What's Down the Rabbit Hole?

Tim Burton is about to "wow" us, again. This time, with his unique vision of Alice in Wonderland. We'll have to wait until March of 2010, but I have a feeling that it will be well worth the wait! I'm extra excited about it because I've always loved Alice, and I had even said many times early in Burton's career that his version of a Wonderland would be an incredible one.

The actress who was cast in the title role is somewhat unknown. And by that, I mean she hasn't really made it BIG, yet. The 20-year-old actress is Mia Wasikowska, and she is probably best known for her role as a patient named Sophie on the 1st season of HBO's In Treatment. That is a great show, by the way. If you like watching drama, I highly recommend it. I haven't seen any of Mia's Sophie episodes, though. I'll have to find and watch those, soon...

Mia Wasikowska is Alice.

Anyway, in Burton's version of Wonderland, Alice is now much older than in Lewis Carroll's original book. Here, she is a 17-year-old revisiting a Wonderland she has completely forgotten. Burton has said that he thinks other versions have suffered because they were basically "just one weird event after another". He says he's "trying to ground it a little bit" while also making a story that uses the Alice mythology and characters in a way that's "true to the spirit of what Alice is about."

The official movie title logo.

(Looks quite Burton-esque, huh?)

Another part of his retelling, is a Mad Hatter with a much bigger role in the story. "With him we are always trying to find a subtext and layer to it, so it's rooted in humanity to some degree - something deeper than just being nuts", Burton said. I'm sure that you must have heard by now that Johnny Depp will be the one inhabiting that character. His talent, combined with Burton's, almost assures an excellent film all by itself!

Johnny Depp is the

Mad Hatter.

Adding to the challenge of concocting such a different take on Alice, is the filming process. The film will be presented using a mix of animation, live-action and motion-capture. And according to Burton, it has proved to be a "mysterious puzzle that's frightening and exciting at the same time."

Anne Hathaway is the

White Queen.

Helena Bonham Carter is

the Red Queen. (Her head was

enlarged to 3x the normal size.)

Matt Lucas is both

Tweedledee & Tweedledum.

Now, the following images are just conceptual, but if the film comes anywhere close to these... we're gonna be treated to some great eye-candy!

Could this be when Alice first enters

Wonderland and encounters the

White Rabbit?

Alice, in a garden of live flowers, and

approaching what looks like a gateway

into a forest of giant mushrooms.

Some other cast members (whose character images have not yet been released) include Alan Rickman as the Caterpillar, Crispin Glover as the Knave of Hearts, Michael Sheen as the White Rabbit, Stephen Fry as the Cheshire Cat and Christopher Lee as the Jabberwock.

I tell ya, with a cast like that, this movie is going to be awesome! Or, at the very least, interesting. And quite colorful! I like color.

All images copyright Walt Disney Pictures