Alice in Wonderland (2010 film)
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| Alice in Wonderland | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Tim Burton |
| Produced by |
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| Screenplay by | Linda Woolverton |
| Based on | Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll |
| Starring |
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| Music by | Danny Elfman |
| Cinematography | Dariusz Wolski |
| Editing by | Chris Lebenzon |
| Studio |
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| Distributed by | Walt Disney Pictures |
| Release date(s) |
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| Running time | 108 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $150–$200 million |
| Box office | $1,024,299,904 |
Alice in Wonderland is a 2010 American computer-animated and live action fantasy film directed by Tim Burton, written by Linda Woolverton, and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The film stars Mia Wasikowska as Alice Kingsleigh, as well as Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, and Helena Bonham Carter. The film was shot in the UK and the US.
The film is inspired by English author Lewis Carroll's 1865 fantasy novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its 1871 sequel Through the Looking-Glass. Mia Wasikowska plays the now nineteen-year-old Alice who, 13 years after her previous visit, returns for the first time as a young woman. She is told that she is the only one who can slay the Jabberwocky, a dragon-like creature controlled by the Red Queen who terrorizes Underland's inhabitants.
The film premiered in London at the Odeon Leicester Square on February 25, 2010, and was released in Australia on March 4, 2010, and the United States and the United Kingdom on March 5, 2010, through IMAX 3D and Disney Digital 3D, as well as in traditional theaters. Despite its short theatrical release window and mixed reviews, the film grossed over $1.02 billion worldwide. At the 83rd Academy Awards, Alice in Wonderland won for Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design, as well as a nomination for Best Visual Effects. As of 2013, it is the thirteenth highest-grossing film of all time.
Plot summary
Troubled by a strange recurring dream and mourning the loss of her beloved father ( Marton Csokas), nineteen-year-old Alice Kingsleigh ( Mia Wasikowska) attends a garden party at Lord Ascot's ( Tim Piggott-Smith) estate, where she is confronted by an unwanted marriage proposal and the stifling expectations of the society in which she lives. Unsure of how to reply, and increasingly confused, she runs away to chase after a rabbit in a blue waistcoat, and accidentally falls into a large rabbit hole. She is transported to a world called Underland, where she is greeted by the White Rabbit ( Michael Sheen), the Dormouse ( Barbara Windsor), the Dodo ( Michael Gough), and Tweedledum and Tweedledee ( Matt Lucas in a dual role). They argue over her identity as "the right Alice", who it is foretold will slay the Red Queen's Jabberwocky ( Christopher Lee) on the Frabjous Day and restore the White Queen to power. The group is then ambushed by the Bandersnatch and a group of playing-card soldiers led by the Knave of Hearts ( Crispin Glover) capturing the White Rabbit and the Dodo bird. Alice, Tweedledum and Tweedledee escape and flee into the woods, while the Knave steals the Oraculum and the Dormouse leaves the others with the Bandersnatch's eye. Tweedledum and Tweedledee, however, were abducted by the Red Queen's Jubjub bird.
The Knave informs the Red Queen ( Helena Bonham Carter) that Alice has returned and threatens her reign, and the soldiers and Bayard the Bloodhound ( Timothy Spall) are ordered to find Alice immediately. Meanwhile, the wandering Alice encounters the Cheshire Cat ( Stephen Fry), who takes her to the March Hare ( Paul Whitehouse) and the Hatter (Johnny Depp). On the way to the White Queen's castle, Hatter relates the terror of the Red Queen's reign, and comments that Alice is not the same as she once was. The Hatter helps Alice avoid capture by allowing himself to be seized instead. Later, Alice is found by Bayard the Bloodhound, who wishes to take her to the White Queen (Anne Hathaway), but Alice insists upon helping the Hatter, so they go to the Red Queen's castle.
