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First Photos: Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland - What Do You Think?

Posted on Sunday, June 21st, 2009 by Peter Sciretta

Walt Disney Pictures has released the first promotional photos from Tim Burton’s 3D re-imagining of Alice in Wonderland. Above you can see the first official photos of Johnny Depp as a freakish-looking Mad Hatter, Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen (”Off With Their Heads”), and Anne Hathaway as The White Queen, looking very pale. After the jump we’ve included newly confirmed details about the film’s plot (did you know its a kind of a sequel?) and new concept art that shows the White Rabbit (Michael Sheen), the egg-shaped Tweedledee and Tweedledum (Matt Lucas) and more.

Update: Click here to see Matt Lucas as Tweedledee and Tweedledum.

Alice in Wonderland

The USA Today article (where the images premiered) confirms our previous report that the movie is actually a sequel in some ways. The film begins at a party where Alice, now 17, finds out that she is about to be proposed to in front of hundreds of snooty high society types. She makes a run for it, and of course, ends up following a white rabbit down a hole, back to Wonderland — a place where she visited a decade prior. The White Rabbit is convinced that he has the right girl but Alice doesn’t remember her past visit to Wonderland. The creatures of Wonderland are ready to revolt and are hoping/waiting for Alice to help them, but will she? Can she?

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Other details revealed in the article include: The Red Queen has “a moat filled with bobbing noggins”, The White Queen is beautiful but eccentric, and floats around instead of walking, and that Depp employs an accent for the Hatter that producer Richard Zanuck can only describe as “indescribable”.

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I’ve seen most of this art before at previous Disney industry events, and as I’ve stated in the past, I’m loving the Burton-styled look. I know some people will complain that this film looks too dark, but I actually wish some of it was darker. I’m not sure what to think about Depp of Carter’s digitally enhanced appearances. It will be interesting to see what they look like in motion. Head on over to USA Today to see non-cropped, much higher resolution versions of the above concept art. Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland will hit theaters on March 5th 2010.

Comments

GregoryV

That looks awesome! Now I'm super excited.

Craigasorusrex

Wow the art looks fantastic.

The art work showing Alice by the gates is just straight beautiful.

Looks like Disney has a hit in their hands.

thomas

Johnny Depp looks like Elijah Wood no doubt

Sketch

I was thinking the exact same thing. Very weird. I can't wait to see them in motion.

Mano

fool me too, especially with that gap in his teeth. creepy.

g

more like Madonna, with that gap.

onlyhuman

I thought the same exact thing... immediately!

Very funny...

Jason

Lol, I thought the same thing, was just gonna make a post to see if anyone else noticed that. It's uncanny!

Pat

Almost exactly what you would expect from a Tim Burton Alice In Wonderland. I can't say I'm surprised or excited by them. I'm waiting to see actual footage.

bigsby_b

Was wary about this project, but feeling better about it now! Anne Hathaway looks amazing... Wonder what this'll look like in motion, though.

L_Ron_Jeffard

Looks gorgeous. I hope this movie is worthwhile.

has9

the profile pics of the three charecters are superb ! as much as i am always interested in Tim's movies for the obvious visual appeal, I am more often than not am left dissapointed with the other aspects of the films, Coraline comes to mind right away......but i guess that was targeted more towards the younger audience, lest hope this one delivers.

lilme

Um...Tim Burton had nothing to do with Coraline. It was written (screenplay) and directed by Henry Selick. Selick did direct The Nightmare Before Christmas, which Burton of course co-wrote and produced.

Davebaxter1989

Henry Selick gets such a bad rap lol everyone seems to just presume his films are Tim's. He seemed pretty raw about Nightmare Before Christmas in an interview with Empire.

Matt Johnson

I see Tim Burton is trying something new and crazy with his casting of Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter.

Sigh.

At least the movie looks pretty cool, and Anne Hathaway is always a plus. I thought the Willy Wonka remake was just okay, though, so I'm holding reservations.

TheCritic28

I know, almost as crazy as DiCaprio being in Shutter Island.

Henrik

Yas. Damn Tim Burton for using good actors in his films.

greg

When your Friends & Family speed-dial list looks like a roster of Oscar nominees, what are you to do?

Tercotta

I'm trying to think of a well known story that would be better suited to Burton's style than Alice in Wonderland. And I simply can't do it.

Linda

Maybe not a better fit than Alice, but I think that Burton could do a pretty awesome Wizard of Oz. The book was a bit creepy to me and had a lot in it that was not included in the movie.

Tercotta

Didn't HBO just do a Wizard of Oz mini series that was very Burton like?

Lydia Wilson

"WICKED" would be even beter!

BassMastaMike

....woah!

vva

Beautiful!

Doug E. Fresh

I adore Tim Burton, but I'm not liking these pics.

Even though Wonderland is in many ways a dark, eerie place, it shouldn't LOOK like a dark, eerie place. I think the plot should serve to make the story unsettling; they shouldn't make the environment overtly freaky. I think the '50s Disney movie struck this balance well.

