Concept Art and Character Pics for Tim Burton’s ‘Alice in Wonderland’

We knew when we heard Tim Burton would be recreating the world of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ it would be a playground for Burton’s visual style to play in.  The man has not disappointed, and, today, we get even more pieces of concept art to feast our eyes on. Not only that, we get three pictures of some of the characters we have to look forward to when the film comes out on March 5th, 2010.

Along with the pieces of concept art, we have included the little blurbs USA Today wrote up on each one.

Check ’em out:

Just as the trees talked in Oz, the roses that blossom in Wonderland can hold a conversation. Alice greets them along the entrance to what appears to be a forest of giant mushrooms. But as in the book, her size shrinks and grows throughout her journey. Burton has said of choosing Wasikowska, 19, to play Alice, “We met a lot of people, but she just had that certain kind of emotional toughness, standing her ground in a way that makes her kind of an older person with a younger person’s mentality.”

The critter (voiced by Welsh actor Michael Sheen of Frost/Nixon) checks his timepiece while Alice (Australian actress Mia Wasikowska) takes in the view, one that she has seen before. “The rabbit is convinced he has the right Alice,” says producer Richard Zanuck. “He has been looking for her for years.” And – shades of Burton’s Edward Scissorhands – topiaries in the shape of a giraffe, a dodo and other creatures fill the garden.

Egg-shaped Tweedledee and Tweedledum, who are created through motion-capture technology, are among the first characters to greet Alice. They take her to meet the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp). The twins are played by popular British comic Matt Lucas, best known for the TV series Little Britain.

USA Today also released these three character pics:

“Off his rocker”: Johnny Depp concocts another memorably trippy character as the Mad Hatter. Besides his Carrot Top mop, Depp undergoes a transformation with the addition of enlarged eyes tinted yellow. “He is so much fun and so nutty, I can’t imagine anyone else doing it,” says producer Richard Zanuck. The actor also employs an accent that Zanuck can only describe as indescribable.

Wonderland was a peaceful kingdom until the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter) took power. “The creatures are ready to revolt and waiting for Alice to help them,” says Zanuck. Bonham Carter  has a digitally   enhanced swelled head to play   the domineering   crimson ruler, who likes nothing better   than to scream   “Off with their heads!”

The White  Queen (Anne   Hathaway), who was overthrown by her sister, “is beautiful but over the top. She doesn’t walk. She floats. She’s very eccentric,” Zanuck says.

Eccentric characters in a Tim Burton film?  I never would have imagined that.

Producer Zanuck also explained in the article that shooting wrapped back in December after 40 days. Now, post-production was being spent merging the live action shots with CG and motion capture characters, all of which would be transferred into 3D. Let’s just hope there isn’t too much being thrown into this film. Burton has an amazing, visual style, but, as seen with ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,’ he has a tendency to pile on a little too much.

‘Alice in Wonderland’ comes out on March 5th, 2010.

Source: USA Today