The Red Queen is unaware of Alice's true identity and therefore welcomes her as a guest. Alice learns that the Vorpal Sword (the only weapon capable of killing the Jabberwocky) is locked away in a case inside the Bandersnatch's den. The Knave crudely attempts to seduce Alice, but she rebuffs him. She later manages to retrieve the sword and befriend the Bandersnatch. The Knave finds her with the sword and attempts to arrest her. Alice escapes on the back of the Bandersnatch and delivers the sword to the White Queen. The Cheshire Cat saves the Hatter from execution, and the Hatter calls for rebellion against the Red Queen. The rebellion is quickly put down by the Jubjub bird. The resistance flees to the White Queen's castle, and both armies prepare for battle. Alice remains unsure about the expectation for her to champion the White Queen, and meets with Absolem the Caterpillar ( Alan Rickman). He reminds Alice of her past visit to Underland (which she mistakenly called "Wonderland" at the time) thirteen years earlier, and helps give her the courage to fight the Jabberwocky and accomplish "What she must to do", while he becomes a pupa.
When the Frabjous Day arrives, both the White and Red Queens gather their armies on a chessboard-like battlefield and send forth their chosen champions (armor-clad Alice and the Jabberwocky respectively) to decide the fate of Underland. Encouraging herself with the words of her late father, Alice manages to kill the Jabberwocky. The White Queen then banishes the Red Queen and the Knave to the Outlands, and gives Alice a vial of the Jabberwocky's blood, which will take her home. The Hatter suggests that she could stay in Underland, but she decides that she must go back and promises that she will return.
Alice returns home, where she stands up to her family and pledges to live life on her own terms. Impressed, Lord Ascot takes her in as his apprentice, with the idea of establishing oceanic trade routes to China. As the story closes, Alice prepares to set off on a trading ship. Absolem, now a butterfly, lands on her shoulder. Alice recognizes him and greets him before he flutters away.
Cast and characters
The film features a variety of characters, many of whom are based on characters that are featured in works by Lewis Carroll.
- Mia Wasikowska as Alice Kingsleigh. When creating the character, screenwriter Linda Woolverton researched how young women were expected to behave in the Victorian era and then made her the opposite. Wasikowska read Carroll's books as a child and re-read them to prepare for her role. She also watched Jan Švankmajer's Alice. She said, "When we were kids, my mum would pop it in the VCR player. We would be disturbed, and wouldn't really understand it, but we couldn't look away because it was too intriguing. So I had kept that feeling about Alice, a kind of haunting feeling." Although facing pressures to conform to society's expectations, Alice grows into a stronger-willed and empowered heroine who chooses her own path; Independent columnist Liz Hoggard praised Alice as a role model for girls, describing the character as "stubborn, brave, [and] non-girlie". Mairi Ella Challen portrayed Alice as a six-year-old.
- Johnny Depp as Tarrant Hightopp, The Hatter. Wasikowska said that the characters "both feel like outsiders and feel alone in their separate worlds, and have a special bond and friendship." Burton explained that Depp "tried to find a grounding to the character ... as opposed to just being mad." Burton also said that, "In a lot of versions it's a very one-note kind of character and you know [Depp's] goal was to try and bring out a human side to the strangeness of the character." The orange hair is an allusion to the mercury poisoning suffered by milliners who used mercury to cure felt; Depp believes that the character "was poisoned ... and it was coming out through his hair, through his fingernails and eyes". Depp and Burton decided that the Hatter's clothes, skin, hair, personality and accent would change throughout the film to reflect his emotions. In an interview with Depp, the character was paralleled to "a mood ring, [as] his emotions are very close to the surface". The Hatter is "made up of different people and their extreme sides", with a gentle voice much like the character's creator Lewis Carroll reflecting the lighter personality and with a Scottish Glaswegian accent (which Depp modeled after Gregor Fisher's Rab C. Nesbitt character) reflecting a darker, more dangerous personality. Illusionary dancer David "Elsewhere" Bernal doubled for Depp during the "Futterwacken" sequence near the end of the film.
- Helena Bonham Carter as Iracebeth of Crims, the Red Queen. She is an amalgamation of two Carroll characters: the Red Queen and the Queen of Hearts. Her first name is a play on the word irascible, as she is easily irritated and quick to anger. Bonham Carter's head was digitally increased to three times its original size on screen. The character hates animals, choosing to use them as servants and furniture. The actress took inspiration from her young daughter Nell, a toddler, stating that, "The Red Queen is just like a toddler, because she's got a big head and she's a tyrant."
