Eljumaily- Alice in Wonderland

This semester in class, we only really reached the tip of Tim Burton’s full career. Burton had many other films that utilize the many different methods and quirks that we studied and focused on. For my other movie I chose Alice in Wonderland. I loved watching Burtons version of Alice because of the honesty I felt he wanted to put into the movie. The early Alice in Wonderland film was a kid’s orientated story about a sweet girl named Alice who falls into a dream like state and travels to another crazy world while sleeping under a tree. This kind of thing is right up Burton’s alley, and I say he took the film to a 5 Oyster level. Burton took the basis of all the trippy things that occur in the old film and make them his own grotesque, beautiful story. He includes the tale of the Jabberwocky, bringing an element of fear and true evil into a story which originally came off as a dreamlike children’s book.

            The acting in Alice in Wonderland was up to the same level that all of Tim’s movies function at. Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter again act brilliantly under Burton’s direction, and really take Alice to the next stage. Both the actor and the actress fit their roles perfectly. As already quirky characters themselves, Depp and Carter brought a new understanding to the characters of the Mad Hatter and The Queen. Depp makes the relationship between the Hatter and Alice much deeper, making a sort of awkward but beautiful love story between a young girl and the insane hatted man that visits her in her dreams.

            Carter makes plays up the Queen’s wickedness to a whole new high, giving a chilling and haunting performance that Burton knew only Carter could. Rickman also plays the Blue Caterpillar character beautifully. His trippy low voice fits the smoke trick-doing hallucinogenic Caterpillar perfectly. Another great part of the fim was the costuming and graphics. Alice in Wonderland is one hell of a film to try and take on by using real actors instead of solely cartooning. All the characters have some sort of physical costuming trait that they can be identified, like how the Queen has a huge head and how the Hatter is obviously always wearing his hat.

            The setting is also another incredible part of the movie. The amazing scenery and places that Burton visits and changes around from the original Alice to the new is awe-inspiring.  The final scene where the Jabberwocky comes out and Alice finally faces all of her fears in her dream state is a wonderful metaphor of a scene. It makes life seem like just a game, with the setting being a chessboard and the soldiers of the Queens army being cards. Burton really digs deep in this movie to show how one can overcome their fears through their mind. Alice does this through her many adventures, and Burton’s portrayal of that old story comes out with 5 Oysters.