Special Post: Alice in Wonderland

In the 2010 version of Alice in Wonderland, Tim Burton manages to create a much darker version of the original Lewis Carroll tale. It takes place a little over ten years after Alice’s first venture into Wonderland. While the animation was technically brilliant, Burton completely ignored one of the main principles of animation: story. In the 2010 Alice in Wonderland, Burton seemed to adapt the story to feature his all-star cast rather than creating a story with significant character development and that reflected Carroll’s original tale. Burton overly features Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, somewhat overdevelops his partner Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen, and creates a story surrounding Alice that has nothing to do with Wonderland. Burton also completely ignores characters that should have been more developed, such as the Cheshire Cat, the Caterpillar, the White Rabbit, and even Tweetle Dee and Tweetle Dum.

In the movie, Depp’s character, the Mad Hatter, takes on a much bigger role in the storyline than he did in the original. The problem is he does not completely fit. The Mad Hatter is a revolutionary constantly shouting his opinions of the Red Queen. He is featured throughout the movie without his partner in crime from the original story, the Hare. In fact, the Hare only appears in two scenes throughout the entire movie. The Mad Hatter also took on a role of a best friend to Alice, much like the Scarecrow and Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. In the end, the Mad Hatter does this bizarre dance that had nothing to do with the rest of the movie. It just did not work.

Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen is also over developed in this film. While she did a great job at seeming ruthless, the storyline went further giving her inadequacy issues that were never fully explained. At times, she seems to think bigger is beautiful (like her head) but is also insecure. She also is constantly fighting her younger sister, the White Queen played by Anne Hathaway, who everyone believes should be on the throne. She is very jealous when the Knave of Hearts is even believed to be with anyone else. She is crushed in the end when he attempts to leave her banished alone. In the end, I was not sure whether I was supposed to feel bad for her, hate her, or think she was just misunderstood.

The story surrounding Alice was even more bizarre. Without a memory of being in Wonderland, she is told she is to slay the Jabberwocky because it is the prophecy. Meanwhile, she is wrestling with the idea of marrying a duke, who she does not love. In what becomes a journey of self-discovery and what many on Rotten Tomatoes is calling a “feminine awakening,” Alice finally slays the Jabberwocky and decides what she wants in life. She tells off all of her upper class friends, turns down the duke, and in an odd twist of events becomes an explorer. Once again, this seemed to have nothing to do with Carroll’s original tale.

However, the most disappointing part in this film was the lack of development in some of the most interesting characters. The Cheshire Cat, who played an integral role in the original story, was simply an animation trick that carried the Hatter’s hat from one point to another. He hardly had any dialogue, none of which really contributed to the story. The Caterpillar was also a disappointment, only reciting pieces of the prophecy to Alice throughout the movie while slowly transforming into a butterfly. The White Rabbit, also a revolutionary plotting against the Red Queen, never once says anything about being late and mainly serves as background. Even Tweetle Dee and Tweetle Dum hardly play any role other than “fat boys.” In the end, I left the theater disappointed, confused, and wishing Burton would have just done the original story of , but then he would not have been able to feature his all-star cast.

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