- Anne Hathaway as Mirana of Marmoreal, the White Queen. She was one of few characters that did not require digital manipulation. Hathaway summed up her character with a caption on a magnet of Happy Bunny holding a knife; "Cute but psycho. Things even out." According to Hathaway, "She comes from the same gene pool as the Red Queen. She really likes the dark side, but she's so scared of going too far into it that she's made everything appear very light and happy. But she's living in that place out of fear that she won't be able to control herself." Hathaway described her interpretation of the White Queen as "a punk-rock vegan pacifist", with inspiration drawn from Debbie Harry, Greta Garbo, and the artwork of Dan Flavin. Burton said that the White Queen's appearance was inspired by Nigella Lawson.
- Crispin Glover played Ilosovic Stayne, the Knave of Hearts. The character is arrogant and tricky, and while following the Red Queen's every order, he is the only one capable of calming her dramatic mood swings. Glover said, "The Red Queen has a fair amount of short-tempered reactions to things that people do, and so [the Knave] has to be quite diplomatic." The Red Queen believes he is her lover, but his attempt to seduce Alice and negative reaction to being exiled with the Red Queen at the story's end proves this to be false. Stayne's body was completely CGI with only Glover's head being live-action.
- Matt Lucas portrayed both Tweedledee and Tweedledum. Burton commented on the mixture of animation and Lucas, saying that "It's a weird mixture of things which gives his characters the disturbing quality that they so richly deserve."
- Marton Csokas as Charles Kingsleigh, Alice’s father
- Lindsay Duncan as Helen Kingsleigh, Alice’s mother
- Jemma Powell as Margaret, Alice's sister
- Eleanor Tomlinson as Fiona Chattaway
- Eleanor Gecks as Faith Chattaway
- Frances de la Tour as Imogene, Alice's aunt.
- John Hopkins as Lowell, Margaret's husband.
- Tim Piggott-Smith as Lord Ascot
- Geraldine James as Lady Ascot
- Leo Bill as Hamish Ascot, Alice's would-be fiancé and the son of Lord Ascot.
Voices
- Michael Sheen voiced Nivens McTwisp, the White Rabbit. Sheen said the character "is such an iconic character that [he] didn't feel like [he] should break the mold too much." Burton said the quality he wanted most in his clock-watching bunny was a twitchiness, also commenting that "[in] any incarnation of the [White Rabbit] through the years, there's that sort of nervousness of a rabbit."
- Alan Rickman voiced Absolem, the Caterpillar. Although Rickman was filmed while recording his voice in a studio, his face was not composited onto the character's face as originally planned.
- Barbara Windsor voiced Mallymkun, the Dormouse. Burton said that Windsor's voice sealed the deal for her role as the character.
- Stephen Fry voiced Chessur, the Cheshire Cat. Burton stated that the character had a creepy quality in addition to tapping into his own hatred of cats.
- Paul Whitehouse voiced Thackery Earwicket, the March Hare. Burton stated that because Whitehouse is a great comedic actor, a lot of his lines came from improvisation.
- Timothy Spall voiced Bayard the Bloodhound. Although Bayard does not appear in the book, a similar character named "The Puppy" may be the inspiration for the character.
- Michael Gough voiced Uilleam, the Dodo bird. Burton said that Gough was the first person he thought of for the role of the Dodo because he has "a full life quality to his voice". Unfortunately, this would be Gough's final acting role. The actor passed away the following year at the age of ninety-four. Gough has previously played the March Hare in the 1966 TV play of the book.
- Sir Christopher Lee voiced the Jabberwocky. While it only had two lines, Burton said that he felt Lee to be a good match for the iconic character because he is "an iconic guy".
- Imelda Staunton voiced the Talking Flowers. Some of the flowers' faces are caricatures of Staunton.
- Jim Carter voiced the Executioner. The Executioner is the only human character that is completely animated.
- Frank Welker provided additional voices and vocal effects.
Production
Tim Burton signed with Walt Disney Pictures to direct two films in Disney Digital 3D, which included Alice in Wonderland and his remake of Frankenweenie. Burton developed the story because he never felt an emotional tie to the original book.
