U R U

'I'm afraid I can't put it more clearly,' Alice replied very politely, 'for I can't understand it myself to begin with; and being so many different sizes in a day is very confusing.'
'It isn't,' said the Caterpillar.
'Well, perhaps you haven't found it so yet,' said Alice; 'but when you have to turn into a chrysalis — you will some day, you know — and then after that into a butterfly, I should think you'll feel it a little queer, won't you?'
'Not a bit,' said the Caterpillar.
~Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland

The hookah-smoking caterpillar is one of the most memorable characters in Lewis Carroll's popular story. Our heroine, Alice, doesn’t really like this Wonderland denizen when she first encounters him because he ignores her and just smokes his hookah, then speaks in short sentences and poses mind-vexing riddles "in a languid, sleepy voice."

Which brought them back again to the beginning of the conversation. Alice felt a little irritated at the Caterpillar's making such very short remarks, and she drew herself up and said, very gravely, 'I think, you out to tell me who you are, first.'
'Why?' said the Caterpillar.
Here was another puzzling question; and as Alice could not think of any good reason, and as the Caterpillar seemed to be in a very unpleasant state of mind, she turned away.
'Come back!' the Caterpillar called after her. 'I've something important to say!'
~Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland

Of course this important thing the caterpillar had to say was more convoluted nonsense, but hey, who amongst us hasn’t been there? The caterpillar has become famous in North American popular culture, and I suspect in other western nations as well. One of the more popular references (beside the Disney adaptation of the story) is in a song called White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane.

And if you go chasing rabbits
And you know you're going to fall
Tell 'em a hookah smoking caterpillar
Has given you the call
He called Alice
When she was just small.
~Jefferson Airplane, White Rabbit

This song is an ode to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and the reference to the hookah-smoking caterpillar is spot on. In the story, the caterpillar tells Alice to bite the mushroom that he's sitting on, and when she does, she changes sizes in an odd and hilarious way.

Alice remained looking thoughtfully at the mushroom for a minute, trying to make out which were the two sides of it; and as it was perfectly round, she found this a very difficult question. However, at last she stretched her arms round it as far as they would go, and broke off a bit of the edge with each hand.
'And now which is which?' she said to herself, and nibbled a little of the right-hand bit to try the effect: the next moment she felt a violent blow underneath her chin: it had struck her foot!
~Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland

All of this imagery and narrative comes from a time when we still did not know the full extent of mushrooms' dangerous properties. Now we know that they can be very deadly and creepy. For example, mushrooms are known to be able to take control of insects brains and make them do things. If you think about it a little deeper and do your own research, then you can only come to the logical conclusion that all of life on this planet is under the control and guidance of fungi. Even my writing this post might be part of the plan. 😕

On that happy note, I hope you enjoyed my 'conceptual' animations of the hookah-smoking caterpillar. My process was very straight forward, bang on that keyboard until the software pumped out the jam. The post title refers to the Disney movie (1951) in which the caterpillar asks Alice, "You, who are you?" while forming smoke-rings in the shapes of letters that answer the question itself (U R U), though I don't know if this was intentionally done. I leave you with one last animation, which is supposed to portrait the caterpillar transforming into a butterfly.