Disney, Tim Burton & Linda Woolverton deliver an “Alice” for the ages

Jim Hill

15 years ago

“Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.”

Said by the King to the White Rabbit in Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”

Okay. Then let’s start with the obvious. Which is that – up until now – there really hasn’t been a good movie version of “Alice in Wonderland.”

Oh, sure. There have previously been fine pictures that used various characters, elements and themes from Lewis Carroll’s books (1985’s “Dreamchild” comes immediately to mind. Thanks to Dennis Potter’s brilliant screenplay as well as the Jim Henson’s Creature Shop’s fantastic interpretations of the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, the Dormouse, the Caterpillar, the Gryphon and the Mock Turtle). But when it comes to straightforwardly adapting “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” and “Through the Looking Glass” to the screen … Over the years, time & again, some very talented people have made heroic efforts but ultimately come up short.

The list of missed opportunities dates all the way back to Paramount Picture’s 1933 all-star dud version of “Alice in Wonderland” (which featured W.C. Fields — under ridiculously heavy make-up, I might add – as Humpty Dumpty and Gary Cooper as the White Knight) and 1972’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” (which featured future “Phantom of the Opera” Michael Crawford as the White Rabbit and Dudley Moore as the Dormouse).

There have even been several versions produced for television. Among them 1966’s “Alice Through the Looking Glass” (which featured Jack Palance as the Jabberwock) as well as 1985’s “Alice in Wonderland” (i.e. a star-studded Irwin Allen affair that – to give you an idea how awful the casting on this particular TV production was — featured Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gormé as Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee).

Even Walt Disney came up short when he tried to transfer the “Alice” books to the big screen. Though his Studio’s artists & animators struggled for almost two decades to pull an emotionally engaging motion picture out of this whimsical source material (at one point, Walt even turned to “Brave New World” author Aldous Huxley and asked him to take a swing at adapting Lewis Carroll to the screen. Huxley’s efforts were ultimately rejected by Disney, reportedly because Walt could only recognize every third word in Aldous’ “Alice” screenplay), Disney’s 1951 animated version still missed the mark.

Looking back on this troubled production, Walt eventually decided that the main reason that Disney’s original “Wonderland” didn’t won over audiences was because “Alice” lacked heart.

Well, nearly 60 years after the Studio’s first stab at adapting “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” and “Through the Looking Glass,” Disney has now made another run at “Wonderland.” Only this time around, thanks to Tim Burton’s inspired direction and Linda Woolverton’s winning screenplay, “Alice” has (to borrow a familiar phrase from “The Wizard of Oz”) has heart, brains and courage to spare.

In fact, fans of MGM’s 1939 version of L. Frank Baum’s much beloved book are sure to see some echoes of that movie in this new Tim Burton film. Especially in “Alice in Wonderland” ‘s opening engagement party sequence. Where Alice’s fussy would-be fiancée, Hamish (Leo Bill) reminds us of the White Rabbit, Lady Ascot (Geraldine James) forebodes the Red Queen and Faith & Fiona Chattaway (Eleanor Geeks & Eleanor Tomlinson) are clearly meant to be stand-ins for
Tweedle Dum & Tweedle Dee.

Which brings us to Woolverton (i.e. a Disney vet who made numerous contributions to the screenplays of “Beauty & the Beast,” “The Lion King” and “Mulan”)’s brilliant screenplay. How is it that Linda succeeded where so many others had failed over the years? It’s simple, really. Instead of trying to adapt “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” and/or “Through the Looking Glass” to the big screen, Woolverton wrote a sequel to Carroll’s stories. Where a 19-year-old Alice (Mia Wasikowska) – who’s feeling pressured into an unwanted engagement
and still grieving over the death of her father — returns to Wonderland and finds a fantasy kingdom that’s very much in need of a champion.

You see, Iracebeth, the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter) has stolen the crown away from Mirana, the White Queen (Anne Hathaway), the rightful ruler of Underland (That’s another one of Woolverton’s clever conceits. That Alice mis-heard the name of this fantastical underground empire during her first visit. Which is why she then called it Wonderland). And with the help of the Knave of Hearts (Crispin Glover) and the Jabberwocky (voiced by Sir Christopher Lee), Iracebeth now rules the land with an iron hand. Enslaved the weak & meek and beheading those who dare to stand up to her.