He explained "the goal is to try to make it an engaging movie where you get some of the psychology and kind of bring a freshness but also keep the classic nature of Alice." On prior versions, Burton said "It was always a girl wandering around from one crazy character to another, and I never really felt any real emotional connection." His goal with the new movie is to give the story "some framework of emotional grounding" and "to try and make Alice feel more like a story as opposed to a series of events." Burton focused on the poem " Jabberwocky" as part of his structure, and refers to the described creature by the name of the poem rather than by the name "Jabberwock" used in the poem. Burton also stated that he does not see his version as either a sequel to any existing Alice film nor as a "re-imagining".
| "We wanted somebody who had... it's hard to put into words, but just had a gravity to her, an internal life, something that you could see the wheels turning. It's just a simple kind of power to her that we really liked. Not flamboyant, not very showy, but just somebody that's got a lot of internal life to her. That's why I picked her." |
| —Burton on casting Mia Wasikowska as Alice |
This film was originally set to be released in 2009, but was pushed back to March 5, 2010. Principal photography was scheduled for May 2008, but did not begin until September and concluded in three months. Scenes set in the Victorian era were shot at Torpoint and Plymouth from September 1 to October 14. Two hundred and fifty local extras were chosen in early August. Locations included Antony House in Torpoint, Charlestown, Cornwall and the Barbican, however, no footage from the Barbican was used. Motion capture filming began in early October at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California, though the footage was later discarded. Filming also took place at Culver Studios. Burton said that he used a combination of live action and animation, without motion capture. He also noted that this was the first time he had filmed on a green screen. Filming of the green screen portions, comprising 90% of the film, was completed after only 40 days. Many of the cast and crew felt nauseated as a result of the long hours surrounded by green, with Burton having lavender lenses fitted into his glasses to counteract the effect. Due to the constant need for digital effects to distort the actors' physical appearances, such as the size of the Red Queen's head or Alice's height, visual effects supervisor Ken Ralston cited the film as being exhausting, saying it was "The biggest show I've ever done, [and] the most creatively involved I've ever been."
Sony Pictures Imageworks designed the visual effects sequences. Burton felt 3D was appropriate to the story's environment. Burton and Zanuck chose to film with conventional cameras, and convert the footage into 3D during post-production; Zanuck explained 3D cameras were too expensive and "clumsy" to use, and they felt that there was no difference between converted footage and those shot in the format. James Cameron, who released his 3D film Avatar in December 2009, criticized the choice, stating, "It doesn't make any sense to shoot in 2-D and convert to 3-D".
Music
Score
| Alice in Wonderland: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack | |
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| Film score by Danny Elfman | |
| Released | March 2, 2010 |
| Genre | Orchestral |
| Length | 50:59 |
| Label | Walt Disney |
Longtime Burton collaborator Danny Elfman's score was released March 2, 2010. It debuted at #89 on the Billboard Top 200 albums chart.
- Track listing
| Alice in Wonderland: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | ||||||||
| 1. | "Alice's Theme" | 5:07 | ||||||||
| 2. | "Little Alice" | 1:34 | ||||||||
| 3. | "Proposal/Down the Hole" | 2:58 | ||||||||
| 4. | "Doors" | 1:51 | ||||||||
| 5. | "Drink Me" | 2:48 | ||||||||
| 6. | "Into the Garden" | 0:50 | ||||||||
| 7. | "Alice Reprise #1" | 0:26 | ||||||||
| 8. | "Bandersnatched" | 2:42 | ||||||||
| 9. | "Finding Absolem" | 2:41 | ||||||||
| 10. | "Alice Reprise #2" | 0:38 | ||||||||
| 11. | "The Cheshire Cat" | 2:07 | ||||||||
| 12. | "Alice and Bayard's Journey" | 4:04 | ||||||||
| 13. | "Alice Reprise #3" | 0:24 | ||||||||
| 14. | "Alice Escapes" | 1:07 | ||||||||
| 15. | "The White Queen" | 0:36 | ||||||||
| 16. | "Only a Dream" | 1:25 | ||||||||
| 17. | "The Dungeon" | 2:18 | ||||||||
| 18. | "Alice Decides" | 3:14 | ||||||||
| 19. | "Alice Reprise #4" | 1:01 | ||||||||
| 20. | "Going to Battle" | 2:41 | ||||||||
| 21. | "The Final Confrontation" | 1:41 | ||||||||
| 22. | "Blood of the Jabberwocky" | 2:37 | ||||||||
| 23. | "Alice Returns" | 3:14 | ||||||||
| 24. | "Alice Reprise #5" | 2:56 | ||||||||
Almost Alice
Almost Alice is a collection of various artists' music inspired by the film. The lead single, " Alice" by Avril Lavigne, premiered on January 27, 2010 on Ryan Seacrest's radio program. Other singles include "Follow Me Down" by 3OH!3 and "Tea Party" by Kerli. The album was released on March 2, 2010.
