Alice in Wonderland (2010 film)
Alice in Wonderland is a 2010 American dark fantasy period film directed by Tim Burton from a screenplay written by Linda Woolverton. The film stars Johnny Depp in the main role, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Crispin Glover, Matt Lucas, and Mia Wasikowska, and features the voices of Alan Rickman, Stephen Fry, Michael Sheen, and Timothy Spall. A remake of the 1951 Disney film of the same name, "Alice in Wonderland" follows Alice Kingsleigh, a nineteen-year-old who is told that she can restore the White Queen to her throne, with the help of  the Mad Hatter. She is the only one who can slay the Jabberwocky, a dragon-like creature that is controlled by the Red Queen and terrorizes Underland's inhabitants. In this situation, the Hatter and Alice fight against the Red Queen to protect the world. "Alice in Wonderland" was produced by Walt Disney Pictures and shot in the United Kingdom and the United States. The film premiered in London at the Odeon Leicester Square on February 25, 2010, and was released in the United Kingdom and the United States through the Disney Digital 3D, RealD 3D, and IMAX 3D formats  as well as in conventional theaters on March 5, 2010. It is also the second-highest-grossing film of 2010. "Alice in Wonderland" received mixed reviews upon release; although praised for its visual style, costumes, musical score, performances and special effects, the film was criticized for its lack of narrative coherence. It received three nominations at the 68th Golden Globe Awards, including Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. At the 83rd Academy Awards, "Alice in Wonderland" won Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design, and was also nominated for Best Visual Effects. The film generated over $1.025 billion in  ticket sales and became the fifth highest-grossing film of all time during its theatrical run. While not the first such film in general, "Alice in Wonderland" started a trend of live-action fairy tale and fantasy films being green-lit, particularly from Walt Disney Studios. A sequel, titled "Alice Through the Looking Glass", was released on May 27, 2016. Plot. In London, 1871, troubled by a strange recurring dream and mourning the loss of her father, 19-year-old Alice Kingsleigh attends a garden party at the estate of Lord Ascot. There, she is confronted with an unwanted marriage  proposal by Lord Ascot's son, Hamish, and the stifling expectations of the society in which she lives. Unsure of how to proceed, she spots and pursues a familiar rabbit wearing a waistcoat and carrying a pocket watch, due to her lack of sleep, and falls into a deep rabbit hole under a tree. She enters a small door by drinking from a bottle labeled 'Drink Me' (called Pishsalver) and emerges to a forest in a magical place called Underland where she is greeted by the White Rabbit, a Dormouse, a Dodo, Talking Flowers, and identical twins Tweedledee and Tweedledum  who all apparently know her. Though Alice asserts that this is all a dream, she learns that she is destined to slay the Jabberwocky and end the tyranny of the Red Queen, as foretold by Absolem the Caterpillar. The group is then ambushed by the ravenous Bandersnatch and a squadron of Red Queen's knights, led by the Knave of Hearts. All are captured; except Alice, who escapes; and the Dormouse, who takes one of the Bandersnatch's eyes. The Knave informs the Red Queen that Alice threatens her reign, and he is ordered to find her immediately. Meanwhile, Alice  is greeted by the Cheshire Cat who guides her to the Mad Hatter, the March Hare and the Dormouse's tea party. The Hatter explains that the Red Queen took over Underland, usurping her sister the White Queen; and that he joined the resistance after she destroyed his village and killed his family. When the red knights appear, the Hatter helps Alice to avoid capture by allowing himself to be seized instead. Later, Alice is found by the Knave's Bloodhound who is actually allied with the resistance. Alice insists on being taken to the Red Queen's castle to  rescue the hatter. Alice eats a cake labeled 'Eat Me' (called Upelkuchen) and grows tall, infiltrating the castle as a courtier named “Um.” Alice learns that the vorpal sword, the only weapon capable of killing the Jabberwocky, is locked inside the Bandersnatch's den. The Knave attempts to seduce “Um”, but she rebuffs him, causing the jealous Red Queen to demand for “Um’s” beheading. Alice obtains the sword and befriends the Bandersnatch by returning its eye. She then escapes on the back of the grateful Bandersnatch and delivers the sword to the White Queen; who gives Alice a potion  that returns her normal size. The Cheshire Cat uses his shapeshifting powers to save the Mad Hatter from execution. The Hatter then incites rebellion amongst the Red Queen's subjects. The Red Queen attempts to quell the rebellion, but the Hatter and his group escape. Absolem finally gets Alice to remember that she has been to Underland when she was a little girl (calling it “Wonderland”), and she finally realizes that Underland is real. Absolem advises her to fight the Jabberwocky, just before completing his transformation into a pupa. The Queens gather their armies on a chessboard-like battlefield and  send Alice and the Jabberwocky to decide the battle in single combat. Alice fights the Jabberwocky, as the two armies battle. Alice finally defeats the Jabberwocky by beheading it. At Alice's victory, the red knights turn against their ruler. As punishment for their crimes, the White Queen banishes her sister and the Knave into exile together. The White Queen gives Alice a vial of the Jabberwocky's purple blood whose power will bring her whatever she wishes. She decides to return to her own world after saying farewell to her friends. Alice then wakes up and gets up out  of the rabbit hole, with messed up hair, a scratch on her arm, and her dress all torn and dirty from her fall. Back at the party, Alice refuses Hamish's proposal and impresses Lord Ascot with her idea of establishing oceanic trade routes to Hong Kong, inspiring him to take her as his apprentice. As Alice prepares to set off on a trading ship, a blue butterfly lands on Alice's shoulder, which she recognizes as Absolem. Cast. Marton Csokas makes a cameo appearance as Alice's deceased father in the film's opening scene and Alice's mother  is played by Lindsay Duncan. Lord and Lady Ascot are played by Tim Pigott-Smith and Geraldine James, respectively. Eleanor Tomlinson and Eleanor Gecks play the Chattaway sisters, who bear a strong resemblance to Tweedledum and Tweedledee. Jemma Powell appears briefly as Alice's sister, Margaret, while Margaret's unfaithful husband Lowell is played by John Hopkins. Frank Welker provided additional voices and vocal effects; including roars of the Jabberwocky and Bandersnatch, squawks for the Jubjub bird, and Bayard's barking. Rickman, Windsor, Fry, Gough, Lee, Staunton and Carter each took only a day to record their dialogue. Production. Tim  Burton signed with Walt Disney Pictures to direct two films in Disney Digital 3D, which included "Alice in Wonderland" and his remake of "Frankenweenie". Burton developed the story because he never felt an emotional tie to the original book. He explained "the goal is to try to make it an engaging movie where you get some of the psychology and kind of bring a freshness but also keep the classic nature of "Alice"." On prior versions, Burton said "It was always a girl wandering around from one crazy character to another, and I never really felt any real emotional connection ." His goal with the new film is to give the story "some framework of emotional grounding" and "to try and make "Alice" feel more like a story as opposed to a series of events." Burton focused on the poem "Jabberwocky" as part of his structure, and refers to the described creature by the name of the poem rather than by the name "Jabberwock" used in the poem. Burton also stated that he does not see his version as either a sequel to any existing "Alice" film nor as a "re-imagining". However, the idea of the climax of the story  being Alice's battle with the Queen's champion, the Jabberwocky, was first added in the video game "American McGee's Alice", and the landscape, tower, weapons and appearance of Alice in those scenes of the film are very reminiscent of the same scenes in the game. This film was originally set to be released in 2009 but was pushed back to March 5, 2010. Principal photography was scheduled for May 2008, but did not begin until September and concluded in three months. Scenes set in the Victorian era were shot at Torpoint and Plymouth from September 1 to October  14. Two hundred and fifty local extras were chosen in early August. Locations included Antony House in Torpoint, Charlestown, Cornwall and the Barbican, however, no footage from the Barbican was used. Motion capture filming began in early October at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California, though the footage was later discarded. Filming also took place at Culver Studios. Burton said that he used a combination of live action and animation, without motion capture. He also noted that this was the first time he had filmed on a green screen. Filming of the green screen portions, comprising 90% of the  film, was completed after only 40 days. Many of the cast and crew felt nauseated as a result of the long hours surrounded by green, and Burton had lavender lenses fitted into his glasses to counteract the effect. Due to the constant need for digital effects to distort the actors' physical appearances, such as the size of the Red Queen's head or Alice's height, visual effects supervisor Ken Ralston cited the film as being exhausting, saying it was "The biggest show I've ever done, [and] the most creatively involved I've ever been." Sony Pictures Imageworks designed  the visual effects sequences. Burton felt 3D was appropriate to the story's environment. Burton and Zanuck chose to film with conventional cameras, and convert the footage into 3D during post-production; Zanuck