First Look: Tim Burton Takes Alice to Weird, Wild Wonderland
Stunning new concept art offers a first look at Alice in Wonderland as seen through the eyes of director Tim Burton. The images, released by Disney as Burton works on the remake in London, show Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter (pictured above) and provide a fascinating peek at the fabulist director’s vision for Alice, The Red Queen and the movie’s other central characters.
The pictures hint at an elegant, richly textured fantasy world that honors Lewis Carroll’s 19th-century fairy tale while incorporating bits of Burton’s trademark weirdness (check the grimacing flowers in the picture below).
The images are drawn from the world of Alice in Wonderland, as re-imagined by one of the world’s most visually arresting directors. The movie is scheduled for release March 5, 2010.
Alice, played by Mia Wasikowska, contemplates some giant mushrooms.
Helena Bonham Carter plays The Red Queen.
Alice joins Tweedledee and Tweedledum at a very Burton-esque gate.
Tweedledee and Tweedledum (Kröd Mändoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire baddie Matt Lucas in the dual role) look ready to cause trouble.
The White Queen, as portrayed by Anne Hathaway.
The White Rabbit (voiced by Michael Sheen) chats with Alice.
Teacups are a recurring visual theme.
Images courtesy Walt Disney Pictures.
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I’d prefer the version by American McGee
@crystalyne: Very much in agreement with you. There’s been so much scuttlebutt over the years about McGee’s version being made into a film, and I had hopes it would eventually come to pass. That was one of the darkest, most memorable games I’ve yet to experience.
Well, if this one’s a hit, maybe we’ll see McGee’s vision created as a dark sequel to it, since that’s what the game was intended to be.
the landscapes are awesome, most of the people are amazingly repugnant.
agreed about Alice, figures Disney would swoop in again and muck things up. p.s. someone should tell Tim that there are other actors in the world, lots of them i think.
btw still looks pretty stunning
I second Crystalyne.
I prefer the one with Kate Beckinsale
http://www.alice-in-wonderland.fsnet.co.uk/film_tv_beckinsale.htm
@ aphexjh, can you think of anyone better to play the Mad Hatter? I agree, it would be cool to see Burton work with other actors, but still, Depp as the Hatter makes too much sense.
Wonderfully detailed images.
hathaway as the white queen is very pretty, but the vibes from the photo seem to be ignore the fact that she’s written as a complete idiot.
Art style looks great. I just hope Depp doesn’t cheese out the role like he did in Wonka. And as far as the comment about Hathaways role being a idiot… Isn’t everyone in Wonderland and raving mad idiot?
first, i think burton is perfectly suited for the film and will do a wonderful job with all of the fantastic surreal imagery.
my concern is that given some of the dark and potentially disturbing images in the Alice story, it seems to me it wouldn’t pass muster with ye olde family films Disney … unless maybe they release it under Touchstone label?
There’s a point where you can overdo something and these pictures seem to show that Tim has crossed that line finally. I can appreciate what Alice is in its own right and I can say that other versions have come close to the line without crossing it and done so in good taste. This seems to have gone beyond the line. Is Tim trying to outdo himself? Can Johnny Depp do this film without completely destroying the idea of it like the director of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory did? Am I just hung up on the fact that they used Johnny to destroy Willy Wonka? Who knows?
I think this is going to be terrible. Wonka Redux. The characters all look so over the top, it’ll take you right out of the movie. Helena Bonham Carter looks like a lame contest entry from worth1000.com.
Johnny Depp looks terrible. He doesn’t look crazy enough to be the Mad Hatter. He just looks like a ridiculous clown with dirty fingers.
Johnny Depp? Nice try… that’s clearly Carrot Top.
This imagery is stunning… Unfortunately, that’s no predictor of the quality of the finished film. As others have noted, the Wonka disaster is a prime example. Let’s hope this one is a return to form for Burton and crew.
i think jack black would be a much better candidate than depp to portray the “mad hatter.” i thought that as well for the wonka remake.
Thumbs up!
How bout Mad Hatter played by Sacha Baron Cohen?
