Tim Burtons adaptation of Alice in Wonderland

Alice in Wonderland has been a classic for many, many years. Its creativity is like no other, and the adventures of Alice are irreplaceable. The Alice in Wonderland movie (2010) made everyone who loved the classic, love it even more. Although there were varying opinions, this movie became the second best grossing film in 2010. The director, Tim Burton, has been known for a long time as a man who has a wild imagination. This movie brings that imagination, and the book, to life. The original author, Lewis Carroll, most likely would’ve never thought that his book would be so adored. With a total of $200 million dollars, Tim Burton made Carrolls books become a reality. Although, the cast of this movie is what literally brought the characters to life. The cast and main characters of this movie include: Johnny Depp (The Mad Hatter), Mia Wasikowska (Alice), Anne Hathaway (The White Queen), Helena Bonham Carter (The Red Queen), Alan Rickman (The Caterpillar), Stephen Fry (The Cheshire Cat), Michael Sheen (The White Rabbit) and Crispin Glover (Knave of Hearts). There are still many more characters to this movie, but these characters are who the movie mostly revolves around. This movie is really unique to all the other adaptations of Alice in Wonderland, and Tim Burton is the one who made it happen.

This movie quite literally changes your point of view of Alice in Wonderland, and I mean that in the best way possible. Tim Burtons adaptation of Alice in Wonderland is exactly how someone would expect it to be, a bit creepy and very strange. The movie just kept getting curiouser and curiouser. The movie first starts with a young Alice having a bad dream, but everyone who knows the story of Alice, knows what her dream was about. This adaptation of Alice in Wonderland is pretty much a sequel to the original story. Alice is shown to be grown up in most of the movie; shes about 17 years old. The beginning of the movie mainly talks about how Alice has been to Underland before, and how she doesn’t remember. Although, the ending of the movie is spoiled from the start when the blue caterpillar, Absolem, mentions Alices destiny. This destiny is to slay the Red Queens Jabberwocky with the Vorpal Sword. The Jabberwocky being the Red Queens dragon, with the Vorpal Sword being the only weapon that will take down the dragon. Through and through, this movie seems to be as accurate as it can be to the original book. Carroll may have been a bit startled at how gory some parts of the movie can be, but it most likely would have enjoyed Burtons version of it. The performance of the actors seemed to be the most authentic part of the movie. Each actor seemed to fit their role very well, almost as if they were actually the character. Tim Burton did a great job picking when picking actors to portray Carrolls characters. Without Carrolls imagination, some of these characters would’ve never happened. Way before Carroll even thought about writing a book, he told Alice Liddell and her two sisters about the interminable Alices adventures. Alice Liddell was actually the girl who gave her name to Carrolls story. But, when Carroll told his made up story to Alice and her sisters, he retold it so many times that he accidentally added in the Mad Hatter and the Cheshire Cat characters. Without this slip up, we wouldn’t have these unforgettable characters. Johnny Depp fits the Mad Hatter just right in this film, right down to the Scottish accent. Even Mia Wasikowska, who portrayed Alice, fits her character really well. I noticed that Mia looked as though she genuinely could be Alice. Her hair and makeup were very accurate, and it made the movie more believable. Every aspect of this movie seems to fit what the original author had in mind when he made Wonderland so strange. Tim Burton also made the tale even better, with his unique take on it and the characters.

The critics seem to enjoy the film as much as Alice Liddell enjoyed hearing the story. Many of them talk about the animation of the film, and I have to agree because the animation is very well put-together. It seems as though Burton knew exactly what he was looking for when creating the animation, the Cheshire Cat being a great example. The cat reappears, and disappears continuously in the movie, but he does it in a mysterious way. A lot of things in this film are animated, but they almost seem real. In my opinion, I thought this movie did deserve the two Oscars that it got. It was an adventure from start to finish, and it was a enjoyable to watch. I really liked the animation, and how creative it got with the characters and the scenery. The scenery was especially interesting, because it set the right kind of mood for each scene. I believe this movie was directed particularly well, because of how much it has to offer the viewer. Its a very unique rendition of the original Alice in Wonderland book, and it was intriguing to watch.

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