Burton Talks Alice
The director on his version of Wonderland.
by Jim Vejvoda
October 16, 2008 - Director Tim Burton hopes that his live-action/performance capture retelling of Alice in Wonderland will be what he feels other screen versions of the story haven't been: engaging and psychological.
"It's a funny project. The story is obviously a classic with iconic images and ideas and thoughts. But with all the movie versions, well, I've just never seen one that really had any impact to me. It's always just a series of weird events," Burton told the Los Angeles Times.
"Every character is strange and she's just kind of wandering through all of the encounters as just a sort of observer. 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. And, you know, getting to do it in 3-D fits the material quite well. So I'm excited about making it a new version but also have the elements that people expect when they think of the material."
Burton isn't even especially fond of the classic Disney animated version. "Yeah, I know, it's just, 'Oh, this character's weird' and 'Oh, that character's weird.' I can't really recall a version where I felt really engaged by it. So that's the goal, just to try to give it a gravity that most film versions haven't had."
The Alice cast includes Mia Wasikowska as Alice, Johnny Depp as The Mad Hatter, Matt Lucas in the dual role of Tweedledum and Tweedledee, Anne Hathaway as the White Queen, and Burton's off-screen love Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen.