Blog Remodel & Mini Update

I got a little tired of my old blog design, so I thought I'd change it up. I noticed my old blog seemed really narrow, so I widened it so the content would seem a bit less cramped. Also changed the background and overall color scheme to seem more Alice-y (I always associate blue and yellow with Alice, for some reason). Just wanted to freshen it up a bit :)

I know it's been ages since I've posted again. Been crazy busy, and still need to get around to trying out Madness Returns, ugh! Just not enough hours in the day for everything!

It's amazing to me how fast time really goes. I can't believe this December will mark 3 years since Alice premiered on SyFy. I look back fondly on that time and how obsessed I became with it and all the fanvids I made. I still enjoy the movie and am still holding out hope for a sequel (or prequel), but there's nothing quite like that initial obsession when you discover something new that you really, really love! Sometimes something just sparks something within you, and it's very difficult to recreate. Sorry, I'm feeling a bit nostalgic at the moment! I'm basically just leading up to saying that I feel like my Alice fanvidding might be behind me. I consider myself retired from it. I made soooo many videos (30 or so), and I sort of just feel like making more will start to be too repetitive (if it wasn't already). My Youtube channel will remain up, of course, and you can still visit it here: Would You Like a Cup of Tea?

That being said, this blog isn't going anywhere, as I still love Alice In Wonderland as a whole. There are still lots of Alice movies I've yet to talk about (some I still need to watch!), and other stuff I want to talk about, so I'm hoping against hope I can carve out some time for that. Also, I would like to invite anyone who has an Alice blog or fanpage or any website related to Alice to submit your link, and I'll post it on my sidebar under Down The Rabbit Hole. We Alice fans need to stick together ;D

One of the things I've been busy with (probably the most busy with) is my writing. I'm not sure if I've mentioned it before, but I'm an aspiring novelist, and have been writing since the age of 13. I recently published my first book on Kindle called Dog Days of Summer, a contemporary-women's fiction book. Link is in the sidebar if you're curious :) And sorry for the shameless plug ;)

Long Time, No See

"Now, if you only kept on good terms with [Time], he'd do almost anything you liked with the clock." ~ The Mad Hatter

Time flies, doesn't it? I can't believe it's been over a year since I posted here last. Real life...patooey! I haven't really had much to post because I haven't really had time for Alice-y things :( I never even got a chance to play Madness Returns...it's sitting upon my shelf unopened and dusty. Le sigh!

For now, I'll leave you with a couple fanvids I found recently that I thought were very cool. Hopefully I'll have more to update soon!


From 2009, I dunno how I missed this one! It's awesome :)

And I thought this "When Curiosity Met Insanity" one was very cleverly and creatively executed. Very sweet :)

Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland - My Thoughts

I realized I never posted my thoughts on Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland, which I saw for the first time around May 2010 I believe it was. I'm kind of glad I didn't review it then, because I was still very VERY obsessed with the Syfy version and just about anything would've paled in comparison. Now that quite a bit of time has passed, I re-watched the movie with a fresh outlook.

First off, Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland is sort of a sequel to the 1950's Disney animated feature of Alice In Wonderland and sort of a reimagining. The characters look nothing like their animated counterparts though, because it's obviously Tim Burton's vision. Everything about it screams Burton, and I've been a fan of his movies for years. The cast is typical Tim Burton with Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter and Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen. Anymore I don't think Tim Burton would make a movie without these two in it, and that's not a bad thing. I like them both. However, that being said, I didn't care for the fact that this was really the Mad Hatter's show. It sort of made me wish that if Tim Burton was going to make a version of Alice with Johnny Depp as the star, that it really would've been something entirely different and make it a movie about the Mad Hatter, period. It could've even been a prequel, before Alice came to Wonderland. I think that would've been pretty interesting, and something that hasn't been done before on film.

Alice is played by Mia Wasikowska, and I didn't know this actress before the film but she does a really great job as Alice, probably one of my favorite Alices so far. I only wish she wouldn't have been overshadowed so much by Johnny Depp. Anne Hathaway plays the White Queen, who for me, was the weak link in the cast. For one thing, she seemed too young for the role. She's supposed to be the Red Queen's sister and they seem a little too far apart in age. I would've loved to see someone like Cate Blanchett play the White Queen. The White Queen in the novel was always one of my favorite characters, and I thought the direction they went with her in this version was a little odd. The White Queen definitely has lost her marbles, but Anne Hathaway's version just seems like a flake to me.

