Alice in Wonderland is an upcoming 2010 fantasy film directed by Tim Burton. It is an extension to the Lewis Carroll novels Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass. The film will use a technique combining live action and motion capture technology. Mia Wasikowska plays the role of Alice, alongside Johnny Depp as The Mad Hatter, Helena Bonham Carter as The Red Queen, Anne Hathaway as The White Queen, and Crispin Glover as The Knave of Hearts.

The film is due for release on March 5, 2010 and the film will be released in Disney Digital 3-D and IMAX 3-D, as well as in regular theaters.

Plot

An extension on Lewis Carroll's original story, Alice, now 19, attends a party at a Victorian estate only to find she is about to be proposed to by a rich suitor in front of hundreds of snooty society types. She runs off, following a white rabbit into a hole and ending up in Wonderland, a place she visited many years before, yet she doesn't remember. The White Rabbit claims to have come back for Alice because she is the only one who can slay the Jabberwock, the beast who guards the Red Queen's empire. Alice remains completely unaware of why she is in Wonderland, and is confused about the fact that she had once visited Wonderland years before. She then embarks on an adventure of self discovery and to save Wonderland from the Red Queen's reign of terror with the help of her Wonderland friends.

Cast and characters

• Mia Wasikowska as Alice. Alice is a 19 year old young lady "who doesn't quite fit into Victorian society and structure." Her return to Wonderland "becomes a rite of passage as she discovers her voice and herself." Alice will evolve over the course of the new film into a more empowered heroine than in previous incarnations.

Wonderland residents

• Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter. Tim Burton explained that Depp "tried to find a grounding to the character, something that you feel, as opposed to just being mad. In a lot of versions it’s a very one-note kind of character and you know his goal was to try and bring out a human side to the strangeness of the character."
• Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen. Bonham Carter's head will be increased in size by three times on screen. Her character is a combination of the Red Queen and the Queen of Hearts.
• Anne Hathaway as the White Queen. Her character does not require digital manipulation. Hathaway summed up her character with a caption on a magnet of Happy Bunny holding a knife; "Cute but psycho. Things even out." Her character also doesn't walk, but instead floats. She is very eccentric and dramatic.
• Michael Sheen as the White Rabbit. Sheen stated, "The White Rabbit is such an iconic character that I didn’t feel like I should break the mold too much."
• Alan Rickman as the Caterpillar. Rickman was filmed while recording his voice in a studio, but his face won't be composited onto the character's face as originally planned.
• Stephen Fry as the Cheshire Cat.
• Matt Lucas as Tweedledum and Tweedledee. Lucas' face was digitally inserted for both characters, while the body was computer-generated.
• Christopher Lee as the Jabberwock. An item in the film called "The Oraculum" suggests that John Tenniel's original design for the Jabberwock will be used in the film.
• Paul Whitehouse as the March Hare. The March Hare will be computer animated.
• Barbara Windsor as the Dormouse. The Dormouse will also be computer animated.
• Timothy Spall as the Bloodhound
• Crispin Glover as the Knave of Hearts
• Michael Gough as the Dodo

Real-world residents

• Eleanor Tomlinson as Fiona Chataway, an unfriendly girl Alice knows before she falls down the rabbit hole.
• Jemma Powell as Margaret Manchester
• John Hopkins as Lowell Manchester
• Lindsay Duncan as Helen (Alice's Mother)
• Marton Csokas as Charles (Alice's Father)
• Frances de la Tour as Aunt Imogene
• Leo Bill as Hamish Ascot
• Tim Pigott-Smith as Lord Ascot
• Geraldine James as Lady Ascot

Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter's children will have cameos in the film.

Production

Joe Roth was developing Alice in Wonderland in April 2007 at Walt Disney Pictures with Linda Woolverton as screenwriter. Woolverton added a socio-political context to the story. That November, Burton signed with Disney to direct two films in Disney Digital 3-D, which included Alice in Wonderland. He explained "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." On prior versions, Burton said "It was always a girl wandering around from one crazy character to another, and I never really felt any real emotional connection." His goal with the new movie is to give the story "some framework of emotional grounding" and "to try and make Alice feel more like a story as opposed to a series of events." He also felt 3-D was appropriate to the story's environment. The film was originally set to be released in 2009, but was pushed to March 5, 2010.

The original start date was May 2008, but filming did not begin until September and finished in December after only 40 days. Scenes set in the Victorian era were shot at Torpoint and Plymouth from September 1—October 14. Two hundred and fifty local extras were chosen in early-August. Locations included Antony House in Torpoint, Charlestown, Cornwall and the Barbican. Motion capture filming began in early October, at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California. Burton later said that he is using a combination of live action and animation, without motion capture. He also noted that this was the first time he had done green screen.

