Alice in Wonderland: A Few Thoughts
Mar. 4th, 2010 10:08 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
puppetmakerMy father read me Alice in Wonderland and Alice through the looking glass. I was fascinated by the poem the Jabberwocky and it was probably one of the first longer poems I learned by heart. (The last one I learned word or word was TS Elliot’s The Wasteland in college). I loved the Tenniel illustrations of the work. The fine line work fascinated me to no end. We were fortunate to have a copy of the Annotated Alice so I would read the story and the footnotes as I went. I have since then read through versions illustrated by other artists but the one that still rings true for me is the Tenniel version probably because it was my first.
I know I saw the 1972 Great Performances version with Kate and Richard Burton because there are images from that which are stuck in my head to this day. We got a copy and I re-watched it and remembered seeing it. I will never forget the Muppet Show Version with their take on Jabberwocky which was quite a puppet. I didn’t see the Disney animated version until much later where I had formed by ideas of the piece and I could see that this was a mishmash of the two books along with some other colorful ideas tossed in for good measure.
When I heard that Tim Burton was going to be making a version of Alice with Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter and Helen Bohnam Carter as the Red Queen, I said of course he is. Bits and pieces were leaked here and there. Disney has been doing a full court press on this one. As I have been learning things I have found out that it is not the original story but a sequel of sorts. Crispin Glover looks hawt with an eyepatch and a scar. Tim Burton really don’t seem capable of filming Helen Bohnam Carter without doing something to hide her beauty. This is the biggest 3-D roll out of any film so far. And a lot of other things most of which are spoilers so I am going to avoid talking about them and ask that you refrain from same. When/if I do a review, please feel free to talk about those there.
The movie I most wanted to see this year was The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus which I have and now eagerly await the DVD release (April 27th 2010). But Walt Disney presents Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland would have been if they had released Parnassus last year like they were suppose to. (Sherlock Holmes is out March 30th 2010 just for your information.)
I am going to go into this film knowing that it is a good cast (which Burton does quite well) and it’s Tim Burton so there is going to be a certain sensibility to the film that is not going to be everyone’s cuppa. However Mr. Burton has yet to fail to amuse me, so I have great hope for this. Besides I can always sit down with Caroline and our copy of the annotated Alice and read it to her.
I am grateful that Dark Shadows is still on Mr. Depp’s and Mr. Burton’s plate.
I know I saw the 1972 Great Performances version with Kate and Richard Burton because there are images from that which are stuck in my head to this day. We got a copy and I re-watched it and remembered seeing it. I will never forget the Muppet Show Version with their take on Jabberwocky which was quite a puppet. I didn’t see the Disney animated version until much later where I had formed by ideas of the piece and I could see that this was a mishmash of the two books along with some other colorful ideas tossed in for good measure.
When I heard that Tim Burton was going to be making a version of Alice with Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter and Helen Bohnam Carter as the Red Queen, I said of course he is. Bits and pieces were leaked here and there. Disney has been doing a full court press on this one. As I have been learning things I have found out that it is not the original story but a sequel of sorts. Crispin Glover looks hawt with an eyepatch and a scar. Tim Burton really don’t seem capable of filming Helen Bohnam Carter without doing something to hide her beauty. This is the biggest 3-D roll out of any film so far. And a lot of other things most of which are spoilers so I am going to avoid talking about them and ask that you refrain from same. When/if I do a review, please feel free to talk about those there.
The movie I most wanted to see this year was The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus which I have and now eagerly await the DVD release (April 27th 2010). But Walt Disney presents Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland would have been if they had released Parnassus last year like they were suppose to. (Sherlock Holmes is out March 30th 2010 just for your information.)
I am going to go into this film knowing that it is a good cast (which Burton does quite well) and it’s Tim Burton so there is going to be a certain sensibility to the film that is not going to be everyone’s cuppa. However Mr. Burton has yet to fail to amuse me, so I have great hope for this. Besides I can always sit down with Caroline and our copy of the annotated Alice and read it to her.
I am grateful that Dark Shadows is still on Mr. Depp’s and Mr. Burton’s plate.
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no subject
Date: 2010-03-04 03:58 pm (UTC)Likes:
Burton's stuff, overall, I like, and I can guarantee myself the movie will definitely be *bleeping* dark and pretty. I also saw a photo of the Knave and was like "DOOD. D must make that costume." *overt drooling* (a Wonderland Harlock, anybody? *LOL*)
Concerns:
If I had no idea Looking Glass Wars existed, I'd be a lot more into it. I see way too much of LGW in Burton's gig for my comfort, and that's just in the previews. I'm having what I classify as a hard time swallowing that, especially since I know that Burton's Wonderland has pushed back the LGW movie (the author basically said he is stepping back and letting Burton's film happen, and he might divert to filming the Hatter M graphic novel stuff first instead so as not to try to take that monster head on).
Random:
Helena Bonham Carter has her abilities. I am very glad she took the Red Queen role in this, because it eliminates her as a possibility to play Redd Heart in the LGW movie. I admit it: I didnt' want her for my Imperial Viciousness.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-04 07:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-05 05:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-05 12:54 pm (UTC)I don't count Oscar push as the hard start. It was more of a soft start with a slow and small push and then an early pull.