Release
On February 12, 2010, major UK cinema chains, Odeon, Vue and Cineworld, had planned to boycott the film because of a reduction of the interval between cinema and DVD release from the usual 17 weeks to 12. A week after the announcement, Cineworld, who has a 24% share of UK box office, chose to play the film on more than 150 screens. Cineworld's chief executive Steve Wiener stated, "As leaders in 3D, we did not want the public to miss out on such a visual spectacle. As the success of Avatar has shown, there is currently a huge appetite for the 3D experience". Shortly after, the Vue cinema chain also reached an agreement with Disney, but Odeon had still chosen to boycott in Britain, Ireland and Italy. On February 25, 2010 Odeon had reached an agreement and decided to show the film on March 5, 2010. The Royal premiere took place at the Odeon Leicester Square in London on February 25, 2010 for the fundraiser The Prince's Foundation for Children and The Arts where the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall attended. It also did not affect their plans to show the film in Spain, Germany, Portugal and Austria. The film was released in the U.S. and UK, in both Disney Digital 3D and IMAX 3D, as well as regular theaters on March 5, 2010.
Marketing
On June 22, 2009, the first pictures of the film were released, showing Depp as the Mad Hatter, Hathaway as the White Queen, Bonham Carter as the Red Queen and Lucas as Tweedledee and Tweedledum. A new image of Alice was also released. In July, new photos emerged of Alice holding a white rabbit, the Mad Hatter with a hare, the Red Queen holding a pig, and the White Queen with a mouse.
On July 22, 2009, a teaser trailer from the Mad Hatter's point of view was released on IGN but was shortly taken down because Disney claimed that the trailer was not supposed to be out yet. The teaser was also planned to premiere along with a trailer of Robert Zemeckis' film adaptation of A Christmas Carol on July 24, 2009 for G-Force. The following day, the teaser trailer premiered at Comic-Con but the trailer shown was different than the one that leaked. The ComicCon version didn't have the Mad Hatter's dialogue. Instead, it featured " Time to Pretend" by MGMT, and the clips shown were in different order than in the leaked version. The leaked version was originally to be shown to one of the three Facebook groups used to promote the film that had the most members. The groups used to promote the film are "The Loyal Subjects of the Red Queen", "The Loyal Subjects of the White Queen" and "The Disloyal Subjects of the Mad Hatter".
Also at ComicCon, props from the film were displayed in an "Alice in Wonderland" exhibit. Costumes featured in the exhibit included the Red Queen's dress, chair, wig, spectacles and scepter; the White Queen's dress, wig and a small model of her castle; the Mad Hatter's suit, hat, wig, chair and table; Alice's dress and battle armor (to slay the Jabberwocky). Other props included the "DRINK ME" bottles, the keys, an "EAT ME" pastry and stand-in models of the White Rabbit and March Hare.
A nighttime party area at the Disney's California Adventure theme park was created, called " Mad T Party".
Video game
On July 23, 2009, Disney Interactive Studios announced that a video game based on the film, developed by French game studio Étranges Libellules, would be released in the same week as the film for the Wii, Nintendo DS and Microsoft Windows, with the soundtrack being composed by veteran video games music composer Richard Jacques. The Wii, DS and PC versions were released on March 2, 2010.