Those pics sent me into an acid flashback
I’ve seen better stills at DeviantArt. This looks like it’s going to be yet another Burton f***up. The man hasn’t done anything original since the mid-’90s. And I totally agree with aphexjh (#4), Burton keeps using the same actors over and over again, Helen and Johnny, Helen and Johnny. Don’t get me wrong, they’re good (yet they still don’t make up for Burton’s crap), but there are much better people out there for the roles at hand. Matt Lucas looks promising however. P.S. Depp as the Mad Hatter looks like someone poisoned Elijah Wood with arsenic and then desecrated the corpse with graffiti.
The images look cool. I am rather frustrated though that he’s fusing The Queen of Hearts and The Red Queen into one. They are two totally different characters. Urgh…
Burton really needs to tap a different pool of actors, this one’s dried up. Perhaps he could find someone who has actual talent, instead of relying on Depp’s huge market-share in the 12-14 year old female demographic.
Every movie needs some johnny depp and helena IMO, but this film looks seriously disaappointing on one front, that being alice is supposed to be a GIRL, not a young woman. The groteque characters just dont have the same impact against an Alice who is, as pretty much twice the age of the alice who first went down the rabbit hole.
I’m 52 and have always loved Alice. I can’t wait for a more exciting version!
weirdness is something quite expectable from Tim Burton, Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter. But the art and colors are still amazing.
Buuhhh…
I’m a fan of the Alice books, and I’m a fan of Tim Burton.
But I was really hoping that this version would not be a Disney remake but actually just ‘The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland’ without ‘Through the Looking-Glass’. The combination of the stories doesn’t really make sense, originally they’re so different from each other.
And to be completely honest, I’m getting extremely sick and tired of this macabre take on Carroll’s stories /facepalm
Johnny Depp looks like an insane murderer. The Mad Hatter is supposed to be just insane. Not creepy insane, just in another world insane.
I just feel let down and am hoping the movie turns out better than it’s looking. Not that I’m trying to be a downer D:
I must admit I do love the Burton-Depp-Bonham-Carter trifecta and it looks like it will be lovely, but for some reason that photo of the Mad Hatter looks exactly like Elijah Wood.
Interesting co-opting of Mark Ryden’s visual style. is he mentioned in the credits?
I think it all looks great. I’m not an Alice in Wonderland purist though, and I am just naturally a fan of Burton’s style, so I can’t comment on the movie’s credibility. It just looks really cool.
On another note, I wonder if there is any other auteur who has recast the same actors as much as Tim Burton.
Agree with Crystalyne. American McGee’s version will always stay in my heart ^^
Really looking forward to seeing how this turns out. Lots of potential. The images are interesting…beautiful landscapes. The only thing I really dislike is the clownish mad hatter.
Would have loved to see a film incarnation of American McGee’s vision of Alice in Wonderland.
I hate when film-makers do this… The Red Queen is NOT the Queen of Hearts. The Red Queen and the White Queen aren’t even from Alice in Wonderland, they’re from “Through the Looking Glass” (as are Tweedledee & Tweedledum)!! The Photo of the Queen of Hears is captioned as The Red Queen, but it’s clearly the Queen of Hearts. Alice in Wonderland has more to do with card-games and playing-cards, while Through the Looking Glass is about Chess. This annoys me greatly….
Well I think it looks freakin’ amazing, and I love Tim Burton so you people shut up about him choosing other actors, Johny Deep and Helena Bonahm Carter are amazing!!!! way better than some new actors there are these days. I think this movie is going to be fantastic!!!!
Boy do I have problems with this.
1) Johnny Depp is a terrible actor. Why does Tim Burton keep working with him? He was the worst thing in Sweeney Todd. He had zero depth - that role requires someone who can really feel the depth of the rage, betrayal and hurt that Sweeney experiences. Johnny Depp phones his part in, thinking that a scowl here and a sneer there would suffice. FAIL.
2) Helena Bonham Carter is a pretty good actress, and I’ve seen her in some rather good movies. However, she has sucked in every single Tim Burton movie I’ve seen. Case in point: Planet of the Apes. (One of the biggest embarrassments in Hollywood history) Another case in point: Sweeney Todd. FAIL.
