★ BEHIND THE SCENES of Alice in Wonderland | Tim Burton ★

I've been a fan of Tim Burton for a long time - ever since Edward Scissohands was released. He has such a dark and unique imagination, and his films are always recognisable due to the striking aesthetics and eccentric characters. Plus, of course, he usually has Helena Bonham-Carter and the lovely Johnny Depp in starring roles, who are two of my favourite actors. Tim, Helena and Johnny must certainly be the most unusual trio in showbiz!
But the thing I love most of all about his films is the look and style of everything from the set design to -especially- the costumes. This film certainly doesn't disappoint on that front - I spent a lot of the film wishing I had Alice's red dress!

I went to see Alice in Wonderland in 3D, and it was the first film I had ever seen in 3D so it was certainly a different experience from that point of view - I jumped at everything that 'flew' out of the screen!

There is a great contrast between the bright sunshine, corsets and smart dresses at the beginning and the darkness, CGI effects and bold colours of 'Underland'. I had read a not-too-great review beforehand so I was prepared to be disappointed but I really enjoyed the whole thing. I think it has more widespread appeal than a lot of Tim Burton films, and is suitable for families and people who weren't fans of Tim Burton previously. I think this might be why some Tim Burton fans were a bit disappointed - because they were expecting, and wanted, the dark/creepy side to shine through. I was surprised at the lack of freaky singing plants and a smug, creepy Cheshire cat, but frankly I'm glad there wasn't these things because a) the freaky things in the Disney version scare me and b) it made the film and a lot more light hearted and fun.

I think the actors/actresses in the film were brilliant - Johnny Depp was (as always) great as the insane character (!), but I think the real star of the show was Helena Bonham-Carter as the big-headed Red Queen.

The story was quite simple, but I was never bored. I would have liked to see more of the Caterpillar (voiced by the awesome Alan Rickman) and the Cheshire cat (voiced by the equally awesome Stephen Fry), and I didn't much like the white queen for some reason, but all-in-all I'd definitely recommend this film just don't expect it to be a particularly creepy/dark film.
Oh, and one more thing. There seem to be quite a few people who really hate the 'funderwhacking' dance the Mad Hatter does at the end, but I'm not really sure why it's such a big deal. It was just a very short bit of fun at the end - I think the mistake Tim Burton made was to build up the dance into something worth looking forward to at the end, so it was a bit of an anticlimax, but to me it did nothing to spoil the film. If you don't appreciate the dance, I'm sure your kids will!