Reception
Box office
Alice in Wonderland earned $334,191,110 in North America and $690,108,794 in other territories, for a worldwide total of $1,024,299,904. Worldwide, it is the eleventh highest-grossing film and the second highest-grossing 2010 film. It is the third highest-grossing film starring Johnny Depp, the highest-grossing film directed by Tim Burton and the second highest-grossing children's book adaptation (worldwide, as well as in North America and outside North America separately).
On its first weekend, the film made $210.1 million worldwide, marking the second-largest opening ever for a movie not released during the summer or the holiday period (behind The Hunger Games), the fourth largest for a Disney film and the fourth largest among 2010 films. It dominated for three consecutive weekends at the worldwide box office. On May 28, 2010, its 85th day of release, it became the sixth film ever to surpass the $1-billion-mark, the first to do so without a PG-13 rating, and the second film produced and released by Walt Disney Studios that did so.
North America
Alice in Wonderland is the twenty-fifth highest-grossing film but out of the top 100 when adjusted for inflation. It is also the second highest-grossing 2010 film, the second highest-grossing film starring Johnny Depp and the highest-grossing film directed by Tim Burton. The film opened on March 5, 2010, on approximately 7,400 screens at 3,728 theaters with $40,804,962 during its first day, ranking number one and setting a new March opening-day record. Alice earned $116.1 million on its opening weekend, breaking the record for the largest opening weekend in March (previously held by 300), the record for the largest opening weekend during springtime (previously held by Fast and Furious), the largest opening weekend for a non-sequel (previously held by Spider-Man) and the highest one for the non-holiday, non-summer period. However, all of these records were broken by The Hunger Games ($152.5 million) in March 2012. Alice made the twelfth highest-grossing opening weekend of all time and the third largest for a 3D film. Opening-weekend grosses originating from 3D showings were $81.3 million (70% of total weekend gross). This broke the record for the largest opening-weekend 3D grosses but it was topped by Marvel's The Avengers ($108 million). It had the largest weekend per theater average of 2010 ($31,143 per theatre) and the largest for a PG-rated film. It broke the IMAX opening-weekend record by earning $12.2 million on 188 IMAX screens, with an average of $64,197 per site. The record was overtaken by Deathly Hallows – Part 2 ($15.2 million). Alice remained in first place for three consecutive weekends at the North American box office. Alice closed in theaters on July 8, 2010 with $334.2 million.
Outside North America
Outside North America, Alice is the ninth highest-grossing film, the highest-grossing 2010 film, the third highest-grossing Disney film, the second highest-grossing film starring Johnny Depp and the highest-grossing film directed by Tim Burton. It began with an estimated $94 million, on top of the weekend box office, and remained at the summit for four consecutive weekends and five in total. In Japan, it stands as the foreign film that reached 10 billion yen in record time (37 days), that is 13 days fewer than Avatar, which is the second fastest. Japan was the film's highest-grossing country after North America, with $133.7 million, followed by the UK, Ireland and Malta ($64.4 million), and France and the Maghreb region ($45.9 million).
Critical response
The film received generally mixed reviews. Review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes reports that 51% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 246 reviews, with an average score of 5.7/10. Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 1–100 reviews from film critics, has a rating score of 53 based on 38 reviews.
Todd McCarthy of Variety praised it for its "moments of delight, humor and bedazzlement", but went on to say, "But it also becomes more ordinary as it goes along, building to a generic battle climax similar to any number of others in CGI-heavy movies of the past few years". Michael Rechtshaffen of The Hollywood Reporter said "Burton has delivered a subversively witty, brilliantly cast, whimsically appointed dazzler that also manages to hit all the emotionally satisfying marks", while also praising its computer-generated imagery (CGI), saying "Ultimately, it's the visual landscape that makes Alice's newest adventure so wondrous, as technology has finally been able to catch up with Burton's endlessly fertile imagination." Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly said, "But Burton's Disneyfied 3-D Alice in Wonderland, written by the girl-power specialist Linda Woolverton, is a strange brew indeed: murky, diffuse, and meandering, set not in a Wonderland that pops with demented life but in a world called Underland that's like a joyless, bombed-out version of Wonderland. It looks like a CGI head trip gone postapocalyptic. In the film's rather humdrum 3-D, the place doesn't dazzle — it droops." Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times awarded the film three out of four stars and said in his review that, "Alice plays better as an adult hallucination, which is how Burton rather brilliantly interprets it until a pointless third act flies off the rails." The market research firm CinemaScore found that audiences gave the film an average rating of "A-".