explained 3D cameras were too expensive and "clumsy" to use, and they felt that there was no difference between converted footage and those shot in the format. James Cameron, who released his 3D film "Avatar" in December 2009, criticized the choice, stating, "It doesn't make any sense to shoot in 2D and convert to 3D". Music. Score. Longtime Burton collaborator Danny Elfman's score was released  March 2, 2010. It debuted at #89 on the "Billboard" Top 200 albums chart. Section::::"Almost Alice". "Almost Alice" is a collection of various artists' music inspired by the film. The lead single, "Alice" by Avril Lavigne, premiered on January 27, 2010, on Ryan Seacrest's radio program. Other singles include "Follow Me Down" by 3OH!3, "Her Name Is Alice" by Shinedown, and "Tea Party" by Kerli. The album was released on March 2, 2010. Release. On February 12, 2010, major UK cinema chains, Odeon, Vue, and Cineworld, had planned to boycott the film because of a reduction of the interval  between cinema and DVD release from the usual 17 weeks to 12 (possibly to avoid the release of the DVD clashing with the 2010 FIFA World Cup, which was Disney's pretext for cutting short "Alice"s theatrical run but UK exhibitors protested that Alice would be less threatened by the World Cup than other titles). A week after the announcement, Cineworld, who has a 24% share of UK box office, chose to play the film on more than 150 screens. Cineworld's chief executive Steve Wiener stated, "As leaders in 3D, we did not want the public to miss out  on such a visual spectacle. As the success of "Avatar" has shown, there is currently a huge appetite for the 3D experience". Shortly after, the Vue cinema chain also reached an agreement with Disney, but Odeon had still chosen to boycott in Britain, Ireland, and Italy. On February 25, 2010, Odeon had reached an agreement and decided to show the film on March 5, 2010. The Royal premiere took place at the Odeon Leicester Square in London on February 25, 2010, for the fundraiser The Prince's Foundation for Children and The Arts where the Prince of Wales and the  Duchess of Cornwall attended. It also did not affect their plans to show the film in Spain, Germany, Portugal, and Austria. The film was released in the U.K. and US, in both Disney Digital 3D and IMAX 3D, as well as regular theaters on March 5, 2010. Marketing. On June 22, 2009, the first pictures of the film were released, showing Depp as the Mad Hatter, Hathaway as the White Queen, Bonham Carter as the Red Queen and Lucas as Tweedledee and Tweedledum. A new image of Alice was also released. In July, new photos emerged of Alice holding a  white rabbit, the Mad Hatter with a hare, the Red Queen holding a pig, and the White Queen with a mouse. On July 22, 2009, a teaser trailer from the Mad Hatter's point of view was released on IGN but was shortly taken down because Disney claimed that the trailer was not supposed to be out yet. The teaser was also planned to premiere along with a trailer of Robert Zemeckis' film adaptation of "A Christmas Carol" on July 24, 2009, for "G-Force". The following day, the teaser trailer premiered at Comic-Con but the trailer shown was  different from the one that leaked. The ComicCon version didn't have the Mad Hatter's dialogue. Instead, it featured "Time to Pretend" by MGMT, and the clips shown were in a different order than in the leaked version. The leaked version was originally to be shown to one of the three Facebook groups used to promote the film that had the most members. The groups used to promote the film are "The Loyal Subjects of the Red Queen", "The Loyal Subjects of the White Queen" and "The Disloyal Subjects of the Mad Hatter". Also at ComicCon, props from the  film were displayed in an "Alice in Wonderland" exhibit. Costumes featured in the exhibit included the Red Queen's dress, chair, wig, glasses, and scepter; the White Queen's dress, wig and a small model of her castle; the Mad Hatter's suit, hat, wig, chair and table; Alice's dress and battle armor (to slay the Jabberwocky). Other props included the "DRINK ME" bottles, the keys, an "EAT ME" pastry and stand-in models of the White Rabbit and March Hare. A nighttime party area at the Disney California Adventure theme park was created, called "Mad T Party". Video  games. On July 23, 2009, Disney Interactive Studios announced that an "Alice in Wonderland" video game, developed by French game studio Étranges Libellules, would be released in the same week as the film for the Wii, Nintendo DS, and Microsoft Windows. The soundtrack was composed by video games music composer Richard Jacques. The Wii, DS, and PC versions were released on March 2, 2010. Disney Interactive released in 2013 the game "Alice in Wonderland: A New Champion" for iOS. Home media. