Alice in Wonderland (Live-Action)

[Disneykid]

Disney Duster: The bandersnatch is a character in the Jabberwocky poem Alice reads in Through the Looking Glass. There's no description for it other than, like Escapay said, it's frumious. So it's not a made-up character, but it's something Burton is obviously going to have to make up from scratch in terms of look and personality.

I, too, hope that Helena's actually the Queen of Hearts and not the Red Queen. The former is much more memorable than the latter, and if they decide to go the Red Queen route, then there's no way playing cards will be involved. Wonderland without cards just isn't Wonderland. My hope is that Helena's the Queen of Hearts and she's rallying her playing cards against Anne's White Queen and chess pieces. That way, we still get the best of both worlds.

The one good thing from making Helena the Red Queen, however, is that it easily paves the way for Alice to become a Queen herself. Since the Looking Glass book is very ambiguous about what kind of Queen she actually becomes, I can see the filmmakers having her overthrow the Red Queen at the climax and taking her place.

Netty: A friend of mine is a huge LXG fan, and she told me that there are Alice references in there I'd eat up. I'll have to borrow the second issue from her and see if I can spot them all.

PeterPanfan: Yeah, I've read both books, and really liked them. My main beef with them is that the stories are somewhat simple and not as fleshed out as they can be. Both books can easily be twice as long as they already are. They're filled with excellent and creative ideas, it's just that the plots seem to strive for complexity, but never quite get there. There are seeds planted throughout both that suggest the third and last book is finally going to push the series to its true potential. As it is, they're very good books that I recommend reading.

[Thomas J]

This is way off-topic, but Kelvin, have you read The Looking Glass Wars or Seeing Redd? I'm interested in reading them, but would like to hear an opinion on them first.

Could you (or anyone) explain what those are?

This thread inspired me to buy Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass today at Barnes & Noble (they came together in one book). It was like only $6 too. I was looking through the beginning and noticed something about What Alice Found There or something like that. Is that a third book?

[Coolmanio]

Could you (or anyone) explain what those are?

This thread inspired me to buy Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass today at Barnes & Noble (they came together in one book). It was like only $6 too. I was looking through the beginning and noticed something about What Alice Found There or something like that. Is that a third book?

No, Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There is the full name of the second book. There is no third book.

[Thomas J]

Could you (or anyone) explain what those are?

This thread inspired me to buy Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass today at Barnes & Noble (they came together in one book). It was like only $6 too. I was looking through the beginning and noticed something about What Alice Found There or something like that. Is that a third book?

No, Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There is the full name of the second book. There is no third book.

Oh.. it's not listed as that on my book. It just says, and I quote, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass". Thank you!

[Disneykid]

This is way off-topic, but Kelvin, have you read The Looking Glass Wars or Seeing Redd? I'm interested in reading them, but would like to hear an opinion on them first.

Could you (or anyone) explain what those are?

The Looking Glass Wars is a series by Frank Beddor that claims to tell the true story of Wonderland. Basically, the premise is that Wonderland is a real place, and Alice (whose name in the series is spelt Alyss) is a princess there. Every character we know of from the books has a real-life counterpart there that was twisted by Lewis Carroll for the purpose of fiction. This explains it better:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Looking_Glass_Wars

[Thomas J]

Could you (or anyone) explain what those are?

The Looking Glass Wars is a series by Frank Beddor that claims to tell the true story of Wonderland. Basically, the premise is that Wonderland is a real place, and Alice (whose name in the series is spelt Alyss) is a princess there. Every character we know of from the books has a real-life counterpart there that was twisted by Lewis Carroll for the purpose of fiction. This explains it better:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Looking_Glass_Wars

Thank you! They sound really interesting. I'll have to get those once I'm done with the originals. Question: the Looking Glass Wars series go with what titles? The Looking Glass Wars, Seeing Redd, and The Law of Wonderland (not yet released)?

What is Princess Alyss of Wonderland? I found it on amazon.com, and I'm not too sure what it is. Is it apart of the series?

Edit: I just read the synopsis that said this: "Enter the exciting world of the real Alyss of Wonderland! Behold the stunning proof that the fictitious little girl you have known as Alice was actually a very real little princess named Alyss. Assembled in this scrapbook are the collected letters, journals, and art of the princess who fled her world of wonder only to fi nd herself alone in our world with nothing but her imagination to sustain her. Lavishly illustrated and fully interactive, this book will captivate and delight princess enthusiasts and fans of the original Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland."

However, amazon is selling a trilogy boxset. How are the selling it with the third one still being written?

[Disneykid]

As you probably already figured out, Princess Alyss of Wonderland is a sort of supplement to the main series, as is the Hatter M comic.

Even though Amazon doesn't make it very clear, what they're selling is not a trilogy set, but the first book with the series title in parenthesis. It's just differentiating between Looking Glass Wars the first book and Looking Glass Wars the series.

[PeterPanfan]

Are there any other Alice stories like this? Or any stories based on films Disney has made?

[Thomas J]

As you probably already figured out, Princess Alyss of Wonderland is a sort of supplement to the main series, as is the Hatter M comic.