Several reviews criticized the decision to turn Alice into a "colonialist entrepreneur" at the end of the film setting sail for China. Given Britain's role in the Opium Wars during the Victorian era and subjugation of China through " unequal treaties", China expert Kevin Slaten writes, "Not only is it troubling imagery for a female role model in a Disney movie, but it's also a celebration of the exploitation that China suffered for a century."
Accolades
| Award | Category | Recipient | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 83rd Academy Awards | Best Art Direction | Robert Stromberg Karen O'Hara |
Won |
| Best Visual Effects | Ken Ralston David Schaub Carey Villegas Sean Phillips |
Nominated | |
| Best Costume Design | Colleen Atwood | Won | |
| 64th British Academy Film Awards | Best Costume Design | Won | |
| Best Film Music | Danny Elfman | Nominated | |
| Best Production Design | Robert Stromberg Karen O’Hara |
Nominated | |
| Best Special Visual Effects | Nominated | ||
| Best Makeup and Hair | Won | ||
| 68th Golden Globe Awards | Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy | Nominated | |
| Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy | Johnny Depp | Nominated | |
| Best Original Score | Danny Elfman | Nominated | |
| 53rd Grammy Awards | Best Score Soundtrack Album For Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media | Nominated | |
| ChartAttack's 16th Annual Year-End Readers' Poll | Best Song | Avril Lavigne | Won |
| 2011 Kids' Choice Awards | Favorite Movie | Nominated | |
| Favorite Movie Actor | Johnny Depp | Won | |
| MTV Movie Awards | Global Superstar | Nominated | |
| Best Movie | Nominated | ||
| Best Villain | Helena Bonham Carter | Nominated | |
| National Movie Awards | Best Performance | Nominated | |
| Johnny Depp | Nominated | ||
| Best Fantasy | Nominated | ||
| People's Choice Awards | Favorite Movie | Nominated | |
| Favorite Drama Movie | Nominated | ||
| Teen Choice Awards | Best Fantasy Film | Nominated | |
| Best Fantasy Actor | Johnny Depp | Nominated | |
| Scene Stealer – Female | Anne Hathaway | Nominated | |
| Best Fantasy Actress | Mia Wasikowska | Nominated | |
| Breakout Female | Nominated | ||
| Best Fight | Mia Wasikowska vs. The Jabberwocky | Won | |
| 37th Saturn Awards | Best Fantasy Film | Won | |
| Best Costume | Won | ||
| Best Make-Up | Nominated | ||
| Best Production Design | Nominated | ||
| Best Special Effects | Nominated | ||
| 2010 Scream Awards | Ultimate Scream | Nominated | |
| Best Fantasy Movie | Nominated | ||
| Best Director | Tim Burton | Nominated | |
| Best Fantasy Actress | Mia Wasikowska | Nominated | |
| Best Breakout Performance – Female | Nominated | ||
| Best Fantasy Actor | Johnny Depp | Nominated | |
| Best Supporting Actress | Anne Hathaway | Won | |
| 3-D Top Three | Nominated | ||
| AD First Half of the Year Awards | Best Art Direction | Nominated | |
| Best Visual Effects | Won | ||
| Best Make Up | Nominated | ||
| MTV Fan Music Awards | Best Movie Song | Avril Lavigne | Won |
Possible stage adaptation
Walt Disney Theatrical is already in early talks with Burton and screenwriter Linda Woolverton to develop the property as a Broadway musical. Woolverton authored the screenplay for Disney's The Lion King and is also the Tony Award-nominated book writer of Beauty and the Beast, Aida and Lestat. Burton will also render the overall designs for the stage musical. Woolverton will adapt her screenplay for the stage production. Neither a composer nor songwriting team has been chosen yet. Direction and choreography will be done by Rob Ashford. The musical is aiming to make its world-premiere in London.
Sequel
On December 7, 2012, Variety announced the development of a sequel to Alice in Wonderland, with Linda Woolverton returning to write a screenplay.
