Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland

A couple of weeks ago, A Fanciful Twist featured their annual mad tea party for the online community. If you're not familiar with the event, click on the bicycle image to the right or here.
It is a spectacular visual feast created by a very talented artist named Vanessa Valencia in Arizona.

Scheduled for release in March 2010, is Walt Disney's latest remake of Lewis Carroll's 1865 classic childrens tale, The Adventures Of Alice In Wonderland. American film Director,Producer,writer and artist Tim Burton is the creator of Disney's Alice In Wonderland. I became a big fan of Burton's work after Nightmare before Christmas which has been one of my favorite movies that I love to play every Halloween night. It always seem to heighten my All Hallows mood before giving out the treats.


Australian native Mia Wasikowska will be playing the leading role as Alice with other well known talented stars such as Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen & Ann Hathaway as the White Queen. This is my first time hearing of her, however, I've read that she was a very good choice. We shall see.

Helena, who by the way, is also Burton's significant other, in my opinion will make the ideal Red Queen. She can portray a villainous character like no other.

I'm sure there was no question in Burton's mind when deciding the best person for the Mad Hatter. Johnny Depp was the perfect choice. I cannot wait to see him perform this role.

The media's speculation on the upcoming remake seem to be mixed with some critics already forewarning their readers that the film may not be suitable for children. Now, if you're familiar with Tim Burton's work, then its more likely you'll side with those critics.

However, there are other critics that say it pails in comparison to any of the Harry Potter trilogy. As a big lover of the Harry Potter movies, I'm not convinced that says much given the fact that I took my 5 and 7 year old neices to see the first Harry Potter release which was very frightening to them both.
The August edition of Vanity Fair predicts that Burton's talented paired with the "performance capture" technology and 3-D animation give them reasons to believe this film is destined to be of a rare breed: the auteur's blockbuster.

Anne Hathaway as the White Queen. I am also a big fan of Hathaway after her performance as Jack Twist's wife Lureen in the 2005 Oscar nominated film Brokeback Mountain. I thought the scene of her on the phone with Ennis (Heath Ledger) discussing her husband Jack's death was moving. Very little dialogue but her eyes spoke volumes of the emotions that overcame her when she learned about her husband's relationship to Ennis. She has not disappointed me since that role. See the trailer here.

Sacramento's Runaway Stage productions, a terrific local theater company, will also be performing the classic tale at the 24TH Street theatre on July 18,25 & August 1, 2009. For more information and tickets, visit Runaway Stage Productions.