Even though Amazon doesn't make it very clear, what they're selling is not a trilogy set, but the first book with the series title in parenthesis. It's just differentiating between Looking Glass Wars the first book and Looking Glass Wars the series.

Ah, gotcha. Thanks for clearing that up? Have you read them yet?

[lord-of-sith]

Let's see...

Tim Burton
Helena Bonham Carter
Anne Hathaway
Johnny Depp
Christoper Lee
Alice and Wonderland
NEW plot we've yet to really see in a film

I'm sold!
At this point, any more great cast members are just the icing on the cake!

[Black pearl]

Let's see...

Tim Burton
Helena Bonham Carter
Anne Hathaway
Johnny Depp
Christoper Lee
Alice and Wonderland
NEW plot we've yet to really see in a film

I'm sold!
At this point, any more great cast members are just the icing on the cake!

Any new great cast members and I'll go pop again!!! I am so looking forward to this movie!!!

[Siren]

Its probably safe to assume, Danny Elfman will score the movie.

[Disneykid]

Someone on Christopher Lee's official site asked if the role Lee had been cast in was the caterpillar. The administrator (who I just found out is actually Lee's son-in-law) answered no because a more suitable actor has already been cast. This leads to me to believe that Lee will play the White Knight. As for the caterpillar, I have a sneaking suspicion it's going to be Alan Rickman. His is the only voice other than Lee's I can imagine for that role.

Also, all other news stories regarding Helena's casting keep referring to her as the Red Queen, so it looks like there won't be an official Queen of Hearts in this, after all. Instead, she'll just have some of Hearts' quirks and signature lines. I hope this doesn't mean we won't get any playing cards.

[Disneykid]

It comes as no surprise to anyone, I'm sure, but it's nice to have confirmation, anyway: Danny Elfman is officially scoring the film.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGnYKRw7RLo

[yukitora]

Can anyone clear this up? Which one is closest to describing the film?

This movie is called "Alice in Wonderland", but will incorporate characters from both Alice novels, Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, similar to the Disney film.

OR

It is solely based on the second book.

OR

It features characters from both books, but is not a straight up adaption, with plot changes, minor character changes (ie. an older Alice) and additional elements (like Willy Wonka's father subplot in Charlie and the Chocolate Family).

[supertalies]

It features characters from both books, but is not a straight up adaption, with plot changes, minor character changes (ie. an older Alice) and additional elements (like Willy Wonka's father subplot in Charlie and the Chocolate Family).

This one, I think, cause the plot goes like:

Hathaway is playing the White Queen, a benevolent monarch who is deposed and banished by her sister, the Red Queen (Carter), who has an affinity for crying out, "Off with their heads!" The White Queen needs Alice to slay a creature known as the Bandersnatch.

[yukitora]

^ooh, thanks for that supertalies

Is that an error on the reporter's behalf or is Burton actually combining the Red Queen and the Queen of Hearts?

[supertalies]

^ooh, thanks for that supertalies

Is that an error on the reporter's behalf or is Burton actually combining the Red Queen and the Queen of Hearts?

I hope it's an error, but I think Burton (as many other filmmakers) will combine the Queen of Hearts and the Red Queen...

[Wonderlicious]

As for the whole Red Queen thing, I think that it may have just been a mistype. I've seen the Queen of Hearts get referred to as the Red Queen many a time.

Anyway, whilst I'm sure that I'll go and see this, I'm still a bit unsure whether I totally like the direction it could be going in. Yes, the original Disney movie and many other adaptations took liberties too, but I'm worried that the presence of Anne Hathaway could mean a straight-laced character in addition to Alice (to be honest, as lovely as she is, Anne Hathaway doesn't seem like someone who would play an exceedingly wacky character), which kinda disrupts the tone of the original story. I hope Linda Wolverton hasn't sentimentalised the story too much; this isn't a brief fairy-tale like Beauty and the Beast...

Also, does anyone think that the mix of live-action and motion-capture may hopefully mean something more like how Davy Jones was created? By that I mean the more fantastical non-human characters (Caterpillar, White Rabbit etc) being created by the help of motion-capture?

[Disneykid]

Also, does anyone think that the mix of live-action and motion-capture may hopefully mean something more like how Davy Jones was created? By that I mean the more fantastical non-human characters (Caterpillar, White Rabbit etc) being created by the help of motion-capture?

Actually, it looks like this film may be more like James and the Giant Peach. Some sources (which, of course, may just be liars) have been saying that you never see Johnny Depp or Helena Bonham Carter themselves. Both of their characters are animated, so if that's the case with two human characters, that must be the case completely, especially since another source confirmed that the environment will be totally CG. All of the CG characters are confirmed as being based in motion capture, though, likely by the voice actors themselves. So it looks like the film will begin and end in live-action while the rest is animated. What remains to be seen is whether Alice herself will turn animated like James did, or if it'll be Mia herself surrounded by CG. I hope it's the latter since that would really emphasize how much of an alien she is in Wonderland.