Looking a little bit farther down the rabbit hole...

I'm so curious about 'Alice in Wonderland', I think I could BURST! Yes, we've all seen the trailer (You have seen it, right?), but that's just a teaser... Like only peeping through a keyhole. I'm more than ready to fall down that rabbit hole with Alice to explore all the wondrous things our delightfully twisted Tim Burton has dreamed into cinematic reality! But, sadly, we must continue waiting for that "very important date": 3/5/10. And when it does finally get here, you can bet I won't be late!

In the mean time, I want to share a few more Alice-related goodies that I've come across lately. The first three images are new movie posters that were recently released. The images that follow those are from a photo shoot that was featured in Vanity Fair magazine, back in August of this year. So you might have already seen the magazine shots, but maybe not.

Please, enjoy...




~ MOVIE POSTERS ~





This is so very pleasing!
It's total eye-candy! Notice, if you
will, the Mad Hatter sitting at the
head of his table, waaaay in the
background (left).






Why, here comes Hatter, now!
Such a dapper fellow, that one...
Love the giant mushrooms, too!
Did you happen to notice Caterpillar
sitting on one (upper right), having
a smoke on his hookah?







Cheshire Cat, Red Queen, White
Queen and the Tweedle's. Don't
even ask which one is Dum or Dee
'cuz I have no clue!
I'm liking Carter's huge-headed
Red Queen. What do you think?




~ VANITY FAIR PHOTOS ~




Photograph by Mary Ellen Mark

Mia Wasikowska, in character as a
teen-aged 'Alice'.







Photograph by Mary Ellen Mark

Johnny Depp, in character as the
very colorful 'Mad Hatter'.






Photograph by Mary Ellen Mark

Anne Hathaway, in character as the
beautiful 'White Queen'.






Photograph by Mary Ellen Mark

Helena Bonham Carter, in character
as the short-tempered and somewhat
clownish 'Red Queen'.




That's about all I can see for now. The rabbit hole is pretty deep, and very dark... Of course, I would willingly jump right in if it weren't for the invisible barrier keeping out riffraff like us from the real world! I just hope that the next 3 months go by quickly, and I'll bet Mr. Burton feels just as anxious. He probably can't wait to grant us access into his Wonderland, so we may all see the fantastic, mind-bending vision he has conjured from Lewis Carroll's original story.

Until then, I'll just keep peering over the edge trying to see whatever I can. Maybe, if I got a really BIG searchlight and aimed it at just the right angle... Hmm.



*All 'Alice in Wonderland' movie images, other than Vanity Fair photos, are Copyright Walt Disney Pictures.
**Photographs of Wasikowska, Depp, Hathaway and Carter taken by Mary Ellen Mark for Vanity Fair magazine.

Curiouser and Curiouser...

LOOK!
It's the first official Disney movie trailer for Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland!

Actually, it came out a few weeks ago, but YouTube (or Disney) wasn't allowing any linking to it until now. You're not going to believe how "wonderful" it looks!

I can't wait, I can't wait... for its very important release date! The adventure will begin on March 5th, 2010.



Enjoy it, and try not to hit your head on the way down!

San Diego Comic-Con... We Went, We Saw and We Conquered!

Well, we did it! Four days of comics, toys, lots of people, people in costumes and even more people! Did I mention the people? It's just insane. I wish that I'd taken more photos, but once you're afloat in that crowded sea of humans, you kind of lose your bearings and don't think about such things as cameras. Especially, if you're weighted down with bags of purchased goodies!

Speaking of goodies, we were anxious to get our hands on two of this year's Comic-Con exclusives: a My Little Pony that has two different sides (one side is green, the other purple), for Tommy, and a Littlest Pet Shop super-hero kitty, for me. We got 'em, too! It's weird, though, because on the first day, in order to buy them, people had to be somewhere at a certain time to get a ticket just so they could get in line, then they had to wait in that HUGE line which looked like something you'd see at an amusement park. But the second day was completely different. Tommy and I just walked right up to the Hasbro booth and bought both toys instantly! No tickets, no line. I'm sure glad we didn't have to go through all of that first day rigamarole. If we had, and then saw how easily people could get them the next day, we would've surely been pissed!

One side of Tommy's two-faced super pony...

... And here is the other side.

Look! Is it a bird? Is it a plane?

No, it's my Comic-Con super kitty

from Littlest Pet Shop!

Another highlight, for me anyway, was shortly after we entered the convention on Thursday. We must've only been walking the floor for about 10 minutes when, suddenly, I spotted her... A lady dressed as Alice (in Wonderland) who also happened to look like Bette Davis! I mean, she could've been Bette's stunt double! Not that Miss Davis ever did a movie role that would require such a thing, but man, this lady could've done it! Check out the pics below, and then let me know if you agree...

Curiouser and curiouser... Is that Bette Davis in Wonderland?

I'm sure that must be the Mad Hatter on the left. And Bette

is clearly holding the Cheshire Cat, so who/what is that on the

right? A human Cheshire? Creepy.

She's ready for her close-up, Mr. DeMille...





Of course, there were also real celebrities in attendance for various reasons. Among them were Zachary Levi (Chuck), Johnny Galecki (The Big Bang Theory), Amanda Palmer (Dresden Dolls), Robert Pattinson (Twilight, duh!), Kristen Stewart (Twilight, double duh!), Tim Burton (Nightmare Before Christmas, super duh!), Johnny Depp (If you don't know what he's from, you probably aren't reading this because you're so out of touch with the world that you don't even have internet access, or a computer!), Lou Ferrigno (Incredible Hulk), Matt Groening (The Simpsons) and many, many more! I didn't get any photos of them, unfortunately.

Friday night, we went to an exclusive Disney Press cocktail party at a hip restaurant/bar in San Diego's Gaslamp Quarter known as Bondi. It's really neat. They have these huge basket pods you can sit in, like private booths! We didn't get to sit in one because we were in the bar, but they were sure cool to look at. And the ones that weren't "in-service" were actually raised up and hanging from the ceiling. I'd never seen anything like it! Here, take a look...

Bondi basket pods. I sooo wanted to sit in one of these!

Oh, well. There's always next year...

That just about covers the main highlights. I could bore you with a day-by-day itinerary, but I will spare you. Maybe, next year I will manage to take more photos. Ones of real celebrities, too!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

And beware of humans disguised as cats... Cheshire Cats.





"Meow."

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