«Alice in Wonderland»

«Alice in Wonderland» is a 2010 American computer-animated/live action fantasy adventure film directed by Tim Burton, written by Linda Woolverton, and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The film stars Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway, Crispin Glover, Michael Sheen,Matt Lucas and Stephen Fry.

The film is inspired by Lewis Carroll's 1865 fantasy novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its 1871 sequel Through the Looking-Glass. Wasikowska plays the now nineteen-year-old Alice who, 13 years after her previous visit, returns for the first time as a young woman. She is told that she is the only one who can slay the Jabberwocky, a dragon-like creature controlled by the Red Queen who terrorizes Underland's inhabitants.

The film premiered in London at the Odeon Leicester Square on February 25, 2010, and was released in Australia on March 4, 2010, and the United States and the United Kingdom on March 5, 2010, through IMAX 3D and Disney Digital 3D, as well as in traditional theaters. Despite its short theatrical release window and mixed reviews, the film grossed over $1.02 billion worldwide. At the 83rd Academy Awards, Alice in Wonderland won for Best Art Direction andBest Costume Design. As of October 2011, it is the ninth highest-grossing film of all time. 

Troubled by a strange recurring dream and mourning the loss of her beloved father, nineteen-year-old Alice Kingsleigh attends a garden party at Lord Ascot's estate, where she is confronted by an unwanted marriage proposal and the stifling expectations of the society in which she lives. Unsure of how to reply, and increasingly confused, she runs away to chase after a rabbit in a blue waistcoat, and accidentally falls into a large rabbit hole. She is transported to a world called Underland, where she is greeted by the White Rabbit, the Dormouse, the Dodo, and Tweedledum and Tweedledee. They argue over her identity as "the right Alice", who it is foretold will slay the Red Queen's Jabberwocky on the Frabjous Day and restore the White Queen to power. The group is then ambushed by the Bandersnatch and a group of playing-card soldiers led by the Knave of Hearts. Alice escapes and flees into the woods.

The Knave informs the Red Queen that Alice has returned to Underland and threatens her reign, and the soldiers are ordered to find Alice immediately. Meanwhile, the wandering Alice encounters the Cheshire Cat, who takes her to the March Hare and the Hatter. On the way to the White Queen's castle, Hatter relates the terror of the Red Queen's reign, and comments that Alice is not the same as she once was. The Hatter helps Alice avoid capture by allowing himself to be seized instead. Later, Alice is found by Bayard the Bloodhound, who wishes to take her to the White Queen, but Alice insists upon helping the Hatter, so they go to the Red Queen's castle.

The Red Queen is unaware of Alice's true identity and therefore welcomes her as a guest. Alice learns that the Vorpal Sword (the only weapon capable of killing the Jabberwocky) is locked away in a case inside the Bandersnatch's den. The Knave crudely attempts to seduce Alice, but she rebuffs him. She later manages to retrieve the sword and befriend the Bandersnatch. The Knave finds her with the sword and attempts to arrest her. Alice escapes on the back of the Bandersnatch and delivers the sword to the White Queen. The Cheshire Cat saves the Hatter from execution, and the Hatter calls for rebellion against the Red Queen. The rebellion is quickly put down by Jubjub bird. The resistance flees to the White Queen's castle, and both armies prepare for battle. Alice remains unsure about the expectation for her to champion the White Queen, and meets with Absolem[5] the Caterpillar. He reminds Alice of her past visit to Underland (which she mistakenly called "Wonderland" at the time) thirteen years earlier, and helps give her the courage to fight the Jabberwocky.

When the Frabjous Day arrives, both the White and Red Queens gather their armies on a chessboard-like battlefield and send forth their chosen champions (armor-clad Alice and the Jabberwocky respectively) to decide the fate of Underland. Encouraging herself with the words of her late father, Alice manages to kill the Jabberwocky. The White Queen then banishes the Red Queen and the Knave to the Outlands, and gives Alice a vial of the Jabberwocky’s blood, which will take her home. The Hatter suggests that she could stay in Underland, but she decides that she must go back and promises that she will return.

Alice returns home, where she stands up to her family and pledges to live life on her own terms. Impressed, Lord Ascot takes her in as his apprentice, with the idea of establishing oceanic trade routes to China. As the story closes, Alice prepares to set off on a trading ship. Absolem, now a butterfly, lands on her shoulder. Alice recognizes him and greets him before he flutters away. 

The film features a variety of characters, many of whom are based on characters that are featured in works by Lewis Carroll.

