The highly anticipated Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland is almost here. Johnny Depp isn’t the only thing to take notice of (even though we love him and will always have our eye on that magnificent man).  And what would any classic Disney movie be without merchandise? These designers have made some very chic collections inspired from Alice in Wonderland that range from tea sets, to fashion, to jewelry.

Have a looksie:

• Tom Binns for Disney Couture – Available at Bloomingdales and Macy’s in March 2010

• Disney & Swarovski Alice in Wonderland Jewelry – Available at Swarovski.com & Stores February, 2010

• -Stella McCartney for Disney – Available at Stella McCartney Stores, February 2010

• Sue Wong for Walt Disney Signature – Available at Bloomingdale’s, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom’s, Lord & Taylor, Macy’s & Suewong.com, March 2010

• Abby Dawn for Disney –Available at Kohl’s in March 2010

• Hot Topic Alice in Wonderland Line – Available at Hot Topic stores (available now) If you’re thinking this line may be a little dark, ::cough cough CNN:: take another look. I was pleasently surprised at how cute the apparel is. Not only are the clothes cute, certain Hot Topic stores have transformed into mini wonderlands so take a trip to an actual store.

• Urban Decay’s Alice In Wonderland Book of Shadows – Available at Sephora, ULTA, Macy’s, Urbandecay.com (now available)

• Alice in Wonderland Tea Set – Available at Bloomingdales, March 2010

• Collectible Action Figures – Available online & specialty stores, March 2010OPI Alice In Wonderland Nail Polish – Available now at Salons

• -OPI Alice In Wonderland Nail Polish – Available now at Salons

We all remember the story from the cartoon, if you’ve read the book; we all know that story as well. What a lot of people don’t’ realize, is that this isn’t the same Disney movie or a remake of the first cartoon. Tim Burton takes us to an Alice in Wonderland that is set 13 years after the first time Alice was there. Alice is 19 years old and falls down the same rabbit hole she did once before only to find herself in a changed Underland. Yes, Underland, not Wonderland where on her first visit, she mistakenly thought that was the correct way to say it. There in Underland, Alice (Mia Wasikowska) reunites with her childhood friends, the White Rabbit (Michael Sheen), Tweedledee and Tweedledum (Matt Lucas), the Dormouse, the Caterpillar (Alan Rickman), the Cheshire Cat (Stephen Fry) and the brilliantly crazy, Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp). Instead of just trying to get out of the whimsical world, Alice is now on a journey to find her true destiny, where the world is under reign of the terrible Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter). After reuniting with her companions, Alice travels to fight the Red Queen and the Knave of Hearts (Crispin Glover) to restore the crown to the White Queen (Anne Hathaway).  I’ll stop there and leave the rest for you to see.

Going into starting production of the movie Tim Burton wasn’t even very fond of the story of Alice in Wonderland-shocking.  He says,

“There’s been so many versions and for me I’ve never seen a version that I really liked. So I didn’t feel like there was a definitive version to me that we were fighting against.”

Tim Burton on how the Lewis Carroll version influenced him:

“I’m from Burbank so we never heard about Alice in Wonderland except for the cartoon, Tom Petty Video, Jefferson airplane. It was interesting because that’s what made me realize the power of it. I got my introduction from other illustrators and music and culture and writers and the imagery would come up in others work. That’s when you start to delve into and realize how powerful it is and it remains that way.”

As a true fan of the book and the Disney classic, I thought I would be set up to be disappointed. What surprised me was the depth of the characters and the performances of not only the magnificent Johnny Depp, but of Mia Wasikowska as Alice. I can honestly say that each character was brilliant, and not one was disappointing. The Hatter’s sadness, the White Queen’s mysterious darkness, the Red Queen’s need for acceptance, Alice’s vulnerability, and each and every talking animal had something inviting that you felt for them emotionally. Each character has something that you can connect and relate to.  Seeing it in 3D was also a dramatic, fantastical thing. Hat’s off to Ken Ralston for creating such a magical world. It was truly unbelievable. They filmed most of the scenes all through green screens and digitally enhanced every feature. Crispin Glover’s character, Stayne, the Knave of hearts was a 7 foot 6 digitally made man, where they only used his head from the takes and digitally made his body for the film. Tweedles was also all digitally made and only Matt Lucas’ head was used. It really is in AMAZING 3D and there’s no other way to see it.

