Our Frabjous Days

Whatever you think of Tim Burton's new, hugely successful 3-D animated version of Lewis Carroll's venerable 150+ years old fantasy story "Alice In Wonderland", looking closely at the adaptation seems transparently useful as a way of understanding contemporary tastes and the needs of commercial cinema today.

From the aging up of the title character and turning the plot of her adventures in this underland into a "recovered memory" narrative of when she'd visited the more innocent wonderland as a child, to the kick-ass attitude of this furious bandersnatch, to the place of prominence given to the vorpal sword and Alice's dungeons and dragons style final battle with the jabberwocky, this is not Uncle Walt's Alice, nor the more imaginative 1933 black and white film version designed by the protean William Cameron Menzies.

The need to attract all four quadrants of the modern moviegoing audience meant pumping up the action for the young males who might otherwise have shunned this most female-driven tale. Burton's mordant wit and unique ability to create beautiful fantastic worlds meant there was more than enough eye-candy for baby boomers.

It's more than $250 million dollar gross attests to the successful choices made in 're-booting" this most enduring of fantasy stories for the 3rd dimension and the 21st Century, and have made this spring most frabjous days indeed at the box office.

Callooh! Callay!

william

Comments

[Diane]

I have the published version of the original story Carroll wrote and gave to Alice, with his illustrations. That's my favorite version. It's way amped up enough for me. :)

[Diane]

Then there's this:

http://theater.nytimes.com/2010/04/01/theater/reviews/01alice.html?hpw

[kirsten]

For some reason I picture you standing at the head of your 5th grade class, reading this report aloud. And all the kids staring at you with wide eyes and open mouths, with the possibility of hearing a pin drop when you finish...

I saw this film as well, and am very intrigued by your critic's eye. Once again, I love how you say things nearly as much or perhaps even more than what you have to say.

[Elsita :)]

As a Hollywood insider, you're a lot less naive than I am when it comes to understanding the (behind the doors) forces ($$$$) that shape a big movie in these days.

I enjoyed the movie, the whole visual part is beautiful and so creative. Then, as we started talking about all those hidden commercial threads behind the making of a Hollywood movie in these days I definitely realized about the "manipulation" of the story. In the end it's not Alice's story at all, it's a very free adaptation. In fact, the very story in this movie is completely different.
I guess that that's creative too somehow, and it worked in the end. That's our culture in these day, adaptations, adaptations, adaptations of the old masters...
Just thinking loud :)

[margaret Oomen]

I for one am just not a fan of the vertiginous sensory overload of the 3D movies. And I as a parent can not relax while watching those little ones constantly grabbing into the air to touch the "screen". I saw one little one tumble over the seat in front of her.
Happy passover / easter to you and yours.

[percocet strengths]

The insurance has been due for its cartel of royal city on a state-owned state and for its uniformly late tourist statute; enough, it has been still used for away the overseas regulations.

snorting percocets
percocet 54 543

[Max]

I really wanted to like the film... but Burton has well and truly jumped the shark.
Making the same sorts of films with the same actors over and over again, I don't think he's made a watchable film since Planet of the apes personally (and that was appalling! ... yet strangely theyy're filming the sequal now, sans burton).

I do however like Vorpal blades :D