• Mia Wasikowska as Alice Kingsleigh. When creating the character, screenwriter Linda Woolverton researched how young women were expected to behave in the Victorian era and then made her the opposite.  Wasikowska read Carroll's books as a child and re-read them to prepare for her role. She also watched Jan Švankmajer's Alice. She said, "When we were kids, my mum would pop it in the VCR player. We would be disturbed, and wouldn't really understand it, but we couldn't look away because it was too intriguing. So I had kept that feeling about Alice, a kind of haunting feeling." Although facing pressures to conform to society's expectations, Alice grows into a stronger-willed and empowered heroine who chooses her own path;Independent columnist Liz Hoggard praised Alice as a role model for girls, describing the character as "stubborn, brave, [and] non-girlie".  Mairi Ella Challen portrayed Alice as a six-year-old. 

• Johnny Depp as The Hatter. Wasikowska said that the characters "both feel like outsiders and feel alone in their separate worlds, and have a special bond and friendship."  Burton explained that Depp "tried to find a grounding to the character... as opposed to just being mad."  Burton also said that, "In a lot of versions it's a very one-note kind of character and you know [Depp's] goal was to try and bring out a human side to the strangeness of the character." The orange hair is an allusion to the mercury poisoning suffered by milliners who used mercury to cure felt, Depp believes that the character "was poisoned... and it was coming out through his hair, through his fingernails and eyes".  Depp and Burton decided that the Hatter's clothes, skin, hair, personality and accent would change throughout the film to reflect his emotions.  In an interview with Depp, the character was paralleled to "...a mood ring, [as] his emotions are very close to the surface".  The Hatter is "made up of different people and their extreme sides", with a gentle voice much like the character's creator Lewis Carroll reflecting the lighter personality and with a Scottish Glaswegian accent (which Depp modeled after Gregor Fisher's Rab C. Nesbittcharacter) reflecting a darker, more dangerous personality.  Illusionary dancer David "Elsewhere" Bernal doubled for Depp during the "Futterwacken" sequence near the end of the film. 

• Helena Bonham Carter as Iracebeth of Crims, the Red Queen, which is a combination of the Red Queen and the Queen of Hearts.  Her first name is a play on the word irascible, as she is easily irritated and quick to anger.  Bonham Carter's head was digitally increased to three times its original size on screen.  The character hates animals, choosing to use them as servants and furniture.  The actress took inspiration from her young daughter Nell, a toddler, stating that, "The Red Queen is just like a toddler, because she’s got a big head and she’s a tyrant.

• Anne Hathaway as Mirana of Marmoreal, the White Queen. She was one of few characters that did 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."  According to Hathaway, "She comes from the same gene pool as the Red Queen. She really likes the dark side, but she's so scared of going too far into it that she's made everything appear very light and happy. But she's living in that place out of fear that she won't be able to control herself." Hathaway described her interpretation of the White Queen as "a punk-rock vegan pacifist", with inspiration drawn from Blondie, Greta Garbo, and the artwork of Dan Flavin. Burton said that the White Queen's appearance was inspired by Nigella Lawson. 

• Crispin Glover played Ilosovic Stayne, the Knave of Hearts. The character is arrogant and tricky, and while following the Red Queen's every order, he is the only one capable of calming her dramatic mood swings. Glover said, "The Red Queen has a fair amount of short-tempered reactions to things that people do, and so [the Knave] has to be quite diplomatic." Stayne's body was completely CGI with only Glover's head being live-action. 

• Matt Lucas portrayed both Tweedledee and Tweedledum. Burton commented on the mixture of animation and Lucas, saying that "It's a weird mixture of things which gives his characters the disturbing quality that they so richly deserve." 

• Marton Csokas as Charles Kingsley, Alice’s father

• Lindsay Duncan as Helen Kingsley, Alice’s mother

• Jemma Powell as Margaret, Alice's sister

• Frances de la Tour as Imogene, Alice's aunt. 

• John Hopkins as Lowell, Alice's sister's husband.

• Tim Piggott-Smith as Lord Ascot

• Geraldine James as Lady Ascot

• Leo Bill as Hamish Ascot, Alice's fiancé and the son of Lord Ascot. 

 Voices

• Michael Sheen voiced Nivens McTwisp, the White Rabbit. Sheen said the character, "...is such an iconic character that [he] didn't feel like [he] should break the mold too much." Burton said the quality he wanted most in his clock-watching bunny was a twitchiness, also commenting that "[in] any incarnation of the [White Rabbit] through the years, there's that sort of nervousness of a rabbit." 

• Alan Rickman voiced Absolem, the Caterpillar.  Although Rickman was filmed while recording his voice in a studio, his face was not composited onto the character's face as originally planned. 

• Barbara Windsor voiced Mallymkun, the Dormouse.  Burton said that Windsor's voice sealed the deal for her role as the character. 

• Stephen Fry voiced Cheshire, the Cheshire Cat.  Burton stated that the character had a creepy quality in addition to tapping into his own hatred of cats. 