So how was it? Overall, I absolutely loved this movie. For Tim Burton, I thought it wasn’t as dark as his movies usually are. It was very well done, the story fits and you’re thoroughly entertained the entire time. The best part is learning and experiencing the witty characters.  Learning about each character has really taken me down the rabbit hole and don’t be hesitant to see how far it goes. This is definitely a movie to see or in this case it’s an experience, in 3D and if possible in IMAX. Bring your friends and family, you may be seeing it more than once. Just writing about it has made me want to see it again ASAP. So if you’ll excuse me, I have to find a bootleg of the movie until it comes out. Let’s face it though, you can put Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter in a movie about a turd and a water fountain and I’d see it.

Alice in Wonderland is set in the world of Underland (not Wonderland), which is now under rule of Iracebeth, the Red Queen. The Red Queen had taken over the White Queen’s throne and is creating mass destruction and terror in the world. With all creatures in fear, it’s up to Alice to save their world. The Red Queen and the White Queen are sisters and have more in common than you think. I recently got the chance to sit down with the cast of Alice In Wonderland for an exclusive interview.  Here’s an inside look  at Helena Bonham Carter and Anne Hathaway’s characters.

“The thing that struck me the most was the thing that I like most about the Red Queen, was her vulnerability. And the thing I liked most about the White Queen was how sinister she was. So that worked brilliantly for me.” – Michael Sheen as the White Rabbit

The Red Queen or “the queen of hearts” has a familiar feel as with the first Alice in Wonderland. Except her head is much bigger, and her hair and temper are much more extravagant. She is the tyrannical monarch of Underland and her fiery temper has heads rolling. Yet to all the anger, there is a certain vulnerability to her character. “She’s got emotional problems.” Says Bonham Carter.  Reining through fear can be transparent, as deep down you can slowly see that she’s deeply a jealous and hurt woman. In the end you’ll be feeling sorry for her and realize she just wants to be loved. The sibling rivalry between the sisters is what fuels The Red Queen’s emotionless rule over Underland. Through this, she rules through terror and her solution to every problem is: “off with their head!” Don’t be fooled though, her character is nasty in a baby-doll kind of way. Tragically her character is lost in difficult place.

“It is better to be feared than loved.” – Red Queen

The Red Queen 7 the White Queen’s makeup was also something to be proud of. Done by Valli O’Reily, she gave The Red Queen a Victorian look and it wasn’t fast and easy. Helena Bonham Carter’s thoughts on how long the makeup process took:

“ It wasn’t that long, I just said hours for the sympathy effect, but it was only 2 and a half hours. But to put a bald cap on, they had to get rid of my hairline, so that takes about two and a half hours, and then they have to paint it, and then they put my beauty makeup on, that took some time, and my huge wig. They didn’t blow my head up every morning, they did that on camera. There are two cameras in the world that do this and they just blow your heads up, and I had this huge camera dedicated to me, which is fine by me.”

Don’t expect the innocent sweetheart Anne Hathaway to be an angel as the white queen.  Anne had a fun time playing this role. Transforming into a gorgeous delicate blonde, Hathaway dominates as Mirana, the White Queen. As the younger sister of the Red Queen, she appears to be full of sweetness and clarity. The one thing to remember is she comes from the same gene pool as the Red Queen. “She really likes the dark side, but she’s so scared of going too far into it that she’s made everything light and happy. But she’s living in that place out of fear that she won’t be able to control herself.” Says Hathaway.

Anne was given the freedom by Director Tim Burton, to explore the relationship of the two characters, because they come from the same place.  “So I thought, oh how fun if my character has sort of hidden psychosis.”  The White Queen’s dark genetics aren’t extremely obvious in the film, but you can tell her motives aren’t completely altruistic. Hathaway’s interpretation of the White Queen and her relationship with the Red Queen:

“(She’s) interested in knives and things of that like, and is adorable on the outside and has tried very hard to become this good, almost over the top positive creature. But underneath she kind of has a murderous streak and it comes out when she’s around weaponry. It wasn’t necessarily that they were opposites; they were just sisters who were different.”

The two sisters have a huge rivalry in the film and it’s full of wit and mystery. Both the Red Queen and the White Queen will spark your interest and lost in intrigue. Something that wasn’t expected was how much emotion you’ll feel for each character, and these two magnificent actresses get a huge BRAVO for their performances.

Alice in Wonderland comes out in amazing 3D March 5^th

The movie hits theaters on March 5^th and will also be in 3D (if you also saw Avatar, you know that this is cool, but my eyeballs hurt afterward). This will also be a huge launch for actress Mia Wasikowska, who plays 19-year-old Alice.