The side note at the beginning of the poem warns against diving too deep:
"This masterpiece of nonsense is in the meter of Thomas Hood's "Dream of Eugene Aram", but only the style of Hood's poem is satirized. As a check against the tendency to find too much intended symbolism in the Alice books it is well to remember that, when Carroll gave the manuscript of this poem to Tenniel for illustrating, he offered the artist a choice of drawing a carpenter, butterfly, or baronet. Each word fitted the rhyme scheme, and Carroll had no preference so far as the nonsense was concerned. Tenniel chose the carpenter. J.B. Priestley has written an amusing article on "The Walrus and the Carpenter" (New Statesman, August 10, 1957, p. 168) in which he interprets the two figures as archetypes of two kinds of politicians."

who you calling transparent? lol. it's my interpretation from the original book. it's a life lesson. beware of cigar wielding walrus, both carpenters AND oysters!
that's a very interesting quote and I think tongue in cheek. alice is innocent. Just the other day, I heard Rubio say something about the "intentions were good" regarding the administration on something.

There is nothing to relate to class in the original poem, or etchings. That seems to be a transparent fabrication on Disney's part. I agree the Disney's walrus is an elite robber baron, and the ever present 'fat' cigar is a cheap device! The gullible carpenter does all of the work (builds the restaurant, and cooks the soup), and ends up with NOTHING. Why Disney thought this was a good lesson for children escapes me.

The side note at the end says:
"Alice is puzzled because she faces the traditional ethical dilemma of having to choose between judging a person in terms of his acts or in terms of his intentions."

I'm still not believing the walrus rep the upper class. more the elite ruling class. can you advise? I wish I would have had those side notes when I read it it. what about the cheshire cat?

it was a good thing you did

Pretty transparent class warfare, with the upper class demonized.

I probably watched this as a child, but I guess that I didn't keep the message!

I have an annotated copy of Alice and Wonderland that points out all of the political (British) digs in side notes, and I can see what it says.

I do remember that the Mad Hatter was in reference to the arsenic used in hat making, that rendered many hat makers certifiably 'mad'.

You have given me a mission!

P.S. Another movie that should be seen once: "Across the Universe".

Added later: I have just read the original transcript, and it is different from the cartoon in some very telling ways.

Originally written, both the walrus and the carpenter feast on the oysters. The walrus, however, shows some remorse for the trickery, while the carpenter has no qualms whatsoever. This puzzles Alice as to whom to blame the worse. If anyone is interested, I will post the side notes.

lol I was looking for hidden meaning in the = signs. I gave up quickly.

look at all my typos! I was typing in the dark because someone had to watch Justified.

I was distracted both times I watched it...much like Les Mis it did not hold my attention for long...I tried. I've never seen Alice and Wonderland... down is up...topsy turvy...makes sense without knowing where it came from.

It's a political statement. the walrous is like um Boehner and the carpenter is well used to be working class but I kinda see unions, and the little oysters are all our nest eggs trying to grow. Mama oyster is the Treasury I think. "Don't go!" she weakly admonishes and them=n is w=swept away by the Wlarus. Alice in Wonderland is a political commentary. Why do you think we say down is up?