Tim Burton Interview, Alice in Wonderland

Originally published in 1865, Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” changed forever the course of children’s literature. For director Tim Burton, the prospect of being able to put his own fresh spin on such a timeless classic as “Alice in Wonderland” was impossible to resist. “It’s so much a part of the culture,” he reflects of Carroll’s tale that has inspired numerous stage, television and film adaptations. “So whether you’ve read the story or not, you’ll know certain images or have certain ideas about it. It’s such a popular story.”

MoviesOnline sat down with the visionary director to talk about his new movie, his unique collaboration with Johnny Depp, and how he set about putting his own magical and imaginative twist on a classic tale that continues to transcend time and place nearly 150 years after it was written.

Q: When did the story of Alice in Wonderland first enter your life and how did it influence you?

Tim: I’m from Burbank, so we never heard about Alice in Wonderland, except for the Disney cartoon, the Tom Petty video, and Jefferson Airplane. It was interesting because that’s what made me realize the power of it. I got my introduction to it much more from other illustrators, music, culture and writers. The imagery would come up in work. Then, when you start to delve into it, you realize just how powerful that is. That’s why it remains that way.

Q: How did you set about putting your own stamp on it?

Tim: There have been so many versions, and for me, I’d 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. Also, I liked what Linda (Woolverton) did with the script. She treated this story [from the perspective of] how the Alice material has affected us. For me, it’s a story about somebody using this kind of imagery and this kind of world to figure out problems in their own life. It’s about what’s fantasy and reality and dreams and reality, how they are not separate things, that they’re one thing. It’s how we use those things to deal with our issues in life.

Q: What made you want to go into the world of Alice in Wonderland in 3-D?

Tim: It was that. It was Alice in Wonderland in 3-D. It just seemed like the world that Lewis Carroll created, with that kind of trippiness and the size and spatial element. Then I started thinking about the world of Lewis Carroll, not so much about the films and things, but more from listening to music and bands and seeing other illustrators and artists that would incorporate that imagery in their work. It made me realize just how powerful the material was. If it were written today, it would be mind blowing. So, the combination of the medium and the material just seemed really right.

Q: What made you decide to shoot in 2-D and then convert it to 3-D?

Tim: Because of all the techniques we were using, there was no point shooting in 3-D when there’s nothing to shoot. We used so many different techniques. We didn’t go motion capture, but we had live action, we had animation, and we had virtual sets. I looked at the conversion we did from Nightmare. Ken Ralston and I looked at things that were shot in 3-D and shot in 2-D conversion, and it’s like anything. With all of these tools, you can see good 3-D, bad 3-D, good conversions, bad conversions. We always knew it was going to be in 3-D. We did all the proper planning so that when we got to that stage and the elements finally came together, it was just another piece of the technology. In fact, that was probably some of the easier technology than the other elements that we were dealing with.

Q: Was there anything in Alice that technologically you couldn’t do yet?

Tim: We just used all the different technology. They’re all out there and people go purely motion capture, purely animation, or use different forms of animation. Everything’s a new tool. You always have limitations. You can do more. It’s all great, but I never try to focus too much on the technology. The fun of it for us is the artistic aspect of it and feeling like making a movie and not getting too overly involved or in love with technology.

Q: How has your personal and professional relationship with Johnny grown?

Tim: I don't know. I couldn’t really look at him during the shooting because he looked like a scary clown. We didn’t make much eye contact during the shoot. Look, I’ve always loved working with Johnny, from Scissorhands on, for many reasons. He likes to play characters and be different things. He doesn’t like watching himself which I love because that makes it a lot easier for me. Each time you do something, he’s always trying to do something different. He surprises me. It’s great when you know somebody and they keep surprising you.

Q: Can you talk about The Mad Hatter’s happy dance? Was this drawn from part of Johnny’s personal repertoire or did you suggest something?