Alice in Wonderland DVD: Review By slysnide

Mia Wasikowska plays a nineteen year old Alice whose trip to Underland is far different than her earlier one thirteen years prior, as rather than being a crazy place with less than serious encounters, it is the polar opposite, as the White Queen's revolutionary Tarrant 'Mad Hatter" Hightopp played amazingly by Johnny Depp must ferry Alice to her destiny: to obtain the Vorpal sword to slay the Jabberwocky (Christopher Lee) which terrorizes Underland, and keeps all marching to Red Queen's beat through fear. But with the feisty and less than intimidating Knave of Hearts (Crispin Glover) trailing Alice, her mission in Underland quickly becomes more dire and complex than anything she could've dreamed.

Tim Burton's unique vision is of a relatively unappealing post-apocalyptic Wonderland, called Underland in the aftermath of the savage Red Queen Iracebeth's revolution against White Queen Mariana's kingdom. Though weaving a plot in the film rather than random encounters is greatly appreciated. Though it comes at the expense of the whimsical portrayals of Wonderland's inhabitants who are far more serious than the 1951 cartoon.

However, while most of the landscape is unappealing, and most characters radically different than we remember them in both novel and film form, the amazing special effects wizardry never ceases to amaze in this $260,000,000 adaptation of Lewis Carroll's classic novels "Alice's Adventures In Wonderland" (1865), and its sequel "Through The Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There" (1871).

Once again, Blu-Ray steals most of the extras, as all we DVD owners get is three short featurettes. The first "Finding Alice" features interviews with Tim Burton about what he was looking for in the new version of the titular character, and how Mia's portrayal reflects his vision. The second is "The Mad Hatter" which features interviews with Tim Burton and Johnny Depp about their various interpretations of the character, what they were trying to achieve, and their opinions on the final version. The last featurette is "Effecting Wonderland," which serves as a brief set of interviews about how a totally chroma-key world made for a unique challenge for many animators, and actors on the set. Excerpts from various interviews are also used to string together this featurette.

Unfortunately, unlike Best Buy's Exclusive Double Disc version of "The Wolfman" (2010) which features all the Blu-Ray extras, they didn't create such an edition for Wonderland, nor did any other retailer.

One of the best cinematic experiences to be seen in a Disney film. Truly eye candy at its best. A large flat screen is highly recommended. And an unusual feature is the full screen presentation of the widescreen theatrical version which doesn't crop the picture at all. But overall, I like traditional widescreen presentations better.

All the wonderful score by Danny Elfman is transferred just as nicely, and a surround system won't really enhance what one's TV speakers have to offer.

A plastic case with the theatrical release poster of Alice Kingsleigh, Tarrant Hightopp, and the white rabbit Nivens McTwisp (Michael Sheen) reminding you of the time. No unnecessary cardboard slipcase.

While Tim Burton crafted a plot and visually realized Lewis Carroll's creation in live action, one wonders if the film would've been so successful had he done a prequel of six year old Alice's trip to Underland first, as it would've been an outright remake of the original film, and would showcase the photo real characters. Point being that while it made off with a billion, it wasn't received with equal appraise. But overall, the chance to see this whimsical visual Burtonized ride over and over is well worth the purchase.