The Awful Legacy of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland

Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland was a massive hit back in 2010. It proved to be a huge hit for Disney and kicked off their era of live-action remakes. This movie...has a lot to answer for.

[captainmidnight]

What do you think of the movie? How about Tim Burton?

[birdcar]

It’s weird that this movie’s theme is all about Alice making her own choices but the plot is about Alice doing exactly what the prophecy predetermined she would do

[TheGunJungy]

The scene where Johnny Depp's character just starts dancing near the end of the movie is one of my least favorite memories being in a movie theater.

[VideoGameAutopsy]

American McGee, the macabre mastermind behind the two amazing “Alice” games, summed up the movie perfectly (at least in this guy’s opinion) when he said “It wasn’t a movie about Alice. It was a movie about everyone else”.

[NewAlchemychan]

Tim Burton + Alice in Wonderland sounds like a match made in heaven…. Until we saw the movie

[JordanGrimmer]

I've never understood how one of the most colourful and trippy stories ever made could be turned into this grey and messy world. I just remember Alice in Wonderland 2010 being sapped of life with none of the fun and interesting elements of the book and Disney film.

[pinkninjin]

"Alice in The Wonderland" is definitely not a great movie but still a lot better than most Disney live action movies/remakes like "The Lion King" and "Beauty and The Beast"

[BugsyFoga]

In all honesty, I’d probably watch this film over most Disney remakes .

[happyhelpfulhoovy]

I don't remember anything about both the Alice movies, but that soundtrack, man that soundtrack. It is so incredibly Danny Elfman and sometimes ill find myself humming Alice's Theme after literally not listening to it for ages. The main motif for the Alice Theme is about as recognisable for me as the Binary Sunset/Force Theme from Star Wars and no matter how shit Disney remakes are, Alice still has one of the better soundtracks of all of them.

[danielcopeland]

At least Burton was honest enough to admit that he didn't get _Alice in Wonderland._
The key to Lewis Carroll's books is that everything that happens is perfectly _logical_ but relentlessly defies _common sense._ There is no _logical_ contradiction involved in the Cheshire Cat being able to disappear and reappear at will; it's just out of step with both reality and our expectations.
Stephen Fry's performance as the Cheshire Cat was one of the less bad things about this movie. But his line of dialogue where the character explains his teleportation powers as being characteristic of some class of teleporting beings to which he belongs (there was a name for them which I don't remember) -- that is an attempt to wrench the Cheshire Cat into the world of common sense, where things can be categorized according to their behaviour, abilities, properties, and so on. And the whole point of the Cheshire Cat is that he's outside that world. "We're all mad here."

[Everik-ctpg]

This movie is literally just a rip-off of American McGee's Alice. “An older adult Alice goes back to a twisted and dark wonderland in order to defeat the Jabberwocky and the red queen of hearts and return wonderland to it's former glory” is a synopsis that can be used to describe both the game and the movie.
Hell, Tim's Alice even goes to an asylum in the sequel, the difference is that American McGee's Alice is actually good.

[jspaingreene]

I'm with you - this movie changed my views on Tim Burton - I thought he lost his way here and hasn't completely recovered. The line was crossed from quirky, creepy & clever to quirky & creepy as an end to itself. The commodification of kooky and spooky.

[im_not_here_to_fight]

I always thought the reason the world seemed stale and old was because of how jaded and cynical Alice had become about life, and Wonderland is tied to her imagination and stuff. So that's why in the sequel was brighter and more colourful because Alice was a free spirit once more

[IsaacV]

I will never forgive this movie for one thing: it started the live action remake trend. Thanks. I hate it.

[upsetstudios]

I've always loved this movie for it's dark aesthetic but now I get the feeling that another, much better "dark Alice" movie exists in an AU

[mesousagaby]

Mia Wasikowska's career never went anywhere even with this movie's success, almost as if Tim made her acting so dreary and uncharismatic so that she doesn't get casted in anything else. Also, anybody thought the White Queen was clearly on weed in this movie? I think Anne Hathaway needed drugs to get through this. XD

[AmySwain]

As a big Alice in wonderland fan this movie makes me extremely mad. Where was the madness?

[Tymbus]

Terry Gilliam's Jabberwoky (1977) is brilliant

[Genethagenius]

I was soooo excited for this film when it was first announced! I think its main problem is that it was a sequel of sorts to the books & animated film rather than an adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s dark & disturbing book.

[xanderguyer]

I feel like you can't overlook emo teens here. The year was 2010. The Mad Hatter gets to be emo. Its popularity was carved in stone.