Alice in Wonderland & Tim Burton
Tim Burton is known for some off the wall films starting with Pee Wee’s Big Adventure in 1985 through his newest bizarre recreation of Alice in Wonderland. This new version of Alice in Wonderland is scheduled for release March 5, 2010. But it's just close enough to show off how awesomely trippy Burton's re-imagining of the Lewis Carroll classic will be.
Johnny Depp reunites with Burton for the seventh time, to play the Mad Hatter. Judging by the picture, he is part Elijah Wood, part Carrot Top and all the way too creepy.
According to Burton, Depp "tried to find a grounding to the character, something that you feel, as opposed to just being mad. In a lot of versions it's a very one-note kind of character and you know his goal was to try and bring out a human side to the strangeness of the character."
Few may realize that the Mad Hatters orange hair actually represents the mercury poisoning suffered by hatters who used it to cure felt. Depp believes at some point, the hatter was severely poisoned so it started coming out through his fingernails, hair and eyes.
Most teenagers find their voice pretty early however, 19 year-old Alice has yet to find hers. Her rite of passage begins with a return trip to Wonderland in which she becomes more empowered.
Mia Wasikowska stars as Alice, who seems to have forgotten her first trip to Wonderland but finds an ally in the Mad Hatter on her second voyage. Wasikowska says: "They have an understanding about each other. They both feel like outsiders and feel alone in their separate worlds, and have a special bond and friendship." In an interview, Depp stated his experience was "A dream come true" and that the Mad Hatter is like "A mood ring, his emotions are very close to the surface."
Johnny Depp was not the only one to undergo the extreme transformations of director Tim Burton. Helena Bonham Carter looks similar to a deranged clown in her role as the Red Queen. Penciled-in eyebrows, receding hairline and caked on clown style makeup would be enough to frighten any child, however; if that doesn’t work, maybe the moat filled with heads will.
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