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment released a three-disc Blu-ray combo pack (which includes the Blu-ray, DVD  and a digital copy), single-disc Blu-ray and single-disc DVD on June 1, 2010, in North America and July 1, 2010, in Australia. The DVD release includes three short features about the making of the film, focusing on Burton's vision for Wonderland and the characters of Alice and the Mad Hatter. The Blu-ray version has nine additional featurettes centered on additional characters, special effects and other aspects of the film's production. In some confusion, a small number of copies were put on shelves a week before schedule in smaller stores, but were quickly removed, although  a handful of copies were confirmed purchased ahead of schedule. In its first week of release (June 1–6, 2010), it sold 2,095,878 DVD units (equivalent to $35,441,297) and topped the DVD sales chart for two continuous weeks. By May 22, 2011, it had sold 4,313,680 units ($76,413,043). It failed to crack the 2010 top ten DVDs list in terms of units sold, but reached 10th place on that chart in terms of sales revenue. Reception. Box office. "Alice in Wonderland" has grossed $334,191,110 in North America and $691,276,000 in other territories for a worldwide total of  $1,025,467,110 against a budget of $200 million. Worldwide, it is the second-highest-grossing film of 2010. It is the third-highest-grossing film starring Johnny Depp, the highest-grossing film directed by Tim Burton, and the second-highest-grossing film of Anne Hathaway. Additionally, it is the second-highest-grossing children's book adaptation (worldwide, as well as in North America and outside North America separately). On its first weekend, the film made $220.1 million worldwide, marking the second-largest opening ever for a movie not released during the summer or the holiday period (behind "The  Hunger Games"), the fourth-largest for a Disney-distributed film and the fourth-largest among 2010 films. It dominated for three consecutive weekends at the worldwide box office. On May 26, 2010, its 85th day of release, it became the sixth film ever to surpass the $1 billion mark and the second film that had been released by Walt Disney Studios that did so. In North America, "Alice in Wonderland" is the forty-fourth-highest-grossing film but out of the top 100 when adjusted for inflation. It is also the second-highest-grossing film of 2010, behind "Toy  Story 3", the second-highest-grossing film starring Johnny Depp and the highest-grossing film directed by Tim Burton. The film opened on March 5, 2010, on approximately 7,400 screens at 3,728 theaters with $40,804,962 during its first day, $3.9 million of which came from midnight showings, ranking number one and setting a new March opening-day record. "Alice" earned $116.1 million on its opening weekend, breaking the record for the largest opening weekend in March (previously held by "300"), the record for the largest opening weekend during springtime (previously held by "Fast & Furious"), the largest opening  weekend for a non-sequel (previously held by "Spider-Man") and the highest one for the non-holiday, non-summer period. However, all of these records were broken by "The Hunger Games" ($152.5 million) in March 2012. "Alice" made the seventeenth-highest-grossing opening weekend ever and the fifth-largest among 3D films. Opening-weekend grosses originating from 3D showings were $81.3 million (70% of total weekend gross). This broke the record for the largest opening-weekend 3D grosses but it was later topped by "The Avengers" ($108 million). It had the largest weekend per-theater average  of 2010 ($31,143 per theater) and the largest for a PG-rated film. It broke the IMAX opening-weekend record by earning $12.2 million on 188 IMAX screens, with an average of $64,197 per site. The record was first overtaken by "Deathly Hallows – Part 2" ($15.2 million). Additionally, it had the biggest opening weekend for a film starring Tim Burton, smashing the previous record held by "Planet of the Apes". "Alice" remained in first place for three consecutive weekends at the North American box office. "Alice" closed in theaters on July 8, 2010, with $334.2  million. Outside North America, "Alice" is the thirteenth-highest-grossing film, the highest-grossing 2010 film, the fourth-highest-grossing Disney film, the second-highest-grossing film starring Johnny Depp and the highest-grossing film directed by Tim Burton. It began with an estimated $94 million, on top of the weekend box office, and remained at the summit for four consecutive weekends and five in total. Japan was the film's highest-grossing country after North America, with $133.7 million, followed by the UK, Ireland and Malta ($64.4 million), and France and the Maghreb region ($45.9  million). Critical response. On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 51% of 279 critics have given the film a positive review, with an average rating of 5.8/10. The website's consensus is: "Tim Burton's "Alice" sacrifices the book's minimal narrative coherence—and much of its heart—but it's an undeniable visual treat". According to Metacritic, which calculated a weighted average score of 53 out of 100 based on 38 reviews, the film received "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average rating of "A−" on an A+ to F scale. Todd McCarthy of  Variety praised it for its "moments of delight, humor and bedazzlement", but went on to say, "But it also becomes more ordinary as it goes along, building to a generic battle climax similar to any number of others in CGI-heavy movies of the past few years". Michael Rechtshaffen of "The Hollywood Reporter" said "Burton has delivered a subversively witty, brilliantly cast, whimsically appointed dazzler that also manages to hit all the emotionally satisfying marks", while as well praising its computer-generated imagery (CGI), saying "Ultimately, it's the visual landscape that makes Alice's newest adventure so wondrous, as  technology has finally been able to catch up with Burton's endlessly fertile imagination." Owen Gleiberman of "Entertainment Weekly" said, "But Burton's Disneyfied 3-D "Alice in Wonderland", written by the girl-power specialist Linda Woolverton, is a strange brew indeed: murky, diffuse, and meandering, set not in a Wonderland that pops with demented life but in a world called Underland that's like a joyless, bombed-out version of Wonderland. It looks like a CGI head trip gone post apocalyptic. In the film's rather humdrum 3-D, the place doesn't dazzle—it droops." Roger Ebert of  the "Chicago Sun-Times" awarded the film three out of four stars and wrote in his review that, ""Alice" plays better as an adult hallucination, which is how Burton rather brilliantly interprets it until a pointless third act flies off the rails." Several reviews criticized the decision to turn Alice into a "colonialist entrepreneur" at the end of the film setting sail for China. Given Britain's role in the First and Second Opium Wars during the Victorian era and the foreign domination of China through "unequal treaties", China expert Kevin Slaten writes, "Not only is it troubling imagery, for  a female role model in a Disney movie, but it's also a celebration of the exploitation that China suffered for a century." Game developer American McGee, best known for creating "Alice" and "", was asked in a 2011 interview about Tim Burton's interpretation of the title character since both versions share almost similar dark and twisted tone of Wonderland. McGee praised the film's visuals and audio but criticized the lack of screen time Alice had compared to the other characters. He felt Alice did not have any purpose in the story and that she was merely used as  a "tool". Legacy. Following its release, the film drove about in retail sales for Disney, including home video and merchandise sales. After the release and success of the movie, Walt Disney Pictures has announced the development of several live-action adaptations of their Animated Classics series. With the exception of "Dumbo", "Lady and the Tramp", and "Mulan"; "The Lion King", "Maleficent", "Aladdin", "Cinderella", "The Jungle Book", "Beauty and the Beast", and "Christopher Robin" have all followed to similar box-office results with the latter four also earning critical praise. Disney has also announced the development of live-action adaptations of  Pinocchio, "Fantasia", "The Sword in the Stone", "The Black Cauldron", "Peter Pan", "The Little Mermaid", "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", "Lilo & Stitch", "The Hunchback of Notre Dame", "Bambi", "Robin Hood", "Hercules", and "The Aristocats." The company also released "Cruella", a live-action spin-off of "One Hundred and One Dalmatians", and has plans for live-action spin-offs of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" and "Peter Pan" along with a live-action prequel to "Aladdin". Walt Disney Theatrical was in early talks with Burton and screenwriter Linda Woolverton to develop the property as a Broadway musical. Woolverton authored  the screenplay for Disney's "The Lion King" and is also the Tony Award-nominated book writer of "Beauty and the Beast", "Aida", and "". Burton will also render the overall designs for the stage musical. Woolverton will adapt her screenplay for the stage production. Neither a composer nor songwriting team has been chosen yet. Direction and choreography will be done by Rob Ashford. The musical was aiming to make its world-premiere in London. Sequel. On December 7, 2012, "Variety" announced the development of a sequel to "Alice in Wonderland". Linda Woolverton returned to write a screenplay. On May 31 , 2013, James Bobin began talks to direct the sequel under the working title "Alice in Wonderland: Into the Looking Glass". Johnny Depp returned as The Hatter, Mia Wasikowska reprised the role of Alice, and Helena Bonham Carter returned as the Red Queen. Several other cast members from the 2010 film also reprised their roles in the sequel. On November 22, 2013, it was announced that the sequel will be released on May 27, 2016, and that Bobin would direct the film. Rhys Ifans and Sacha Baron Cohen are featured in the film. On January 21, 2014, the film was again  retitled to "Alice in Wonderland: Through the Looking Glass". The title was later reworked once again to "Alice Through the Looking Glass".