The footman who receives the Queen’s invitation is a frog.
In Lewis Carroll’s 1865 novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the Fish-Footman arrives at the Duchess’s house carrying a large letter. He hands it to the Frog-Footman, who repeats the message: the Queen is inviting the Duchess to play croquet. The two servants then bow, tangling their powdered curls together.
This scene is easy to confuse because the Fish-Footman delivers the invitation, while the Frog-Footman receives it. The finished 1951 Disney film omitted the Duchess, the Cook, and both footmen, although an early treatment included the sequence. The film instead moves Alice more directly toward the Queen’s garden.
The footmen belong to Carroll’s original “Pig and Pepper” chapter. Their formal uniforms and absurdly animal-like appearances parody the rigid manners and official language of Victorian servants.