Mind you, the Ocaculum (a kind of forward-looking calendar for all of Underland history) has foretold that – on Frabjous Day — Alice will slay the Jabberwocky and thus free all those who suffer under the Red Queen’s rule. Which is why the White Rabbit (voiced by Paul Whitehouse) ventures out into the real world to try & find Alice and then bring her back.

Unfortunately, everyone in Underland is expecting the White Rabbit to return with a 9-year-old girl. Not a 19-year-old woman who’s – again quoting from Woolverton’s screenplay – has lost her muchness. Her sense of self.

And given that Alice – when confronted with her fate – flat-out refuses to pick up the Vorpal Sword, the would-be revolutionaries of Underland are quick to declare her the wrong Alice. Only the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) immediately recognizes this young lady as what / who she truly is. Striding across a table full of crockery, he grabs this then-diminutive woman’s hand and says “It’s you. It’s absolutely Alice. You’re absolutely Alice. I’d know you anywhere. I’d know him anywhere.”

Now the ads and posters for “Alice in Wonderland” have been selling Johnny Depp as the star of this particular Walt Disney Pictures release. But – truth be told – the Mad Hatter is mostly a supporting role in this picture. But – that said – Johnny does a really great job with this part. Instantly winning the audience’s sympathy as this rather tattered & forlorn character who really doesn’t want to be mad. But who was left unhinged by this awful event that occurred when …

No. I’m not going to spoil that part of this story. As it is, I’ve already given away far too many of “Alice in Wonderland” ‘s secrets. But what I will say is that Woolverton’s decision to give the Hatter a backstory, give this well-known Lewis Carroll character a definitive reason as
to why he might have become Mad was sheer genius.

And the best part of “Alice in Wonderland” is that Tim Burton takes Linda’s screenplay and then layers it with these terrific visuals and solid performances where the film’s human performers interact seamless with all the CG creatures that inhabit this cinematic world. So that – in the end – this movie is a cohesive whole. Filled with all of the excitement & emotion that previous film versions of “Alice in Wonderland” have lacked.

In short, this is an “Alice” for the ages. Loaded with laughs (My favorite story-driven gag out of this movie has to be when Alice is getting ready to do battle the Jabberwocky. As she steels her courage, Alice tells the Hatter that “Sometimes I believe in as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” To which the Hatter replies “That is an excellent practice. However, just at the moment, you really might want to focus on the Jabberwocky”), terrific visual effects as well as great vocal performances (wait ‘til you hear Stephen Fry as the Cheshire Cat and Alan Rickman as the Caterpillar), this is one “Wonderland” that you’re going to want to visit again & again.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Given that the White Rabbit is famous for saying “I’m Late! I’m Late! For a very important date!,” I thought that I’d use today’s “Alice in Wonderland” review as an opportunity to apologize for this site’s lack of content over the past few days.

To be blunt, Nancy and I spent the 10 days traveling – driving down to NYC to check out the construction of the new Times Square Disney Store, then flying down to WDW to cover the grand opening / rebranding of the ESPN Wide World of Sports, then zooming out to New Orleans to tour the “Dreams Come True” exhibit at the NOMA before finally flying home just in time to catch
Boston’s press screening of “Alice in Wonderland.”

And then — what with having to come back home to New Hampshire and then dig our place out from under that week’s worth of snowstorms that occurred while we were away – it just got to be too much. We were exhausted. Nancy and I both needed a day or so there to rest, relax, regroup, recover. Which is why we stepped away from this website for a wee bit earlier this week.

Photo by Rebecca Moore

But the upside is … As a direct result of all that traveling that we did last week, JimHillMedia scored some pretty amazing stories. Several of which will be popping up on this site in the coming weeks.

So, again, my apologies for the lack of content over the past few days. But now we’re rested & refreshed (Well, I am anyway. Poor Nancy’s actually wound up a case of walking pneumonia. Which actually put us further behind schedule here at JHM. What with all those trips out of the woods to go visit the doctor and/or pick up prescriptions) and ready to get back to work.

Your thoughts?