The Corruption of Wonderland

Now, the other day I stumbled upon yet another extended Alice in Wonderland trailer. While I have to admit the film does look breathtaking, I am concerned for the overall integrity of the Alice in Wonderland franchise. Burton’s latest exertion will not be a retelling of the famed and classic Lewis Carroll story, but instead will be a new adventure into Wonderland following a much older Alice back down into the rabbit hole. This story will reintroduce many of Carroll’s beloved characters, such as the Mad Hatter and the Queen of Hearts, but will use them in a completely fresh storyline.

Now, this could be either an exciting and satisfying effort or a dismal failure leaving many Carroll fans outraged and disappointed. Hopefully, Burton will be able to tell a new story without ruining or morphing the personas of these establish figures to suit his idea of Wonderland.

Think about it, how many times has a remolding of a classic had adverse effects on a franchise? Shrek, for example, was a perfectly funny and well told fairytale for the modern viewer but were Shrek two and three really necessary? In my estimation, these pointless and frivolous adjuncts to the brand only proved to be disadvantageous to the world of Shrek and left a bad taste in many fans mouths. Was Be Cool really necessary? Did we really need to see a sloppy sequel to a fairly well developed movie? I don’t think so. Of course big production companies such as Disney and Warner Brothers are ultimately a business looking to increase the size of their ever growing pockets, but does that give them the right to cast aside artistic integrity? Where does the madness end?

Of course, this isn’t the first time Carroll’s little Alice has been vandalized! Who can forget the awful children’s series back in the early nineties showcasing a hip preteen Alice living in the modern world with easy access to a high-tech wonderland through her bedroom mirror! Or American Mcgee’s atrociously gothic video game! I suppose anyone with a few pennies to spare has the power, but not necessarily the authority, to corrupt a classic in order to potentially make a dollar or two.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m looking forward to seeing Burton’s bound to be blockbuster; I just hope it proves to be worth my eleven dollars at the box office.