One of the most anticipated films of the year, Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland is now available on Blu-ray & DVD!

Release Date: June 1, 2010
Rating: PG
Running Time: 108 Minutes

Tumble down the rabbit hole with Alice for a fantastical new adventure from Walt Disney Pictures and Tim Burton. Inviting and magical, Alice In Wonderland is an imaginative new twist on one of the most beloved stories of all time. Alice (Mia Wasikowska), now 19 years old, returns to the whimsical world she first entered as a child and embarks on a journey to discover her true destiny. This Wonderland is a world beyond your imagination and unlike anything you ve seen before. The extraordinary characters you ve loved come to life richer and more colorful than ever. There s the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp), the White Queen (Anne Hathaway), the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter), the White Rabbit (Michael Sheen) and more. A triumphant cinematic experience Alice In Wonderland is an incredible feast for your eyes, ears and heart that will captivate audiences of all sizes.

Alice in Wonderland is just as visually stunning as you think it will be. Ever since footage was shown at 2009 San Diego Comic Con, I had been anticipating this film like no other. Though come time for its release, I have to say with the good comes the bad. While it was so much fun to head back into Tim Burton’s imagination, there just is not enough overall for me to say about how this film lived up to its expectations. The good is that the film was incredibly lively and quite delightful to watch since it was so pleasing to the eyes. Especially Johnny Depp. Not only is he pleasing to the eyes but he is one of the most brilliant actors of our time. I’d watch a movie all about the Mad Hatter if he was the lead.

And Danny Elfman’s score was fabulous. As for the bad, well…where do I start? The characters were all charming in their own way but there is not enough weight of a story in this adaptation to really appreciate these characters in all of their glory. This adaptation will definitely leave you wanting more. Why? I felt like this movie was more about “this is what we need to do for corporate” story wise as opposed to “this is what I want to do to embrace the philosophy of this wonderful tale” story wise. Because of that it was predictable and not emotionally engaging and fulfilling.

Speaking of predictable, I was not at all pleased with 2 things; 1 being how direct Alice’s mission was to defeat the Jabberwocky, and 2 being the ending. The LA Times described the ending best as a “sadly generic CGI battle.” Not only that, but I could have done without the Mad Hatter’s Futterwacken dance. Lastly, it pains me to say this since I am probably the biggest Anne Hathaway fan that I know…but I honestly feel that she was miscast. And with all that said, you will find Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland to be entertaining but if you are looking for a deeper look into this magical tale, this film does not cut it.

Bonus Features:

Finding Alice (5:26) – This special feature did not go into the casting of Alice; it was more about capturing the spirit of Alice for this film. It was quite interesting to hear Mia Wasikowska talk about how much more physically demanding this role was than she originally thought it would, especially in regards to Alice fighting the jabberwocky. It was also quite nice to hear from Mairi Ella Challen who plays 9 year old Alice. Costume Designer, Colleen Atwood talks about the color palette for Alice and Atwood did a fabulous job, it’s too bad she didn’t go more into detail about the stages the costumes went through up until the final look. Though viewers do get to see behind the scenes footage of the cast shooting this fantastical adventure and there is nothing more fascinating than that. Johnny Depp, Tim Burton, Helena Bonham Carter, Mia Wasikowska, and Anne Hathaway also appear in this special feature.

The Mad Hatter (6:04) – It is always nice to see the lengths Johnny Depp goes to get into character. Johnny shares a bit of his research that he conducted about hatters and his watercolors of the Mad Hatter which are strikingly similar to Tim Burton’s vision of the Mad Hatter…confirming that Johnny Depp was the right one to play him! Johnny talked a lot about the emotional or mental state of the Mad Hatter while Makeup Artists, Joel Harlow and Patty York, Costume Designer, Colleen Atwood, and Visual Effects Supervisor, Carey Villegas talked about the physical state of the Mad Hatter. This feature was actually more interesting than the “Finding Alice” feature because there was more analyzed about the character. Helena Bonham Carter and Anne Hathaway also appear in this special feature.

Effecting Wonderland (6:54) -This feature was quite exciting to watch, as many discussing blending live action, cg, and motion capture for the film. For those of you who do not know what motion capture is, Senior Visual Effects Supervisor, Ken Ralston explains this. It is discussed about how difficult it was blending the red queen’s head into Helena’s body. Viewers get to see CG Supervisor, Kee-Suk Ken Hahn and Animation Supervisor, David Schaub supervising the look and the motions of one of the characters. Probably the most fun of all, the end moments show Matt Lucas playing both Tweedledee and Tweedledum. And I am a huge fan of Crispin Glover, so it was exciting to hear him talk about working on the film…he mentioned how he has not worked on green screen this much in any other film! This was quite an exciting film to watch, to see how everything came together and put a face to a few of the magical geniuses responsible for creating this film. Tim Burton, Co-producer, Tom Peitzman, Associate Producer, Derek Frey, Visueal Effects Supervisors Carey Villegas and Sean Philips, and Character Designer/Illustrator, Michael Kutsche all appear in this feature.

Own Alice in Wonderland on Blu-Ray & DVD today.