What also struck me as odd, since Tim Burton decided to go with the battle between the Red and White Queens and their respective soldiers, is the total absence of the White Knight. Considering the Red Queen had Stayne, the Knave of Hearts is basically her main defender, the White Knight would've been an excellent addition and there could've been a pretty epic showdown between him and the Knave of Hearts. Instead this role is filled by the Mad Hatter, which in my opinion might've worked better had he not been quite so off his rocker. He seems really inconsistent as a character, sometimes seeming batty and jovial and other times seeming really dark and almost sinister. This was usually distinguished by his foppish lisp when he was acting silly, and sporting a Scottish brogue when he was more serious. I kind of understood why they made the distinction, but I think it could've been fleshed out better with more flashbacks and more insight into Hatter's story and past.

The visuals are stunning, and very Burton-esque, which I liked. I actually would've liked even more use of traditional Burton visuals, but it was a good balance. I could've used a little bit less CGI. I wish more of the characters were "real", and even the ones that were real, had CGI elements which I found distracting (ie the Mad Hatter's eyes, and Stayne's entire body were both CGI). It seemed very cartoony at times, but I have to let it slide a little knowing that the movie was geared for a younger audience.

That might be my main gripe with the movie. When I first heard that Tim Burton was doing an Alice movie, I immediately thought of his darker movies like Sleepy Hollow and Sweeney Todd, and thought that Alice would follow suit. I wasn't thinking of his later efforts such as Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, which was much more colorful and kid-oriented. I would really love to see someone tackle a much more offbeat and sinister Alice In Wonderland, something more similar to American McGee's Alice.

The movie feels very short for what it is. I felt like it had the potential to be really epic, what with the battle at the end, but it fell a little short. It wasn't even 2 hours long, and considering that Charlie and the Chocolate Factory surpassed 2 hours, I felt a little cheated. They could've fleshed out the Mad Hatter's backstory more and made the ending battle even more exciting.

Overall, it's worth watching and it's certainly not the worst version of Alice In Wonderland I've seen. I just don't think it quite lived up to the hype, and I would've liked a little less visual and a little more story.

An Alice Find...

So I was at the Dollar Tree earlier this week, and they had an Alice In Wonderland jigsaw puzzle! Although they carry quite a bit of Disney Princess stuff, I've never seen anything Alice related there. It's a very cute puzzle, especially for $1, so if you collect Alice memorabilia, you might want to check out your local Dollar Tree for this item :)

Pic:

Alice: Madness Returns Official Release Date Announced!

So I just found out that Alice: Madness Returns has an officially release date of June 14th, 2011! I honestly can't believe it's so soon! I figured no earlier than October.

Remember, you can pre-order it from Amazon:

Syfy Alice - Missing Scene Script

I was rewatching one of the behind the scenes footage of the Syfy Alice (that I posted before), and I noticed on the comments someone mentioned reading a scene from the original script that didn't end up making the final cut. You can read the script portion here:

Andrew-Lee Potts - HATTER BACKSTORY UNLEASHED

This has just got my mind racing with possibilities for a sequel. Although I loved the romantic relationship between Hatter and Alice, Hatter and Mad March's rivalry actually intrigued me more, considering every other version has them being good friends. The script seems to hint at the possibility of Mad March being Hatter's brother. I would love to see Hatter's backstory explored, since "Alice" pretty much covered Alice's backstory. A sequel could even utilize Mad March as the main villain, since imho he was wasted a bit in "Alice", considering he's supposed to be the Queen's best assassin and only killed one person on screen.

On the IMDB, it says Nick Willing (the director of "Alice") is currently filming a Peter Pan re-imagining called Neverland. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that perhaps once that is completed, he'll consider doing a sequel to "Alice".

Alice In Wonderland tribute video

Just thought I'd share real quick that I've uploaded a new video to my Youtube account. It's a tribute to all my favorite versions of Alice In Wonderland set to the song "Her Name Is Alice" by Shinedown.