Development and writing
I wrote this at a very dark time in my life. A lot of bad things had happened—death, divorce, moving across the country—so I was kind of down the rabbit hole myself at the time… I got an image of her [Alice] standing at a very crucial moment in her life, looking over and seeing this rabbit leaning against the tree, looking at her, knowing she had to put a pin in this crucial decision and follow this rabbit, because that was her destiny.
—Linda Woolverton on coming up with the idea of Alice in Wonderland[40]
Development on Alice in Wonderland began in 2006,[41] when Joe Roth, Jennifer and Suzanne Todd approached Linda Woolverton for ideas for a large fantasy movie;[42] Woolverton proposed them a concept of grown-up Alice (from Lewis Carroll's 1865 novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its 1871 sequel Through the Looking-Glass) returning to Wonderland, which she had in her head for a while.[43] Roth then pitched the idea to Walt Disney Pictures, which greenlit the project, with Woolverton commissioned to write the script.[42] The first draft, titled Alice, was finished on February 23, 2007,[44] and then it was submitted to Tim Burton, who agreed to helm the project.[43] According to Oren Aviv (then president of production at the Walt Disney Studios), Burton was the only choice as the film's director because of his "unique vision and voice that would really give the project that special look and memorable characters."[45] In April of that year, it was revealed that the film would be a blend of live-action and motion capture,[46] and by November 2007, Burton was officially on board to direct both Alice in Wonderland and a feature-length remake of his 1984 short film Frankenweenie.[45]
Burton developed the story despite experiencing a "weird" connection to the original book.[47] He explained "the goal is to try to make it an engaging movie where you get some of the psychology and kind of bring a freshness but also keep the classic nature of Alice." On prior versions, Burton said "It was always a girl wandering around from one crazy character to another, and I never really felt any real emotional connection." His goal with the new film is to give the story "some framework of emotional grounding" and "to try and make Alice feel more like a story as opposed to a series of events."[11] Burton focused on the poem "Jabberwocky" as part of his structure,[48] and refers to the described creature by the name of the poem rather than by the name "Jabberwock" used in the poem. Burton also stated that he does not see his version as either a sequel to any existing Alice film nor as a "re-imagining".[47]
Casting
Burton wanted to cast an unknown actress in the role of Alice,[40] which was supported by the Disney studio.[49] According to Burton, he was searching for someone who would have "emotional toughness… standing her ground in a way which makes her kind of an older person but with a younger person’s mentality."[40] He originally planned to offer the role to Frances Bean Cobain, but she turned it down because she wanted to focus on her college studies.[50] In February 2008, Lindsay Lohan expressed interest in playing Alice.[51] Actresses such as Jennifer Lawrence,[52] Cara Delevingne,[53] and Jessica Brown Findlay would later reveal that they also auditioned for the title role, with Brown Findlay being down to the last three.[54] Dakota Blue Richards planned to audition as well, but she was much younger than required for the role.[55] Mia Wasikowska was eventually cast as Alice in July 2008.[56] She sent an audition tape in February of the same year and ended up coming over to the United Kingdom and doing four more auditions with Burton before she was chosen.[57] Burton said that he picked Wasikowska because of "a simple kind of power to her that he really liked. Not flamboyant, not very showy, but just somebody that's got a lot of internal life to her."[58]
A few days after the announcement of Wasikowska's casting, Johnny Depp was reported to be signing up for the role of the Mad Hatter.[59] His casting was officially confirmed in September 2008,[60] marking Alice in Wonderland as Depp's seventh collaboration with Burton since Edward Scissorhands (1990).[40] Later that month, during his appearance on BBC's Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, Matt Lucas announced that he had joined the film as Tweedledee and Tweedledum,[61] and a few days later, Variety reported that Michael Sheen had been cast in an undisclosed role,[62] which was later revealed to be the White Rabbit.[63] Tim Pigott-Smith, Geraldine James, and Frances de la Tour were also confirmed to appear in the film in then-unnamed roles.[64]
By October 2008, Helena Bonham Carter and Anne Hathaway were cast as the Red and White Queens, respectively.[65] Like Depp, Bonham Carter had been Burton's frequent collaborator and had previously worked on five of his films.[66] She was also Burton's first choice for the Red Queen, with his early sketches of the character made specifically with Bonham Carter in mind.[67] Bonham Carter, who was then Burton's domestic partner, recalled that after he formally asked her to come to a meeting at his office, she thought Burton was going to propose marriage to her until he showed one of his character sketches and offered her the role.[68] Before Burton was attached to the project,[69] Hathaway, who had previously starred in The Princess Diaries (2001), was approached by Disney to portray Alice, but she refused as she was more interested in playing the White Queen.[70] After Burton came on board, he considered another actress for the role, but she was unavailable due to scheduling conflicts, and the studio suggested Hathaway instead.[69] Later that month, Crispin Glover was set to portray the Knave of Hearts,[71] with Alan Rickman and Eleanor Tomlinson announced to play the Blue Caterpillar and Fiona Chattaway, respectively, while Christopher Lee was cast in undisclosed role,[72] which was later revealed to be the Jabberwocky.[73]
Filming
Antony House in south Cornwall, England, which served as Lord Ascot's estate in the film.This film was originally set to be released on March 19, 2010 but was moved up to March 5, 2010.[74] Principal photography was scheduled for May 2008, but did not begin until September and concluded in three months.[45][75] Scenes set in the Victorian era were shot at Torpoint and Plymouth from September 1 to October 14. Two hundred and fifty local extras were chosen in early August. Locations included Antony House in Torpoint, Charlestown, Cornwall and the Barbican,[76][77] however, no footage from the Barbican was used. Motion capture filming began in early October at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California, though the footage was later discarded.[78][79][80] Filming also took place at Culver Studios.[81] Burton said that he used a combination of live action and animation, without motion capture.[82] He also noted that this was the first time he had filmed on a green screen.[82] Filming of the green screen portions, comprising 90% of the film, was completed after only 40 days.[40] Many of the cast and crew felt nauseated as a result of the long hours surrounded by green, and Burton had lavender lenses fitted into his glasses to counteract the effect.[40] Due to the constant need for digital effects to distort the actors' physical appearances, such as the size of the Red Queen's head or Alice's height, visual effects supervisor Ken Ralston cited the film as being exhausting, saying it was "The biggest show I've ever done, [and] the most creatively involved I've ever been."[83]
Sony Pictures Imageworks designed the visual effects sequences.[84] Burton felt 3D was appropriate to the story's environment.[10] Burton and Zanuck chose to film with conventional cameras, and convert the footage into 3D during post-production; Zanuck explained 3D cameras were too expensive and "clumsy" to use, and they felt that there was no difference between converted footage and those shot in the format.[85] James Cameron, who released his 3D film Avatar in December 2009, criticized the choice, stating, "It doesn't make any sense to shoot in 2D and convert to 3D."[86]
