When I was little one of my favorite movies was Walt Disney’s Alice in Wonderland. I was too young to understand what that caterpillar may or may not have been smoking or why Alice got bigger and smaller when she took certain pills and ate certain foods, but I loved the characters in all their colorful glory. So, when I heard that Tim Burton would be remaking one of my childhood faves I was more than thrilled. Then I learned Johnny Depp was on board and I was practically over the moon. I was slightly disappointed to discover that many of my beloved characters had been remodeled… and not necessarily for good. The new movie was much darker, and less playful than Walt’s version, but I guess I should have anticipated that. This was Tim Burton after all.
My fun loving Mad Hatter has turned into….
a seriously scary creature! Johnny’s portrayal of the Mad Hatter was creepy at best, and in some cases downright maniacal!
At least the cheshire cat stayed fairly true to form… although it’s hard to mess up a somewhat off beat cat with an overly toothy grin. There’s no doubt that the costume design for Burton’s version of a childhood favorite was beautiful and elaborate, it just didn’t quite hit the nail on the head for me. My expectations were a little too high for the Burton flick, I was hoping for something a little closer to the original and got a movie that was entirely different than I anticipated.
