again during the "Very Good Advice" musical sequence where it is seen amongst the other creatures of Tulgey Wood observing Alice who is feeling distressed of returning back home. The Accordion Owl then disappears along with the other creatures when it and the other creatures see Alice's sadness. It never appears again after that.
Disney Parks[]
Alice in Wonderland[]
The Accordion Owl is one of the creatures encountered during the Tulgey Wood sequence in the Disneyland ride where it is seen stretching its accordion neck. In the original 1958 version, it was originally represented as a flat and is the first Tulgey Wood creature to appear in the ride. According to the "E Ticket" magazine issue from Spring 1999, the owl's pop-up head was operated with a pneumatic cylinder. The 1984 revamped version for 1983's New Fantasyland uses a fully-sculpted Accordian Owl, accompanied with the original film audio of the bird's hooting and accordion noise, just before the guests pass by a family of Horn Ducks.
Alice's Curious Labyrinth[]
In the Disneyland Paris attraction, the Accordion Owl is seen in the first section of a maze consisting a section that represents Tulgey Wood. Although the dialogues of the characters in this attraction are entirely spoken in French, reused film audio of the Accordion Owl's hooting and accordion noise from the original English language can be heard when guests pass through the Owl during the maze sequence.
Dreaming Up![]
The Accordion Owl is perched on top of one of the teapots on the Alice in Wonderland float. One of the female performers for that float was also dressed like the Owl.
Wondrous Journeys[]
The Accordion Owl appeared in 2 scenes exclusive to the Main Street area: it appeared in the Alice in Wonderland scene in the Almost There segment, and was among the flying characters.
Trivia[]
- The Accordion Owl is one of the few Tulgey Wood creatures who doesn't cry during the "Very Good Advice" sequence.
- Accordion Owls appear among the enemies of The Castle level in the Japanese version of Mickey Mousecapade. They are replaced by dragonflies in the US version.
Gallery[]