Kat_Alice_Wake

I don't think so. Disney's old version of this movie was too childish. It didn't capture all the different settings of Wonderland properly. It made everything seem whimsical and dream-like, when actually some of the land was more a nightmare, Burton will do a fantastic job bringing Wonderland to life in the way it always should have been.

verasgunn

The words "CANNOT UNSEE" jump to mind. There's quirky and then there's just insane, I would label this under the latter. The style of the characters are just so dramatically insane I can safely say I have no intention of seeing this movie now.

Mike

...people like you, aka ignorant, are what make this world so terrible. But maybe that's exaggerating. Seriously though? You have not seen one ounce of footage and have seen three pics of characters that are not on set or anything and yet you know you're not going to see it. Don't be an ignorant fool - then again, I'm probably just giving fuel to the troll now. Watch the stupid ass trailer or anything else before you make decisions, prick. No wonder auteurs are not appreciated in this world.

TheCritic28

Man this guy IS a jerk. Boy do I HATE OPINION!! Thinking something is bad because you don't like how it looks is just evil. And worse, I do it all the time. But you know what, no more. From now on, I am going to devote my life to liking everything because if I don't, I will be ignorant.

Hey Peter, can you change the name of the title to read "Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland- If You Don't Like It You Are A Troll." Apparently "What Do You Think" means "If You Don't Like It, You are Ignorant."

verasgunn

I have seen and enjoyed nearly everyone of his movies save Ed Wood(which is partially due to not remembering to see it, not avoiding it) and Planet of the Apes(which I just found boring). The style here is so drastic, so obscene, like he's trying to out of the way to alienate an entire audience. I like the cast, there are dozens of stars I like in the movie, but I dislike the art style.

Granted, saying I would not see the movie after seeing the art work is unnecessary, but I can't say these designs are doing anything to make me look forward to the movie at this point.

Davebaxter1989

Ed Wood is worth a watch by the way, I'm not a fan of all of his work but that is a damn good film.

Mike

Okay that's cool. Yeah I only had a problem that you just seemed to automatically push away the film with seemingly no chance of redemption. But to be honest, I'm not a huge fan of the artwork either. Hopefully it doesn't have too many similarities to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, cause that didn't really do it for me.

And TheCritic28....hope you like the attention. I'm sure that's what you want.

Sam

Have you actually read the book, is what I would like to know. Because the characters ARE INSANE and DRAMATIC! Lewis Carrol was smokin' a little somethin' somethin' while writing this book. Read the book before you start dogging the film. I see that a lot of things will be changed but who knows, it might be better than the original book. Some parts in the book jumped all over the place at some point and it would get confusing. Maybe they are goin' to make it a wee bit better. And it's not goin' to be like that damned original Disney animated film that we all have seen (Which in my opinion was still good) no, there will be a lot of adult stuff you will see. The capture of the Mad Hatter by the Queen of Hearts where he is then tortured to no end and to me this looks like it's goin' to be so much better than the animated cartoon. None of that censorship of the original book to have us all grow up to think that Wonderland really wasn't that bad. Read before ya betch. The characters are very dynamic. DRAMATICALLY INSANE is what Lewis Carrol was goin' for.

schwa

I really hope that they put in a lot of stuff from the book that the Disney version left out.... like the knitting sheep! Or the mock turtle! Ya... That would make me smile.

Kat_Alice_Wake

I know exactly what you mean Sam! Dramatically Insane is the perfect phrase for Lewis Carrol. I really do hope this movie will be everything I hope it is though, otherwise I would be devastated! It seems risky though that they're going to change the plot into something more like a sequel... Nonetheless, I look forward to it next year!

jeff

terrible, just like willy wonka

tHE

^This. The pictures look stupid.

Dylan

Johnny Depp looks insane -- but I don't like how "clean" it looks.

Lena

JOHNNY DEPP IS MY HUSBAND AND HE IS HOOOOOOOOOOOT!!!!!

Oceans_next_victim@live.com

I would still prefer Living in Neon Dreams to any other Alice in Wonderland films to come out... Such a shame it never took off... But, this has that certain art style you won't get from anyone else other than Burton..

yer

When is Burton going to do some original work again? He's stichick has run its course.

Snippy

I think Tim Burton making Alice in Wonderland is a perfect piece for him to work with. Alice in Wonderland originally is odd and extremely imaginative and giving that it is what it already is, Burton has his own freakish ideas. I think this was a good mix. I find it really weird yet really interesting. I will definitely be giving this one a try.

Matt

Actually.. it doesn't look *exactly* like Burton's artwork, it looks a little more like an old storybook. I know it's a concept but I like it

TheCritic28

Is it just me or does Carter look one of those weird floating heads? Will she tell me hidden knowledge?

Anyways, they look OK, but I really like the concept art.

jose

this looks great the good thing they stood to the real story line for once.

Peter

Great visual look, the plot sounds stupid though. Why can't anyone just properly adapt the original (two) stories??

BrendonConnelly

They've been adapted many, many times.

Tony

But never true to the books - everyone who's done it puts in exstraneous bits, silly plots or stupid bits. This plot sounds dreadful.

seraphin

So is depp cgi or what? I thought he was a live action character?

jason B

as far as stills go, they're kinda cool - though i think maybe they went too far into the weirdness. i just can't imagine these 'people' speaking, its really hard for me to envision.

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