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 Joining Johnny Depp in the UK for the Alice in Wonderland Premiere were Tim Burton and a host of stars from the film. We caught up with them to find out more and got this wonderful insight into the film...
From Walt Disney Pictures and visionary director Tim Burton comes an epic 3D fantasy adventure ALICE IN WONDERLAND, a magical and imaginative twist on some of the most beloved stories of all time. JOHNNY DEPP stars as the Mad Hatter and MIA WASIKOWSKA as 19-year-old Alice, who returns to the whimsical world she first encountered as a young girl, reuniting with her childhood friends: the White Rabbit, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, the Dormouse, the Caterpillar, the Cheshire Cat, and of course, the Mad Hatter. Alice embarks on a fantastical journey to find her true destiny and end the Red Queen’s reign of terror. The all-star cast also includes ANNE HATHAWAY, HELENA BONHAM CARTER and CRISPIN GLOVER. Tim Burton
Q. Why did you want to make Alice in Wonderland?
Tim Burton: I think the thing that really intrigued me was the opportunity to do a 3D Alice in Wonderland. It seemed like the proper mix of the medium and the material. A few years ago I don't know if I would have been as intrigued about it. It just seemed like the trippiness of that world and the tools that came with the effects. There have also been 20 odd versions of Alice that I'd never really connected to, but yet the characters and the images and the way they've infiltrated culture are just so strong. So, it just felt like it would be a real interesting challenge.
Q. Did you ask Anne Hathaway to look to Nigella Lawson to influence the way she portrayed the White Queen?
Tim Burton: I never say to anybody 'do this or do that'. The joy for me is to see what these great actors do with the character. I may give a few hints and I might have mentioned her. I dropped it but didn't dwell on it or anything. We talked about lots of other different things. There were certain things... but I think every good actor draws from lots of different inspirations. I was very grateful that all these actors, working on a green screen, were able to make something out of nothing basically.
Q. How does the pressure affect you during the process?
Tim Burton: It never felt like there's been a definitive version. There's been over 20 some versions of it. It's so much a part of culture... for me, I knew the world of Alice not through the books, but through music and bands and other artists' interpretations, so to me it felt like it was open territory because it's so in our culture. But we didn't have a lot of time to think about [pressure]... I just finished the movie last week, so it just got more intense. It was kind of a backwards process making this movie, so it was really intense at the end and you don't have time to worry about those kinds of things.
Q. How do you feel tnow that the Odeon issue has now been resolved?
Tim Burton: I'm just glad it's resolved. We made it in 3D to be shown on the big screen and so I'm just very happy and grateful... I'm just happy now. It's good.
Q. Are you giving up on stop-motion now? And did you ever envisage an Alice in stop-motion?
Tim Burton: No, I remember the Czech version that did it [using stop motion] and that was probably one of the more interesting versions of it. But with all these different elements, it just made sense to use these techniques. Stop-motion is the only one we didn't use for this. But I've got other stop-motion projects because I love it. You try to fit the medium to the material and all the techniques just made sense to do it using this.  ©Disney Enterprises, Inc.
Anne Hathaway
Q. You've played a princess and now you're a queen. How do you view your career?
Anne Hathaway: I attribute so much of my career to luck. My mother always told me that luck is preparation meets opportunity. And I've been given extraordinary opportunities to work with filmmakers long before I was talented enough to deserve to work with them. But I've learned a lot from them and I just kind of keep getting hired. So, I just feel extremely lucky.
Q. How did you feel when you first read Lewis Carroll as a kid?
Anne Hathaway: I remember when I was a kid I had a wonderful teacher in fifth grade who had us memorise the poem, The Jabberwocky, and I was asked to get up and recite it in front of everyone. That was kind of my first experience with the words....
Q. What was your approach to playing The White Queen and was there any involvement from Nigella Lawson?
Anne Hathaway: I found the Nigella reference very helpful... the way she's so passionate about food and especially her descriptions of it. That was a help to me in the cooking scene - more so when she's in the kitchen than any of the other scenes. I'm misquoting her but Nigella is always talking about 'a cocophony of flavours that jump out'. I wanted to give The White Queen a kind of sensuality in the kitchen. Of course, she's talking about buttered fingers and things like that... and then makes herself wretch!Helena Bonham Carter
Q. How did you approach your role of the Red Queen?
Helena Bonham Carter: Well, Tim sort of gave me a couple of pointers. He said watch The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex... It was Bette Davis playing Elizabeth. Then Joan Crawford in Mommie Dearest. The main thing was... I spoke to Linda Woolverton, who wrote the script, and she told me about the big head and it made sense that she chops off other people's heads because she feels jealous of their normal sized heads. I thought that she's probably a toddler. She's a toddler tyrant - toddlers are tyrants! They've got no sympathy for any other living creatures... the toddler thing was a big thing. And to tell you the truth, after shouting all day I didn't actually have a voice after lunch. So, I didn't really speak much, except on set, which was probably what Tim wanted!
Crispin Glover
Q. How did you feel when you first read Lewis Carroll as a kid?
Crispin Glover: Whether you've read it or not, you feel extremely influenced by it. I was aware of it... I never did read the story, or the original books. But then when I got the information that they were interested in me for this I quickly looked to see what The Knave of Hearts was and I also realised that it's relatively different from the character that I play in the film. Previously, on other films that I've worked on that were adapted from novels or such, I would often envelop myself in it and then I found that I'd get really interested in a particularity that didn't always match up with what was actually in the script. I was really excited about being in the film with Tim and everybody and really wanted to make sure that I fit within the vision of the film. So, I concentrated on the screenplay and what was necessary for the character. But right not I happen to be reading it and I'm really enjoying it.
Rating: PG Release Date: March 5, 2010
Director: Tim Burton Executive producer: Peter Tobyansen, Chris Lebenzon
Producers: Richard D. Zanuck, Joe Roth, Suzanne Todd, Jennifer Todd
Co-producers: Katterli Frauenfelder, Tom Peitzman
Cast: Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Crispin Glover, Matt Lucas, Marton Csokas, Tim Pigott-Smith, Lindsay Duncan, Geraldine James, Leo Bill, Jemma Powell, Mairi Ella Challen and Mia Wasikowska as Alice
Voice Cast: Stephen Fry, Alan Rickman, Michael Sheen, Timothy Spall, Christopher Lee, Paul Whitehouse, Barbara Windsor
From Walt Disney Pictures and visionary director Tim Burton comes an epic 3D fantasy adventure ALICE IN WONDERLAND, a magical and imaginative twist on some of the most beloved stories of all time. JOHNNY DEPP stars as the Mad Hatter and MIA WASIKOWSKA as 19-year-old Alice, who returns to the whimsical world she first encountered as a young girl, reuniting with her childhood friends: the White Rabbit, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, the Dormouse, the Caterpillar, the Cheshire Cat, and of course, the Mad Hatter. Alice embarks on a fantastical journey to find her true destiny and end the Red Queen’s reign of terror. The all-star cast also includes ANNE HATHAWAY, HELENA BONHAM CARTER and CRISPIN GLOVER.
OFFICIAL SITE: http://www.disneymovies.co.uk/alice/
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