Another new Alice: Madness Returns video

Well, EA has posted another teaser for the new "Madness Returns" game. You can watch it below:

See more Alice: Madness Returns Videos at Alice: Madness Returns Official Site.

This video is pretty cool, however, the appearance of the Hatter is now bothering me. Now I know the teasers for games and the actual in-game characters often differ, but it doesn't seem like it should be this "off". He looks very witch-like to me now, and his hat is considerably shorter. I'm not trying to nitpick--I am dying to play the game when it comes out--but there are certain features that made the characters stand out so much in the original game that really didn't need "updating" or "tweaking". Hatter's overly tall top hat, for example, separated him from other Hatters in other adaptations of Alice In Wonderland, and though it was a simple change, it was very effective.

I'm holding out hope that these teasers aren't a reflection of how the characters will look in the game. In the following video:

See more Alice: Madness Returns Videos at Alice: Madness Returns Official Site.

...you can pause at 1:16 and see a still shot of the Hatter and the Cheshire Cat, and they really look quite good. Pretty darn close to the originals, yet updated. I'm hoping these are stills from the game and not just concept art.

Since Alice looks very different in the teasers than she does in the screenshots I've seen, I'm thinking the teasers aren't really a reflection of what we'll see in game, especially since it's still early. Obviously that's nothing new in the video game industry. Many early teasers and trailers often don't end up looking anything like the final product. I'm just hoping for a nicely updated sequel to American McGee's Alice that is still faithful to the original. Only time will tell.

Alice: Madness Returns (sequel to American McGee's Alice)

For those of you who haven't heard, there is a sequel to American McGee's Alice in development called Alice: Madness Returns. I think it's due out late this year, and will be available on PC/MAC, Xbox 360, and Playstation 3.



Amazon lists the release for December 31st, but if it comes out this year, my money is on an October release. Or maybe it's just wishful thinking.

There are lots of screenshots and a few videos over at EA Games. The first two teaser videos are below:

See more Alice: Madness Returns Videos at Alice: Madness Returns Official Site.

See more Alice: Madness Returns Videos at Alice: Madness Returns Official Site.

So as for my initial impressions of the game, I think it looks really promising and it looks like they've stayed very true to the original game. The only thing that's bugging me so far is how Alice looks. I think she looks a little too different from the first game. At first I thought they wanted her to look more grown up, but I heard that the game picks up right where the first game left off, so taking that into consideration, I think she could've looked a little bit closer to the original game. See for yourself:

American McGee's Alice (2000):

Alice: Madness Returns (2011):

It's not just the fact that graphics have improved greatly over the past decade, because Cheshire Cat and The Mad Hatter both look very close to their early counterparts, only much more detailed. I just think Alice had a much more creepy, interesting, and exotic look in the first game, so much so that she has been emulated numerous times in fanart, cosplays, etc. But the game is still in development so perhaps this isn't the final version of Alice.

Syfy Alice Interviews

Before Syfy's Alice premiered, there was a promotional video on their website (it might still be up, I'm not sure), where they interviewed Caterina Scorsone, Andrew Lee Potts, and Matt Frewer. You can watch it below:




Apparently though they edited the interview quite a lot, cause yesterday I found some extended parts with Andrew Lee Potts, uploaded by DarkestStarRMS3







I don't know where she always finds these great vids, but again many thanks to her! :)

And a quick comment about the last part, it makes me feel hopeful again for a possible sequel. It's funny, because on the Alice dvd commentary, both Nick Willing (the director) and Caterina Scorsone said they'd be interested in coming back for a sequel, and obviously Andrew Lee Potts would be on board, so I don't know, I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Behind The Scenes of Syfy Alice

In case you haven't seen them yet, I found a few behind the scenes clips on Youtube from the Syfy Alice. These are so cool, and really should've been on the DVD/Blu-Ray *grumble*







So many thanks to the Youtubers who uploaded these. And I'm sure there's more, but it's crazy late now, so I'll hopefully post more tomorrow.

Malice In Wonderland

A few months ago, I got the opportunity to watch a movie called "Malice In Wonderland" which came out in 2009 and stars Maggie Grace (from "Lost"). The movie is a modern re-imagining of "Alice In Wonderland", but not to be confused with the Syfy "Alice", as the characters are only vaguely reminiscent of the original Lewis Carroll creations, and it's much darker. "Malice In Wonderland" is definitely not a movie for kids. There's a trippy aspect to this movie, which is suitable for any "Alice" story, but with a much more urban feel, rather than fantasy. Wonderland isn't a place of fun and whimsy, but rather a place inhabited by criminals and low-lives, and Alice gets stuck there with no memory of who she is and no way of knowing how to get home.

Minor spoilers ahead, but what intrigued me most about the story is the fact that Alice's love interest isn't Hatter (who happens to be female in this version), but rather the White Rabbit character (played by Danny Dyer), who is a man named Whitey and drives a cab and seems to be a slave to time (much like the White Rabbit was always fretting about being late, in the original novel). It was interesting seeing Alice paired with someone different, and their scenes together were really good.

What really does it for me with this movie, is the ending. And I'm not going to give anything away, but I really liked where the story ended up.

I have to say though, the greatest thing about this movie is the song during the opening credits. I had never heard it before, and immediately fell in love with it. The song is "Bring Back Her Head" by Angelica. Listen to it below:



"Malice In Wonderland" is currently available on Instant Watch, if you have Netflix. It's worth a watch, but it's not nearly as good as the Syfy re-imagining. I really shouldn't compare the two, but it's hard not to since they're both modern day re-imaginings.

8 Months Later...

Yes, I haven't updated my blog in ages! I had some major computer problems and just real life stuff that kept me away :( I'm hoping I can keep this updated now that I've worked out the kinks in my computer (knock on wood!), and things have settled down a bit.

I noticed there's some missing Amazon links, and a couple formatting issues in my previous blog posts. I need to re-familiarize myself with Blogger and get those fixed. I also have some Alice-y things to talk about which will be coming soon, I promise! Right now it's 5:30-ish in the morning, and I haven't gone to bed yet (I'm such a night owl!), so I've got to keep this post brief. I will post an update later though.

Syfy Alice & Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland Costumes

I found an awesome site called CosplaySky which sells some great custom Alice costumes!

Syfy Alice:

Alice's Purple Jacket/Coat (I have to get myself one of these!)
Alice's Blue Dress

Tim Burton's Alice:

Alice's Blue Dress
Mad Hatter's Full Costume
Mad Hatter Pink Shirt
Mad Hatter Jacket
Mad Hatter Thread Belt Bandoleer
Mad Hatter Pants/Trousers
Mad Hatter Pinstripe Pants/Trousers
Mad Hatter Bowtie
White Queen Dress
Red Queen Dress
Alice Red Court "Um" Dress

And they also carry a regular Alice dress based on the Disney cartoon: Click Here

Their prices are fairly reasonable considering they're custom made costumes.

The Mad Hatter's hat can be purchased from Amazon (or their affiliates).

You might want to do a search too. They seem to have few varieties, some even with attached hair/wigs.

The Syfy Alice costumes are far rarer. Actually any products from it are rare. I'm still hoping Syfy will sell replicas of the Mad March cookie jar head ;)