"Alice's Misadventures In Wonderland"

Film and TV productions across the years

2004 - Alice's Misadventures in Wonderland

   Alice's Misadventures in Wonderland marks the feature debut of writer/director Robert Rugan. In developing his first film, Rugan decided early on that he wanted to focus on the story's roots, both thematically and visually, challenging himself and the crew to create something unique.

   "It's not a traditional adaptation of Carroll's book. I approached the story as if Carroll were writing Alice's adventure as a screenplay in today's day and age. It had to stick closely to Carroll's original intentions, but where the book was injected with the nonsense of Victorian England of the 1860's, this re-telling needed to be fueled by the contemporary world that we live in. I was interested in what Wonderland would be like now at the beginning of the 21st century."

   Alice's Misadventures shot for 16 days in and around the state of Alabama including historic Sloss Furnace and the famous Monroeville Courthouse, featured in Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird".

THE STORY
   The central character is Alice Liddell (!) played by Maggie Henry, who is stuck in a dead-end corporate job (purists can wince here). She has come to the realisation that life is a series of multiple choice questions and wishes she had a way of knowing the right answers. The solution to Alice's dilemma comes in the form of a bizarre book delivered by a stranger in a gas mask and chemical suit. "Who are you?" she asks, to which he answers, "I'm not from around here, this is a disguise."
   Worried that "the window might be closing", the stranger snatches the book away, just as she is coming to understand it's meaning, and races off. Alice follows, launching her into an bizarre journey into the heart of...Wonderland, where a once playful array of characters has changed into a horrific collection of the deranged, delusional, and desperate.
   Between a schitzophrenic obsessed with game shows; a cave-dwelling guru searching for enlightenment; a couple of conspiracy junkies looking for a scape goat; a collection of ethnically diverse children with a bit of a hearing problem; and a Queen that's not real comfortable with her/his sexuality, the last thing Alice needs is a vending machine that won't take her money, after all...the only thing she's really looking for is...change.

Hmmmm. I haven't actually seen this film and can't in fairness comment on it too much, but it's clearly yet another of those "based on the concept of" stories with a description incorporating that much over-used word, "re-imagined" and using modern settings and real-life locations for economy. Photography looks good though.
I doubt that it's suitable for children but might otherwise be worth a look if it comes your way. It's an independent film which means it's unlikely to get a commercial release unless the makers are lucky and land a DVD deal.
There's a website where you can download a trailer, see some more frame-grabs and obtain further information. You can even buy a T-shirt. Whoopee. To visit the site CLICK HERE

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