Sony Pictures Imageworks is designing the visual effects sequences. Burton and Zanuck chose to film with conventional cameras, and convert the footage into 3D later; Zanuck explained 3D cameras were too expensive and "clumsy" to use, and they felt that there was no difference between converted footage and those shot in the format. Director James Cameron, who is set to release his 3D film Avatar later in 2009, criticized the choice stating "It doesn't make any sense to shoot in 2D and convert to 3D" Filming also took place at Culver Studios..

On June 22, 2009, the first pictures of the film were released, showing Depp as the Mad Hatter, Hathaway as the White Queen, Bonham Carter as the Red Queen and Lucas as Tweedledee and Tweedledum. A new image of Alice was also released. In July, new photos emerged of Alice holding a white rabbit, the Mad Hatter with a hare, the Red Queen holding a pig, and the White Queen with a mouse.

On July 22, 2009, a teaser trailer was released on IGN. The trailer is from the Mad Hatter's point of view. It was premiered on PerezHilton, but was shorty taken down because Disney claimed that the trailer was not supposed to be out yet. The teaser was also planned to premiere along with a trailer of Robert Zemeckis' film adaptation of A Christmas Carol on July 24, 2009 for G-Force. The following day, the teaser trailer premiered at Comic-Con but the trailer shown was different than the one that leaked. The ComicCon version didn't have the Mad Hatter's dialogue. Instead, it featured "Time to Pretend" by MGMT, and the clips shown were in different order than in the leaked version. The leaked version was originally to be shown to one of the three Facebook groups used to promote the film that had the most members. The groups used to promote the film are "The Loyal Subjects of the Red Queen", "The Loyal Subjects of the White Queen" and "The Disloyal Subjects of the Mad Hatter."

Also at the Comic-Con, props from the film were displayed in an "Alice in Wonderland" exhibit. Costumes featured in the exhibit included the Red Queen's dress, chair, wig, spectacles and septure; the White Queen's dress, wig and a small model of her castle; the Mad Hatter's suit, hat, wig, chair and table; Alice's dress, wig and battle armour (to slay the Jaberwock). Other props included the "DRINK ME" bottles, the keys, an "EAT ME" pastry and Stand-In models of the White Rabbit and March Hare.

Casting

In regard to Alice, although a number of well-known actresses expressed strong interest in the role, Burton chose a relative unknown so that audiences would relate to her. On casting Mia Wasikowska, Richard D. Zanuck states: "There is something real, honest and sincere about her. She's not a typical Hollywood starlet." Tim Burton states:

Tim Burton and Johnny Depp have teamed up for their seventh film together, with the intention to create another "downright strange character"; the Hatter. Depp was excited to be cast as the Hatter, and has high regards towards the work of Tim Burton: "'Alice in Wonderland' I think is going to be very, very, very fun. It's outstanding ... Tim's work. I think he's outdone himself, you know. Brilliant. The Hatter was very fun to play."

Video game

Disney Interactive Studios announced on July 23, 2009 that a video game based on the film will be released in early 2010 for the Wii, Nintendo DS and Windows PC. An iPhone version is due to be released in late 2009.

References

1. Official site
2. FilmShaft.com
3. http://www.usatoday.com/life/l090623_alice_in_wonderland/flash.htm?gid=1057
4. http://www.examiner.com/x-4908-Twilight-Examiner~y2009m10d12-Michael-Sheen-talks-about-playing-the-White-Rabbit-in-Alice-In-Wonderland
5. http://www.aliceinwonderlandmovie.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/14deq0j-737673.jpg
6. AliceInWonderlandMovie.org: Photo 65
7. Empire Online
8. http://screencrave.com/2009-07-23/alice-in-wonderland-concept-art-and-synopsis-new-and-exclusive/
9. AliceInWonderlandMovie.org: Photo 60
10. "New Alice in Wonderland images", BBC, 22 June 2009.
11. http://www.ohjohnny.net/alice/alicenews13.html
12. HamiltonHodell.co.uk
13. http://thedisneyblog.com/2009/07/21/be-the-first-to-see-the-alice-in-wonderland-teaser-trailer/
14. http://www.aliceinwonderlandmovie.org/photos/thumbnails.php?album=107
15. http://www.shockya.com/news/2009/07/25/alice-in-wonderland-props-totally-rock-at-comic-con/
16. http://insidemovies.moviefone.com/2009/06/23/johnny-depp-tim-burtons-alice-in-wonderland-photos/
17. 'Alice in Wonderland' I think is going to be very, very, very fun. It's outstanding ... Tim's work. I think he's outdone himself, you know. Brilliant. The Hatter was very fun to play."

External links

• Official site
• Movie's trailers
• Alice in Wonderland at FEARnet
• First look photos from the film from The Huffington Post
• Pictures of filming in Cornwall, England