Editing Tweedledum and Tweedledee

{{short description|Pair of fictional brothers from Carroll's "Through the Looking Glass"}}
{{about||the comic book duo of supervillains|Tweedledum and Tweedledee (comics)|the novel by Alec Coppel|Tweedledum and Tweedledee (novel)}}
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{{Infobox song
| name      = Tweedledum and Tweedledee
| cover     = Tennieldumdee.jpg
| alt       =
| caption   = John Tenniel's illustration, from ''Through the Looking-Glass'' (1871), chapter 4
| type      = [[Nursery rhyme]]
| written   =
| published = 1805
| writer    =
| composer  =
| lyricist  =
}}
'''Tweedledum and Tweedledee''' are characters in an English [[nursery rhyme]] and in [[Lewis Carroll]]'s 1871 book ''[[Through the Looking-Glass|Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There]]''. Their names may have originally come from an [[epigram]] written by poet [[John Byrom]]. The nursery rhyme has a [[Roud Folk Song Index]] number of 19800. The names have since become synonymous in western popular culture slang for any two people whose appearances and actions are identical.

==Lyrics==
Common versions of the nursery rhyme include:

:Tweedledum and Tweedledee
:&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Agreed to have a battle;
:For Tweedledum said Tweedledee
:&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Had spoiled his nice new [[Baby rattle|rattle]].

:Just then flew down a monstrous crow,
:&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;As black as a tar-barrel;
:Which frightened both the heroes so,
:&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;They quite forgot their quarrel.<ref name=Opie1997>I. Opie and P. Opie, ''The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes'' (Oxford University Press, 1951, 2nd edn., 1997), p. 418.</ref>

==Origins==
The words "Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum" make their first appearance in print as names applied to the composers [[George Frideric Handel]] and [[Giovanni Bononcini]] in "one of the most celebrated and most frequently quoted (and sometimes misquoted) [[epigram]]s", satirising disagreements between  Handel and Bononcini,<ref>{{Citation|last=Knowles|first=Elizabeth KnowlesElizabeth|title=Tweedledum and Tweedledee|date=2006-01-01|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198609810.001.0001/acref-9780198609810-e-7335|work=The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780198609810.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-860981-0|access-date=2020-08-17|url-access=subscription}}</ref> written by [[John Byrom]] (1692–1763):<ref>C.Edgar Thomas: ''Some Musical Epigrams and Poems'', [[The Musical Times]], November 1, (1915), p. 661.</ref> in his satire, from 1725.

:Some say, compar'd to Bononcini
:That [[wikt:mynheer|Mynheer]] Handel's but a Ninny
:Others aver, that he to Handel
:Is scarcely fit to hold a Candle
:Strange all this Difference should be
:'Twixt Tweedle-dum and Tweedle-dee!<ref>John Byrom: Epigram on the Feuds between Handel and Bononcini, ''The Poems'', The Chetham Society 1894–1895. Source: Literature Online.</ref>

Although Byrom is clearly the author of the epigram, the last two lines have also been attributed to [[Jonathan Swift]] and [[Alexander Pope]].<ref name=Opie1997/> While the familiar form of the rhyme was first printed in ''Original Ditties for the Nursery'' (c. 1805), Byrom may have drawn on an existing rhyme.<ref name=Gardner1963>M. Gardner, ed., ''[[The Annotated Alice]]'' (New York: Meridian, 1963).</ref>

==''Through The Looking-Glass''==
The characters are perhaps best known from [[Lewis Carroll]]'s ''[[Through the Looking-Glass|Through the Looking-Glass and what Alice Found There]]'' (1871). Carroll, having introduced two fat little men named Tweedledee and Tweedledum, quotes the nursery rhyme, which the two brothers then go on to enact. They agree to have a battle, but never have one. When they see a monstrous black crow swooping down, they take to their heels. The Tweedle brothers never contradict each other, even when one of them, according to the rhyme, "agrees to have a battle". Rather, they complement each other's words, which led [[John Tenniel]] to portray them as twins in his illustrations for the book.

==Other depictions==
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* Tweedledee and Tweedledum appear in Disney's [[Alice in Wonderland (1951 film)|1951 version of ''Alice in Wonderland'']],<ref>J. Beck, ''The Animated Movie Guide'' (Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2005), p. 11.</ref> both voiced by [[J. Pat O'Malley]], and representing the sun and moon as they tell [[Alice (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)|Alice]] the story of [[The Walrus and the Carpenter]], and the first stanza of the poem called, [[You Are Old, Father William]] before Alice quietly leaves to find the [[White Rabbit]]. They were seen again at the end of the film during the chase. The Disney versions of the characters later appeared in the Disney television series ''[[House of Mouse]]'' and one of them in the final scene of ''[[Who Framed Roger Rabbit]]''.<ref>{{cite book |first=S. |last=Griffin |title=Tinker Belles and Evil Queens: the Walt Disney Company from the Inside Out |location=New York |publisher=New York University Press |year=2000 |page=[https://archive.org/details/tinkerbellesevil00grif_0/page/228 228] |isbn=0-8147-3122-8 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/tinkerbellesevil00grif_0/page/228 }}</ref>
*Tweedledee and Tweedledum appear in ''[[Once Upon a Time in Wonderland]]'', portrayed by [[Ben Cotton]] and Matty Finochio. They appear as the [[Red Queen (Through the Looking-Glass)|Red Queen]]'s servants where they started out working for the [[Red King (Through the Looking-Glass)|Red King]]. While Tweedledum is shown to be loyal to the Red Queen, Tweedledee is shown to be loyal to Jafar.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/once-upon-a-time-in-wonderland/cast/556800/|title=Once Upon a Time in Wonderland|website=TVGuide.com}}</ref>
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==Notes==
{{reflist}}

{{Alice|state=expanded}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tweedledee and Tweedledum}}
[[Category:Animated duos]]
[[Category:Fictional duos]]
[[Category:Fiction about rivalry]]
[[Category:Fictional twins]]
[[Category:Lewis Carroll characters]]
[[Category:Literary duos]]