Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland Updates

Tim Burton's adaptation of Alice in Wonderland, slated for release on March 5, 2010, is nearly done (or done) with shooting the live action segment. Producer Richard D. Zanuck has reported that there are many more months to go with animation and post production before the film is complete.

Meanwhile, Alan Rickman (who will be seen as Severus Snape in the sixth Harry Potter film in July of 2009), the actor portraying the Caterpillar, has mentioned quite a bit about the film. He says he is merely a voice, but he has also been filmed speaking because his head will be attached to the end of an animated caterpillar. "...It's the first time that they've mixed three disciplines, I suppose - live action, animation, and stop motion. I think I'm part of the animation bit..." Rickman said in an interview. The actor mentioned that later on, after the Caterpillar has been animated, he will say his lines again (better, as he said he did them "quite badly") and the new footage will be combined with the animation to create the character.

He also stated that Helena Bonham Carter (Wonderland's Red Queen, who can be seen in Terminator: Salvation this May) will be part of the live action portion of the film - wearing makeup and a costume - but her head will be swelled to approximately three times its normal size. To say the least, the three forms of animation and the strange combinations of animation mixed with live action sound very Wonderland-esque.

Comedian Matt Lucas, who stars as Tweedledee and Tweedledum in Burton's interpretation of Alice in Wonderland, has said that he would like Johnny Depp (the Mad Hatter: Depp will also be featured in Public Enemies in July of 2009) to guest star on his new show Little Britain USA. Depp apparently has amused Lucas with his knowledge of various Yiddish phrases and they get along quite well on the set. But, Lucas jokes, "He'll have to audition like everyone else!"

Alice in Wonderland will not be shot in 3-D, but rather in 2-D and converted to 3-D in post production (which, interestingly enough, drew criticism from James Cameron). Anne Hathaway (portraying the Red Queen's sister, the White Queen) has described her character as "cute but psycho," taking the phrase from a Happy Bunny magnet. Richard Zanuck says that the film is staying true to the book but will definitely be identifiable as a Tim Burton film. As he put it, "...It's Tim Burton really cranking up his wild imagination, but in