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Tim Burton Speaks About His Goals for Alice in Wonderland

by Alex Billington
October 15, 2008
Source: Hero Complex

Ever since it was announced last November that Tim Burton was directing Alice in Wonderland, the filmmaker has never actually spoken publicly about his work on the film. Now that he's already officially in production on it, Burton has finally started talking about it, and Geoff Boucher of the Hero Complex was one of the first to speak with him. The lengthy in-depth interview, that I thoroughly enjoyed reading, eventually hones in on Alice in Wonderland after covering a wide range of topics, from Beetlejuice to Johnny Depp to Dark Shadows. And to jump right into it, let's kick this update off with Burton's goal for re-envisioning Alice in Wonderland: "just to try to give it a gravity that most film versions haven't had."

Burton's discussion on the story, as seen below, actually makes a lot of sense. My own reference for Alice in Wonderland comes only from Disney's 1951 film. While Burton is going all the way back to Lewis Carroll's 1865 classic story, my knowledge is only limited to the cheerful, and still twisted, version that Disney told. However, hearing Burton's explanation actually really puts it all into perspective.

"It's a funny project. The story is obviously a classic with iconic images and ideas and thoughts. But with all the movie versions, well, I've just never seen one that really had any impact to me. It's always just a series of weird events. Every character is strange and she's just kind of wandering through all of the encounters as just a sort of observer. 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.' And, you know, getting to do it in 3-D fits the material quite well. So I'm excited about making it a new version - but also have the elements that people expect when they think of the material."

Knowing Burton's past work, this means we're going to get a darker, deeper, and much more twisted movie than we've ever seen before. I really didn't like Burton's re-imagining of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and I'm a bit worried that Alice in Wonderland might head in that direction as well. But for now, I think this explanation makes me feel a bit more confident in him and I enjoyed the first few set photos with lead actress Mia Wasikowska. For some odd reason I'm strangely excited for this movie, only because I feel like Burton is the perfect guy to do it. Obviously this is the very first of many talks with him that we'll see over the next few years until Alice in Wonderland hits theaters sometime in 2010.

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