3) Tim Burton seems to have an overdeveloped sense of visuals, and an underdeveloped sense of everything else. Edward Scissorhands was pretty to look at, but ultimately incredibly empty, if not to say outright stupid. Same with Nightmare Before Christmas, Sleepy Hollow, Willy Wonka… the list goes on. The man has no sense of how to put anything into a scene except for visual panache. And that, being his only trick up his sleeve, gets way overplayed.
The only Tim Burton movie I really have liked is PeeWee’s Big Adventure (and Frankenweenie, if we’re counting shorts) I liked Beetlejuice somewhat, but even here Burton was showing signs of style burning holes in substance.
So why do I keep watching Tim Burton movies? I don’t know. I guess I keep hoping he’ll make another decent one.
Oh: Ed Wood. I liked Ed Wood a lot. So that, Pee Wee and Beetlejuice. But everything else: not so much.
Hum interesting again why oh why hasnt the lead part gone to a Brit Ossie’s dont cut the mustard guys its only the Americans who can not tell that they are not english…. apart from the queens well who else was it going to be played by, a shocker I must say !…….domestic Bliss…….So apart from voice over and matt Lucas playing a couple of fat weirdos hardly gonna be a stretch of his acting is it. Well might be visually interesting and might even be a good film but i doubt it will do as well as the studios will think it will do any good even though its obviously aimed at the American market
holy frick this movie es gonna be awesome! so any of u tha dont think this will be a good movie then what the hell u doin on here anyways huh??
jonny depp & helena bonham carter are the best actor & actress in the entire frackin world. tim burton es amazing and all three of them make a surreal team that will blow ur head clean off ur body and leave a fountain of warm blood. so for thos of you disagreeing w/ tim burton u can go suck big black rocks.
lov ta all <3
people who are critizing burton’s work and johnny depp are frankly.. ILL! Stop talking smack about the. OBVIOUSLY they are doing something right, being millioniares and successful! Christ
Alice isnt supposed to be anything. its his OWN movie. He could have made her an old man name Arnie.
Stop being stupid and judging without even seeing the movie.
Wha, Wha, WHAT!?!???!??! ANNE HATHAWAY is taking over for CAROL CHANNING as the white queen???!!! Are you fucking kidding me? GARBAGE!
WOW WOW WOW!!!
I can’t even explain how excited I am about this film!!! Tri-factor right here for me ppl, my fav Director (Burton) fav actor (Depp) and fav story of all time (Wonderland) I think that this is going to blow my mind!
I definitely agree that the Mad Hatter is far too clownish looking, I think they could have done a better job with the makeup. Anne Hathaway as the White Queen does put a sour taste in my mouth right now, but I’m not going to judge it before I see it, who knows she might end up doing a good job. Helena looks absolutely AMAZING as the Queen of Hearts, it is strange that she is stated here as the Red Queen…but maybe that’s somebody’s mistake, maybe she is in fact the Queen of Hearts in the film!
The imagaery looks fantastic and I think that this film is not going to be a disappointment. I understand though, because I was unfortunately disappointed with Charlie and the Chocolate factory as well…not that I hated it or anything, but not too impressed either.
I noticed that some of you here think that this looks too “dark” for lack of better words, but the Alice stories are very much on the dark side. They were really in no way meant to be children’s stories. Disney made it more kid friendly really. I’ve seen many renditions of the Wonderland stories, YES including the made for TV series with good old Carol Channing and John Stamos LOL, but I think Burton is just the man to do justice to the real tone of the stories.
I’m curious about how long this film will be. There are SOOO many characters and plots within the Alice stories. I wonder if he will incorporate the Jabberwackie (spell?) that would be cool. I wonder if he’s going to fuse Wonderland and Looking Glass together…looks like it! It will be very difficult to get both stories into one film regardless, hope he does a good job. I will remain optimistic
Okay so I just have to say to those who think Depp is not talented or that Burton is using him as a money maker. While I agree that Depp is a money maker, he is for good reason…he’s very talented. I recommend watching these films if you doubt Depp’s talent:
“What’s Eating Gilbert Grape”…Simple role, but good job
“Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”…does a PHENOMENOL job with this role
“Finding Neverland”…what can I say, he’s great in it
“Pirates of the Caribbean”…I’m sorry but he does a great job with that character, very funny and entertaining…who knew Pirates could be so flamboyant
“Benny and Joon”…sooo good in this one
“Edward Scissorhands”…Come on, he did a great job in this role, really sucks you right into his world
“Sweeney Todd”…I know that this was a tough role to play, but if nothing else let’s give him credit for the fact that he sang EVERY scene…there was no pre-recording of him singing and then lip synching the scenes. So he had to sing and act as if on broadway, yet it’s filming… that’s talent!
