Alice in Wonderland
I'm a huge fan of director Tim Burton so I always sit up and take notice when he's working on a new film. Currently filming, and set for release in March 2010, Burton's next project is a big screen adaptation of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland.
I'm actually really excited for this one. Sure it's not the long-stalled movie adaptation of twisted video game American McGee's Alice, but given Burton's dark, Gothic sensibilities, I'm sure we'll be in for a similar treat.
For example, take this image of Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, which surfaced online a few weeks back. There has been debate about whether or not this image is fake, but seeing as Cinematical was asked by Disney (the studio behind this latest movie adaptation) to remove the pic, it seems to be the real deal... whether its a photo of Depp in costume and make-up, or just a really outstanding piece of concept art.
Apart from Depp, Alice in Wonderland's stellar cast includes:
Burton's partner Helena Bonham Carter as the bloodthirsty, croquet-loving Red Queen.
Cinema sweetheart Anne Hathaway as the Red Queen's angelic sister, the White Queen.
Charlie's Angels weirdo Crispin Glover as the Knave of Hearts.
Little Britain's Matt Lucas as the wretched twins Tweedledum and Tweedledee.
The Queen and Underworld's Michael Sheen as the grinning Cheshire Cast.
Everyone's favourite movie villain, Alan Rickman as the hookah-smoking Caterpillar.
Living legend Christopher Lee in an unspecified role.
18 year old Australian newcomer, Mia Wasikowska plays the hopelessly confused Alice. Here's a picture of her in costume, on set in England:
A couple more on-set pics can be seen here as well.
Alice in Wonderland apparently mixes live action with CGI-motion capture, with much of the latter kicking in (unsurprisingly) once Alice falls down the rabbit hole. The movie will also be released in 3D as studio Disney further embraces the format.
As for the direction this latest film adaptation of the Alice story will take, Tim Burton made some revealing comments in this interview. Here's the extract that applies to the film:
With "Alice in Wonderland," the defining pop-culture version of the story for modern American audiences is the 1951 Disney animated adaptation with its little blond Alice in her blue dress with white pinafore. That film was met with acidic reviews by the literary world (especially in England) for its bland and blunted vision of the Carroll classic. Burton is not a fan of the film, either, and, as with "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," it appears his mission is to reclaim a children's classic, resharpen its edges and remind everyone that sapping the weirdness out of a tale often renders it flat and forgettable.
"It's a funny project. The story is obviously a classic with iconic images and ideas and thoughts. But with all the movie versions, well, I've just never seen one that really had any impact to me. It's always just a series of weird events. Every character is strange and she's just kind of wandering through all of the encounters as just a sort of observer. The goal is to try to make it an engaging movie where you get some of the psychology and kind of bring a freshness but also keep the classic nature of 'Alice.' And, you know, getting to do it in 3-D fits the material quite well. So I'm excited about making it a new version but also have the elements that people expect when they think of the material."
I told Burton he's right, the Disney movie is a meandering tour of a funhouse without any gripping story arc. "Yeah, I know, it's just, 'Oh, this character's weird' and 'Oh, that character's weird.' I can't really recall a version where I felt really engaged by it. So that's the goal, just to try to give it a gravity that most film versions haven't had."
Thank you, Tim! You've hit the nail on the head. And I can't think of a better director to take us back to Wonderland.
I'm actually really excited for this one. Sure it's not the long-stalled movie adaptation of twisted video game American McGee's Alice, but given Burton's dark, Gothic sensibilities, I'm sure we'll be in for a similar treat.
For example, take this image of Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, which surfaced online a few weeks back. There has been debate about whether or not this image is fake, but seeing as Cinematical was asked by Disney (the studio behind this latest movie adaptation) to remove the pic, it seems to be the real deal... whether its a photo of Depp in costume and make-up, or just a really outstanding piece of concept art.
Apart from Depp, Alice in Wonderland's stellar cast includes:
Burton's partner Helena Bonham Carter as the bloodthirsty, croquet-loving Red Queen.
Cinema sweetheart Anne Hathaway as the Red Queen's angelic sister, the White Queen.
Charlie's Angels weirdo Crispin Glover as the Knave of Hearts.
Little Britain's Matt Lucas as the wretched twins Tweedledum and Tweedledee.
The Queen and Underworld's Michael Sheen as the grinning Cheshire Cast.
Everyone's favourite movie villain, Alan Rickman as the hookah-smoking Caterpillar.
Living legend Christopher Lee in an unspecified role.
18 year old Australian newcomer, Mia Wasikowska plays the hopelessly confused Alice. Here's a picture of her in costume, on set in England:
A couple more on-set pics can be seen here as well.
Alice in Wonderland apparently mixes live action with CGI-motion capture, with much of the latter kicking in (unsurprisingly) once Alice falls down the rabbit hole. The movie will also be released in 3D as studio Disney further embraces the format.
As for the direction this latest film adaptation of the Alice story will take, Tim Burton made some revealing comments in this interview. Here's the extract that applies to the film:
With "Alice in Wonderland," the defining pop-culture version of the story for modern American audiences is the 1951 Disney animated adaptation with its little blond Alice in her blue dress with white pinafore. That film was met with acidic reviews by the literary world (especially in England) for its bland and blunted vision of the Carroll classic. Burton is not a fan of the film, either, and, as with "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," it appears his mission is to reclaim a children's classic, resharpen its edges and remind everyone that sapping the weirdness out of a tale often renders it flat and forgettable.
"It's a funny project. The story is obviously a classic with iconic images and ideas and thoughts. But with all the movie versions, well, I've just never seen one that really had any impact to me. It's always just a series of weird events. Every character is strange and she's just kind of wandering through all of the encounters as just a sort of observer. The goal is to try to make it an engaging movie where you get some of the psychology and kind of bring a freshness but also keep the classic nature of 'Alice.' And, you know, getting to do it in 3-D fits the material quite well. So I'm excited about making it a new version but also have the elements that people expect when they think of the material."
I told Burton he's right, the Disney movie is a meandering tour of a funhouse without any gripping story arc. "Yeah, I know, it's just, 'Oh, this character's weird' and 'Oh, that character's weird.' I can't really recall a version where I felt really engaged by it. So that's the goal, just to try to give it a gravity that most film versions haven't had."
Thank you, Tim! You've hit the nail on the head. And I can't think of a better director to take us back to Wonderland.
Comments
Hopefully, this is much better than the remake of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Ugh. I puke every time I think of that farce.
It spoilt the film for me (as well as killed the chance for the Great Glass Elevator sequel), but I enjoyed it so much up until that point that I really can't bring myself to hate the film.