Nightscrawlers

He's got a new one!

I haven't been this excited for a movie in a very long time. I've always been fond of the classic books like Peter Pan and Treasure Island, and of course Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Who'd have know that a brilliant director (my favorite, in fact) would be amazing enough to make a film out of it, and that my favorite actor (Johnny Depp) would be awesome enough to be the Hatter?

If you've not been to see the trailer, here it is!

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi4240966169

Now, please tell me that I'm not the only one who thinks it looks positively fantastic

[Edited on 28/7/09 by OctoberHoliday]

You're not.

However I'm very against the whole thing, but most of the people here (who partake in chat) already know why so I won't bore everyone with the details.

I will say Depp looks absolutely silly though. I don't think this movie will pan out the way everyone is predicting it will, call it gut instinct. I think Depp should've let this one slide, he's done enough Burton work. With Public Enemies, that other non-Burton one coming out, and Sin City 2, I don't think this project is going to be the best idea.

hee. I hadn't seen the trailer yet. I love it! I'd seen a few pictures, but they didn't do it justice. seeing it in action is much better! I for one, can't wait for this movie. It looks almost exactly how I pictured wonderland when I read the stories by Lewis Carroll so many years ago.

Trust me, LOL You don't want to know my opinion.

I'm just not a Burton fan. Flat out, not impressed with everything he's done and he's a bit over-the-top and overrated for my tastes.

That said, his adaptations usually seem to miss the initial point of the original story. Sleepy Hollow being the best example of this.

I am pretty sure Washington Irving is rolling in his grave at that one.
--EDIT--

Okay, before people eat my head off, let me say this.

Burton definitely has a flare for the artistic backdrops and settings. I love his sets, I just am not a fan of how he directs the story.

The screenshots so far of this movie, the only things I've disagreed with are the actors. Other than that, the storyboards look great. The sets are great (at least how they're drawn are, we'll see what he does with them).

Am I going to see this in theaters? I'm sure someone will drag me to it.
Am I judging a book by its cover? Sure. But every other book by this author, to me, has been a drag, so I feel mildly justified (though slightly harsh because I know no director means to repeat his work... except Lucas).

p.s.,

better quality trailer found here.


[Edited on 28/7/09 by Ult_Sm86]

(Sorry I deleted my comment, Ult. Bit of an accident. Also, thanks for the other trailer. Very cool site it's on.)

Do you like his original stories? Like Edward Scissorhand, or Corpse Bride? And what did you think of his adaption* of Sweeney Todd?

[Edited on 28/7/09 by OctoberHoliday]

I love Burton, but I'm not really excited for it. I've never been a huge fan of Alice in Wonderland, and I haven't been impressed with Burton at all lately. He's kinda gone downhill for me since Corpse Bride and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

But, I have to agree with Bman on the sets, story boards, concept art, and all that. They all look pretty cool.

I really don't want to derail the topic 'Tober, so only to appease you will i say that Corpse Bride was lacking in song and felt like a recreation of Nightmare to me (which I think people overcredit Burton on being he only produced it).

Edward Scissorhands, while creative, is not in my top favorites at all, and Sweeney Todd I've never really liked so I don't think Burton helped that. I was brought to it and my girlfriend couldn't handle it. She didn't know what it was about going in and I gotta say I wasn't pleased either. Not one of my favorite film experiences.

Now enough about why I don't like Burton, you guys can talk about this movie now.
I finally watched the trailer and I'll say this, the colors and such are very nice. Very "Through The Looking Glass".

Yeah, I'm loving the look of this one. It's all very different then I'd have expected, you know? I've always pictured it in the simpelest way, but this is way cool. I'm very happy about this Tweedle-dum and Tweedle-dee, they look so cool!

Does anyone know how the Jabberwock plays in to the story?

My opinion on Tim Burton's direction and production abilities is pretty neutral. There are some movies that I love (Beetlejuice), some I like well enough (most of his other stuff), some that I have no interest in seeing but can see how he'd be right for the picture (Sweeney Todd), and some that I think he flat-out ruined (his slaughter of Planet of the Apes).

His take on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is something I'd be very interested in seeing, but I guess it's because, while reading the book, I always envisioned more like a Tim Burton film than a Disney film.

Angelique wrote: His take on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is something I'd be very interested in seeing, but I guess it's because, while reading the book, I always envisioned more like a Tim Burton film than a Disney film.

YES! Exactly!

Angelique wrote: His take on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is something I'd be very interested in seeing, but I guess it's because, while reading the book, I always envisioned more like a Tim Burton film than a Disney film.

To me, Wonderland was one of those places that seemed cute and magical on top and all dark and creepy underneath. I guess most fairy-tales have a dark side. Didn't the Cheshire Cat say something to the effect that everyone in Wonderland was mad? I think Tim Burton is a good choice for Wonderland and I'm looking forward to seeing his take on it. I also don't like all his movies, but I hope this one is good.

