It would be near impossible for The Blot to say anything negative about Disney’s upcoming live action film Alice In Wonderland because I absolutely love any movie that pairs director Tim Burton with superstar Johnny Depp (yes even the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory remake). So I was extremely excited to find out last week that Disney had finally released the first stills and promotional pictures of what is sure to be one of the craziest adaptations of Lewis Carroll’s classic novel.
What I love about Tim Burton the most is that the man has a vision and he goes with it, no matter what path that vision takes him. Both he and Depp have shown time and time again they have no fear of what others might think of their work. Now people may be turned off by the warped look Burton gives to many of his films, but I think that’s part of the reason I enjoy his movies so much. You just know going in to a Tim Burton film to expect the unexpected! Plus, more often than not his films star one of the greatest actors in Hollywood, Johnny Depp (Depp has now appeared in seven of Burton’s movies).
While we still don't know too much about Alice In Wonderland, from the few glimpses we’ve seen so far I know it will be visually stunning. Just look at the colors in these stills and promo photos. The film itself is very unique in that it is live action “merged with CG animation and motion-capture creatures and then transferred into 3-D.” (link)
While the live action movie is based on Carroll’s 1856 novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the film's storyline has been “modernized.” In Burton’s version “Alice, 17, attends a party at a Victorian estate only to find she is about to be proposed to in front of hundreds of snooty society types. Off she runs, following a white rabbit into a hole and ending up in Wonderland, a place she visited 10 years before yet doesn't remember.” (link) What’s in store for young Alice once down the rabbit hole is anyone’s guess!
Alice In Wonderland stars Johnny Depp, Mia Wasikowska, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway, Michael Sheen, Stephen Fry, Alan Rickman, Crispin Glover, Matt Lucas and Christopher Lee, and will be released in theaters on March 5, 2010.