• Paul Whitehouse voiced Thackery Earwicket, the March Hare.  Burton stated that because Whitehouse is a great comedic actor, a lot of his lines came from improvisation. 

• Timothy Spall voiced Bayard the Bloodhound.

• Michael Gough (in his final acting role) voiced Uilleam, the Dodo bird. Burton said that Gough was the first person he thought of for the role of the Dodo because he has "a full life quality to his voice". 

• Sir Christopher Lee voiced the Jabberwocky for its short speaking role. While it only had a couple of lines, Burton said that he felt Lee to be a good match for the iconic character because he is "an iconic guy". 

• Imelda Staunton voiced the Talking Flowers. 

• Jim Carter voices the Executioner. 

• Frank Welker provided additional voices and vocal effects.  

Tim Burton signed with Disney to direct two films in Disney Digital 3D, which included Alice in Wonderland  and his remake of Frankenweenie. Burton developed the story because he never felt an emotional connection to the original book, with its series of events about a girl wandering from one weird character to another. 

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."  Burton focused on the poem "Jabberwocky" as part of his structure, and refers to the described creature by the name of the poem rather than by the name "Jabberwock". Burton also stated that he doesn't see his version as either a sequel to any existing Alice film or as a "re-imagining". 

"We wanted somebody who had... it's hard to put into words, but just had a gravity to her, an internal life, something that you could see the wheels turning. It's just a simple kind of power to her that we really liked. Not flamboyant, not very showy, but just somebody that's got a lot of internal life to her. That's why I picked her."

—Tim Burton on casting Mia Wasikowska as Alice

This film was originally set to be released in 2009, but was pushed back to March 5, 2010.  Principal photography was scheduled for May 2008, but did not begin until September and concluded in three months.  Scenes set in the Victorian era were shot at Torpoint andPlymouth from September 1 to October 14. Two hundred and fifty local extras were chosen in early August. Locations included Antony Housein Torpoint, Charlestown, Cornwall and the Barbican, however, no footage from the Barbican was used. Motion capture filming began in early October at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California, though the footage was later discarded. Filming also took place atCulver Studios.  Burton said that he used a combination of live action and animation, without motion capture.  He also noted that this was the first time he had filmed on a green screen. Filming of the green screen portions, comprising 90% of the film, was completed after only 40 days.  Many of the cast and crew felt nauseated as a result of the long hours surrounded by green, with Burton having lavender lenses fitted into his glasses to counteract the effect.  Due to the constant need for digital effects to distort the actors' physical appearances, such as the size of the Red Queen's head or Alice's height, visual effects supervisor Ken Ralston cited the film as being exhausting, saying it was "The biggest show I've ever done, [and] the most creatively involved I've ever been." 

Sony Pictures Imageworks designed the visual effects sequences.  Burton felt 3D was appropriate to the story's environment.  Burton and Zanuck chose to film with conventional cameras, and convert the footage into 3D during post-production; 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.James Cameron, who released his 3D film Avatar in December 2009, criticized the choice, stating, "It doesn't make any sense to shoot in 2-D and convert to 3-D".  

 Soundtrack:

Alice in Wonderland: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by Danny Elfman
Released	March 2, 2010
Genre	Orchestral
Length	50:59
Label	Walt Disney

Longtime Burton collaborator Danny Elfman's score was released March 2, 2010.  It debuted at #89 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums. 

Track listing:

Alice in Wonderland: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Alice's Theme"	5:07
2.	"Little Alice"	1:34
3.	"Proposal/Down the Hole"	2:58
4.	"Doors"	1:51
5.	"Drink Me"	2:48
6.	"Into the Garden"	0:50
7.	"Alice Reprise #1"	0:26
8.	"Bandersnatched"	2:42
9.	"Finding Absolem"	2:41
10.	"Alice Reprise #2"	0:38
11.	"The Cheshire Cat"	2:07
12.	"Alice and Bayard's Journey"	4:04
13.	"Alice Reprise #3"	0:24
14.	"Alice Escapes"	1:07
15.	"The White Queen"	0:36
16.	"Only a Dream"	1:25
17.	"The Dungeon"	2:18
18.	"Alice Decides"	3:14
19.	"Alice Reprise #4"	1:01
20.	"Going to Battle"	2:41
21.	"The Final Confrontation"	1:41
22.	"Blood of the Jabberwocky"	2:37
23.	"Alice Returns"	3:14
24.	"Alice Reprise #5"	2:56

Almost Alice is a collection of various artists' music inspired by the film.  The lead single, "Alice" by Avril Lavigne, premiered on January 27, 2010 on Ryan Seacrest's radio program. The album was released on March 2, 2010.

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