Fact-Checking 'The Rabbit Got Me': the True Story Behind the Viral Phenomenon
By Alexander Ross
When Lewis Carroll introduced the White Rabbit in the opening chapter of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland in 1865, the creature wore a waistcoat and pulled a watch from his pocket while lamenting, "Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late!" Carroll conceived the rabbit as an embodiment of adult neurosis, contrasting Alice’s curious childhood wandering with Victorian panic over timetables, schedules, and decorum.
Modern culture kept that neurotic characterization alive through Disney's 1951 animated classic and subsequent film adaptations. But the 2026 internet incarnation strips away the slapstick absurdity.
The image circulating across TikTok, a stark, hyper-detailed rendering of an anthropomorphic rabbit clutching an oversized pocket watch, turns Carroll's frantic bureaucrat into an inescapable grim reaper of hours. If the rabbit caught you, you were not running late for a tea party. Time tracked you down, tapped your shoulder, and closed the window on your options.
Alexander Ross has covered the video game industry for a decade, writing deep dives on game design, esports tournaments, VR developments, and gaming culture.
