In Tim Burton’s re-vamped Alice in Wonderland, 19-year-old Alice finds herself, once again, falling down the rabbit hole and reuniting with all her old friends, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, the Dormouse, the Caterpillar, the Cheshire Cat, the Mad Hatter and the White Rabbit (www.IMDb.com).
Australian actress Mia Wasikowska plays the fair Alice Kingsleigh alongside the big screen names of Johnny Depp (The Mad Hatter), Crispin Glover (The Knaves of Hearts), and Anne Hathaway (The White Queen).
“It doesn’t look like any Alice in Wonderland that’s ever been before,” Johnny Depp, in an interview with BANG Showbiz, said. “It’s a completely new story – it’s Alice returning back to Wonderland.”
Like the story line, the characters will also be different from the original movie because some, like the Cheshire cat, will be computer-generated imagery and others will be played by actors. The animation department faced a daunting task in making the unreal look real in the chimerical environment that is Wonderland.
"We basically have three live-action characters,” David Schuab, animation supervisor, said. “They are Alice, The Mad Hatter and The White Queen. The Tweedles and the Knave of Hearts are real heads blended onto animated bodies.”
Johnny Depp’s role as the Mad Hatter has intrigued fans. In Alice advertisements, his features, a pallid complexion, fire red hair, green eyes and characteristically fitting 10/6 hat, immediately grab your attention and add to the madness. The elaborate makeup and costumes of all the characters further push the modern feel and draw your interest in the new Alice movie.
Former collaborations of Depp and Burton, like Charlie and the Chocolate factory, have taken the viewers’ original perception of the story and rocked it with new twists, making a fresh story line for the audience.
Alice in Wonderland has awakened many ideas, inspiring designer Sue Wong’s spring 2010 dress collection. The ornate dresses represent a fusion of Wong’s romantic style and that of main characters Alice, the White Queen and the Red Queen. Nail polish company OPI has also taken note of Alice, with their newly released colors, “Absolutely Alice” a royal blue with gold glitter, “Mad as a Hatter” with glitter of all colors, “Off With Her Red!” a creamy red and “Thanks So Muchness!” a raspberry red shade. Almost Alice, scheduled for release on March 2nd, is a soundtrack influenced by the new movie, featuring artists Owl City, Franz Ferdinand, Avril Lavigne, All Time Low, and others.
BBC reported, that the much-anticipated movie has the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, are on the waiting list to view Alice in 3-D glasses. Alice in Wonderland will be played in Disney Digital 3-D and IMAX 3-D
March 5 is the release date. The Queen of Hearts doesn’t want you to be late.