Alice in Wonderland 2010
Last Updated (Monday, 18 January 2010 19:19) Written by Michelle Monday, 18 January 2010 19:05
The story is a new take on the Lewis Carroll Alice in Wonderland novels: Alice is now 19 years old, attending a party at a Victorian estate. She is asked to marry by a rich (but entirely unattractive) suitor in front of hundreds of snooty onlookers. She claims she needs a moment to consider, and runs off, following a white rabbit into a hole. She ends up in Wonderland again, a place she visited many years before, though she doesn't remember any of it. The White Rabbit believes Alice is the only one who can slay the Jabberwock, the monster who guards the Red Queen's territory. Alice assumes a variety of sizes on a mission to save Wonderland from the Red Queen's reign of terror. Along the way, she learns some crucial lessons about herself.
Alice is played by Mia Wasikowska, a new actress. Johnny Depp co-stars 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 Mad Hatter's orange hair provides a reference to the mercury poisoning suffered by many hatters who used mercury to cure felt. The Hatter was poisoned, and it showed through his hair, through his fingernails and eyes. In this storyline, The Mad Hatter is Alice's ally as well as one of the few characters in Wonderland Alice can relate to because they both feel like outsiders.
The Red Queen: Helena Bonham Carter's head will be tripled in size. Her character is a combination of the Red Queen and the Queen of Hearts.
The White Queen: Anne Hathaway's character does not require digital manipulation. Her character doesn't walk, but floats, and is very eccentric.
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.
Tweedledum and Tweedledee: Matt Lucas' face was digitally inserted for both characters, while the body was computer-generated.
Disney Interactive Studios will release a video game based on the film in the same week as the film release for the Wii, Nintendo DS and Windows PC. An iPhone version is expected to be released in February 2010.