Tim Burton Takes Us Down The Rabbit Hole...

Written by Sheila Roberts Monday, 08 March 2010 14:39

Interview

The director of Alice in Wonderland tells us how he set about putting his own spin on the Lewis Carroll classic...

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

Instead of shooting in 3-D, you made the film in 2-D then converted it to 3-D. Why did you go this route?

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 A Nightmare Before Christmas. [Visual effects supervisor] 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.

How has your personal and professional relationship with Johnny Dep grown?

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 [Edward] 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.

Of all the films you’ve done, which is your children’s favorite?

My kids don’t really like my movies. No, I can’t say that! They’re too young. My son’s getting older but since I don’t really know what I do, I can’t really describe to him what I do, so he doesn’t really know what I do, so whatever.

Read Interview With Johnny Depp
Read Interview With Helena Bonham-Carter, Anne Hathaway, Michael Sheen
Read Interview With Jemma Powell
Watch Alice in Wonderland Trailer