(I'm also waiting for someone to make McGee's Alice.....because I do like 'dark and creepy'.)

I'm just wondering how far from the book's actual story it'll stray. Personally I think it'll just be worth it to see Depp with curly red hair.

oooo. I wanna see someone do American McGee's Alice. do so love that game.

I think it's set about ten years after Alice's initial rabbit hole experience, so it's not going to follow the book. I think it's going to be some sort of battle for control over Wonderland, between the White Queen, the Red Queen, and the Hatter. At least, that's my theory.

But what is American McGee's Alice?

A rockin' computer game. Very very dark version of Alice in Wonderland. American McGee's Alice

[Edited on 7/29/2009 by Esynthia]

Well, who was all in the game? The Jabberwock wasn't in the Disney animated movie, was it? Was it in American McGee's Alice?

The jabberwock wasn't in "Alice's adventures in Wonderland" either, it was in the sequel, "Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There". That's why it wasn't in the Disney animated movie, or any other movie based on the first novel.

[Edited on 30/7/2009 by steyn]

Yeah...I'm one of the 'mixed about Burton' crowd....liked some things, didn't like others...but they're always visually stunning.

Ult_Sm86 wrote:I really don't want to derail the topic 'Tober, so only to appease you will i say that Corpse Bride was lacking in song and felt like a recreation of Nightmare to me (which I think people overcredit Burton on being he only produced it).

Actually...I believe the reason The Nightmare Before Christmas is prefixed with Tim Burton's is because it's based on a book he wrote and illustrated in 1993...

Nandireya wrote:Yeah...I'm one of the 'mixed about Burton' crowd....liked some things, didn't like others...but they're always visually stunning.

Ult_Sm86 wrote:I really don't want to derail the topic 'Tober, so only to appease you will i say that Corpse Bride was lacking in song and felt like a recreation of Nightmare to me (which I think people overcredit Burton on being he only produced it).

Actually...I believe the reason The Nightmare Before Christmas is prefixed with Tim Burton's is because it's based on a book he wrote and illustrated in 1993...

The book actually came a bit after the movie, but the poem in it is kinda the same as the original. There's a few things that have been taken out or added and such. He wrote the original like ten years before the film was made while he was working as an animator at Disney, and they rejected the idea at first. I have that book and a making-of book that has the original poem in it.

He also chose to be a producer rather than the director because he wanted someone that was good with stop-motion animation. Well, and he had already signed on to direct Batman Returns.

steyn wrote:The jabberwock wasn't in "Alice's adventures in Wonderland" either, it was in the sequel, "Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There". That's why it wasn't in the Disney animated movie, or any other movie based on the first novel.

[Edited on 30/7/2009 by steyn]

But weren't Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee in the animated movie? I don't think they were in Alice's Adventure's in Wonderland, or were they? It's been a while since I've read either of the books.

Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum are both in the Disney animated version. That's sort of a major part of the book.

As is the caterpillar, the singing flowers, the walrus, the oysters, the carpenter, and the lizard guy.

But I could have sworn that they weren't in the first book. I thought that they were part of the Red/White Queen's chess set in Though the Looking Glass. I think they were used as a filler in the animated movie, so as to make it longer, but they didn't appear in the books until TtLG.

Same with the singing flowers. They weren't in the first book, but appeared in the animated movie all the same. The first time I remember actually reading about them was in the garden just outside the house Alice came into after she went through the looking glass. They were in the garden that you had to walk away from to get to.

[Edited on 1/8/09 by OctoberHoliday]

I could be wrong as to which book they are in, I haven't read them in a very long time. I wasn't particularly fond of the style when I first read it.

What I do know is that the Cheshire cat better not be botched up. I'm not happy that the one sort of touring Alice around Wonderland (from the looks of the trailer) appears to be Depp's Hatter. It's the Cat, always has been.

October, you're right, they were in the second book and then put in the animated movie...huh...okay, I can't follow all this mixing about of first and second book. I'm just going to go watch the movie to see the cat and the orange do on Depp's head.

OctoberHoliday wrote:I think it's set about ten years after Alice's initial rabbit hole experience, so it's not going to follow the book. I think it's going to be some sort of battle for control over Wonderland, between the White Queen, the Red Queen, and the Hatter. At least, that's my theory.

I think you're right.

Okay...so it's 10 years later and Alice returns to Wonderland....but does she remember things? In the movie trailer she sort of acts like she doesn't: she falls down the same rabbit hole, she drinks the potion on the table just like she did before and leaves the key, and the Tweedle-twins are there and so is the crow, so if it is a different storyline, why are those stories repeating?

Also, if this is a battle between the Red Queen and the White Queen, then why does the Red Queen look like the Queen of Hearts (which isn't the same character)?
And is Alice still a queen like she was when she left Wonderland the last time?

(See what teaser trailers do to me?:doh!)