Alice In Wonderland: A Look Down the Rabbit Hole

So, here is another Comic-Con story that maybe I should have posted earlier, but (1) I think this merits its own post, and (2) I just thought of posting about. Disney released the trailer for Tim Burton's upcoming live-action/stop-motion/motion-capture version of Alice In Wonderland, and I am very excited (I would have embedded the trailer, but Disney disabled that feature).

As with all Burton movies (I should do something about Edward Scissorhands sometime), the film looks like it will be very beautiful, so at least we'll have that, even if the movie itself is not so good. There are some things about the film that would trouble me had it been any other director, most notably making the Mad Hatter look like a kooky clown and making Alice an adult (in many versions, Alice is played by a teenager, but she is still meant to be a prepubescent girl).

There are a few things in the trailer that I want to comment on. First, I am happy, but not excited, to see Mia Wasikowska as Alice; she was the only thing I liked about the movie Defiance mainly because she is nice to look at. She showed some ability to act, but that movie was so poorly written that not even Daniel Craig could make his lines convincing (I apologize for breaking my "no hating" rule). There are plenty of other actresses I wouldn't mind seeing in the role (I've read that Amanda Seyfried auditioned, and I think she would be a good adult Alice), but I want to see if Wasikowska can act or not. Second, it looks like the Mad Hatter's role in the story is going to be increased considerably; Johnny Depp gets the one on-screen credit during the trailer, and he seems to be doing things in addition to holding his mad tea party. Finally, I'm a little surprised that Burton is having Alice shrink out of her clothing in the door chamber at the entrance to Wonderland. I'm going to try and avoid the, um, "mature" (or should that be "immature"?) areas of my mind, but to me, having her shrink out of her clothes is the beginnings of a much more adults-only version of the movie. Obviously, this is a Disney movie, and in all subsequent scenes in the trailer, she is still wearing clothing, so I am wondering how Burton is going to play that scene.

The one last nitpick I have right now has to do with something that has been done in nearly every adaptation of Alice I've ever seen. In the book version of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, part of Wonderland was represented as a deck of cards, and those scenes featured the Queen, King, and Knave of Hearts. In Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There, the entire book was structured like a game of chess, and that book featured the Red and White Queens. In most adaptations, the Queen of Hearts and the Red Queen are combined for whatever reason, leading to a character who has aspects of playing card suits and chess queen attributes, and this adaptation looks to be no different. Helena Bonham Carter has hearts all over her costume, yet she is opposed to her sister and rival, the white queen.

I hope this adaptation will be good. He has done some good kids films (Nightmare Before Christmas... well, he produced that, Henry Selick directed it) and some less than good ones (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), and when he has done movies that are not his own works, he has done some very well (Sweeney Todd) and some just ok (Chocolate Factory again). I wish that Disney wasn't the distributor so that he could go as dark and crazy as he wanted, but I have faith that he can still effectively show us his vision under the confines of the Disney name.

Up next: A Jedi shall not know fear nor anger nor love...

Sweeney Todd: Attend The Tale

Many musicals have great stories, but are renowned for their dance numbers (it is also possible to have the latter but not the former). Sweeney Todd has a fantastic story and excellent music, but it is not based on grand dance numbers with the full company. Most of the songs are sung by one or two people, and in the film, director Tim Burton emphasizes the internal workings of the characters' minds by using close-up shots of the singers, as opposed to wide shots of an entire cast. I think that the only song that could be reasoned as using the full company would be "God That's Good", which features the patrons of Mrs. Lovett's pie shop demanding more pies through song.

The show is therefore 100% dependent on the singing strength of the main characters, and both the original Broadway cast, with Len Cariou as Todd and Angela Lansbury as Lovett, as well as the film, with Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter, have numerous strengths. The weakest of the four is by far Carter; her singing is fair, but it pales in comparison to Lansbury, who has a much better vocal range. Carter does well in "By The Sea", but everything else is fair. However, Depp and the supporting cast more than make up for this. Jamie Campbell Bower, who plays Anthony in the film, is probably the only role that I definitely enjoy more in the film than in the play. The longing in his voice when he sings "Johanna", as well as the innocence seen in "No Place Like London" comes across so well. The play's Anthony (whenever I refer to the play, I am referring to the cast from the Original Broadway soundtrack) is great, but there is something about Bower that I enjoy more.

Aside from Lovett and Anthony, the rest of the cast is either equal across media or the two actors each have a different strength. For example, Depp brings a bit of a punk flair to the character in the singing, while his acting makes us truly believe that we are watching a man who has lost all remnants of humanity. Depp's eyes alone convey so much anger and frustration that if I were to meet Sweeney Todd on the street, I would run the other way. His annoyed delivery and expression in "By The Sea" makes Mrs. Lovett's obliviousness to the situation all the funnier as well. Cariou on the other hand has a much more booming voice. I never saw his performance, so I don't know what he looked like, but his voice alone is enough to strike terror into the hearts of Todd's victims. His cold laugh during "A Little Priest" is absolutely chilling, but he is also able to convey longing very well during his songs about Lucy and Johanna. As for Judge Turpin, I love Alan Rickman, and he did a great job as the villainous judge. His singing was not bad either, much better than I expected. However, the actor from the play is a trained singer, so he did sing a little better than Rickman. Both Tobeys also did really well, and they each bring something different to the table. I don't know if the story was slightly different in the play or if the producers didn't want a child in such a dark show, but Tobey is a teenager on stage and a pre-teen on film. Finally, Johanna has so few lines that it is almost too hard to distinguish between the two roles. However, in her few songs, both actresses do wonderful jobs.

The biggest difference between the play and the film is the length. Most of the songs in the film have been edited down; the film is about two hours long, and if the songs had retained their length, I think it would have reached beyond the 2.5 hour mark. Personally, I wouldn't have minded, but I'm sure that a lot of people can only take so much nihilistic gloom. No major plot is cut out except for Anthony and Johanna's courting. In both shows, it was minimal, since it was a sub-plot, and it revolved around the urgency of getting Johanna away from the controlling Turpin. However, if I remember correctly, it was almost non-existent in the film.

However, while most songs are edited, a few are eliminated all together. There are a few narration songs, which were originally going to be kept in the show. Christopher Lee and Anthony Stewart Head (who played Giles on Buffy!) were going to play two of the six narrators. I was excited for this, since Head is such a good singer (I don't know how well Lee can sing, but he's a good actor), but due to Depp's child getting sick, those songs were cut (I'm pretty sure that was the reason given). These songs don't add to the plot, but I wish that I could see Head singing again (I considered putting the Buffy episode "Once More With Feeling" in as well and making this a quintet, but decided that, since it's never been a live show, it doesn't fit in the group).

Up next: I'm not sure yet...