Also I noticed some comments on how Burton is all eye candy and no substance, STRONGLY DISAGREE with that.
Nightmare Before Christmas is one the most unique and facsinating plot concepts I have ever known.
Edward Scissorhands was not Burton’s story…he took it from a young boy’s story that won some story writing contest. Regardless, it’s a great story with much substance.
Beetlejuice…again one of the most interesting plot concepts I’ve ever known.
He did a great job with the Batman films, you can’t say there’s no substance there…he took it from one of the greatest comics of all time. James and the Giant Peach…my god did he do a great job with that story!
As far as I’m concerned Tim Burton can keep casting Johnny and Helena in his films, because they’ve done no wrong so far! If it ain’t broke don’t fix it :p
Seriously, all of you people who are thinking this movie seems a bit dark for Alice In wonderland stop. If you have ever read The real book, The original you would know that it really is a strange, and Mysterous movie. It has alot of twists and turns that are dark. Tim Burton Obviously just sees that in every movie he does. He goes off the book, Unlike everyone else. I think the people he picked for it are fantastic. Johny Depp is in alot of his movies, yes. But he just has that look that goes along with Tim Burtons style. I think it will be a fantastic movie!
Paul Giamatti as the Mad Hatter! Awesome.
i think it will be a brilliant watch. i love tim burtons ability 2 see the sinister undertones in the mundane world we live in. ive often wondered at the disney movies i love so much and at how some of them have a real dangerous undertone. snow white warns girls that its bad to b the fairest of them all. disney uses beauty to warn us from it. johnny depp will b a great addition. i am yet to see helena offer anything more than a shrill harpy to every film she graces but i will keep an open mind. all in all i think anyone who judges something before they know the full story is incredibly dimwitted and dull.
Until I read the caption I thought the pic was of MADONNA as the Mad Hatter…that’s kind of ruined it for me now…
Well i think that all of you that say Johny Depp will ruin it, i think he’ll make even more awesome he fits the craziness perfectly =) or would you guys rather try to fit the role? didn’t think so haha, oh and those that said its over done, its a dream so everything and anything can be crazy! what are you guys Siskel and Ebert, if you think its going to be stupid then don’t watch it and get on with your lives! i think this film will be way kablamo (meaning more than awesome) this is the kind of movie I’ve bin waiting for, a freakin’ freaky awesome movie! but that’s just my opinion =)
I grew up being called alice. because they say I was in my own world. Wow it looks like you found it. My heart learched when I saw the trailer. I try to never miss any Alice in Wonderland. thank you, Tim Burton is perfect to make this happen.
tim burton’s take on his infinite classic looks like it will be a feast for the senses! the characters certainly look twisted enough. now, will someone in hollywood wake up and make the Looking Glass Wars books into a movie?!! that version of this amazing classic couldn’t be more timely don’t you think?
a great post,thanks for shareing—–UGG Boots│
UGGS
Really looking forward to this movie. A graphic novel publisher called Campfire has just launched their adaptation of this awesome story too. If anyone is interested, have a look here - http://www.campfire.co.in/Classics_Alice_In_Wonderland.aspx
I think its a mistake to look at the images provided in this article as a basis for what the movie experience will be. The entire movie is going to be in 3-D, so looking at some colorful 2-D pictures will not give anyone an accurate portrayal of the detailed imagery in the movie. Additionally, the acting will be extremely critical to this movie’s success. I don’t want to walk out of the theater thinking “Wow, this movie looked amazing, but the acting was disappointing.” If the imagery is as close to great as I hope it will be, the acting will control Alice’s fate as a classic or a tremendous disappointment.