Alice in Wonderland (2010 film)

Alice in Wonderland is a 2010 American fantasy adventure film directed by Tim Burton from a screenplay written by Linda Woolverton. The film stars Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Crispin Glover, Matt Lucas, and Mia Wasikowska and features the voices of Alan Rickman, Stephen Fry, Michael Sheen, and Timothy Spall. Based on Lewis Carroll's fantasy novels, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass. This film tells the story of a nineteen-year-old Alice Kingsleigh (stated in the film to be a daughter of Charles Kingsley), who is told that she can restore the White Queen to her throne, with the help of the Mad Hatter. She is the only one who can slay the Jabberwock, a dragon-like creature that is controlled by the Red Queen and terrorizes Underland's inhabitants.
The film was produced by Walt Disney Pictures and shot in the United Kingdom and the United States. The film premiered in London at the Odeon Leicester Square on February 25, 2010, and was released in Australia on March 4, 2010, and the following day in the United Kingdom and the United States through the Disney Digital 3D, RealD 3D, and IMAX 3D formats as well as in conventional theaters. It is also the second-highest-grossing film of 2010.
Alice in Wonderland received mixed reviews upon release; although praised for its visual style and special effects, the film was criticized for its lack of narrative coherence and overuse of computer-generated imagery (CGI). At the 83rd Academy Awards, Alice in Wonderland won Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design, and was also nominated for Best Visual Effects. The film generated over $1 billion in ticket sales and became the fifth-highest-grossing film of all time during its theatrical run.
The film started a trend of live-action fairy tale and fantasy films being green-lit, particularly from Walt Disney Studios.
A sequel, titled Alice Through the Looking Glass, was released on May 27, 2016.

Plot

Troubled by a strange recurring dream and mourning the loss of her father, 19-year-old Alice Kingsleigh attends a garden party at Lord Ascot's estate. There, she is confronted by an unwanted marriage proposal to Lord Ascot's son, Hamish and the stifling expectations of the society in which she lives. Unsure of how to proceed, she pursues a rabbit wearing a blue waistcoat and accidentally falls into a large rabbit hole under a tree. She emerges in a forest where she is greeted by Nivens McTwisp the White Rabbit, Mallymkun the Dormouse, the Dodo, the Talking Flowers, and Tweedledee and Tweedledum. They argue over whether Alice is "the right Alice" who must slay Iracebeth of Grims the Red Queen's Jabberwocky and restore Mirana of Marmoral the White Queen to power, as foretold by Absolem the Caterpillar and his prophetic scroll. The group is then ambushed by the Bandersnatch and a group of playing-card soldiers led by Ilosovic Stayne the Knave of Hearts. Alice, Tweedledum and Tweedledee escape into the woods. The Knave steals the Caterpillar's scroll. Mallymkun leaves the others behind with one of the Bandersnatch's eyes in her possession. Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee are then captured by the Red Queen's Jubjub bird.
The Knave informs the Red Queen that Alice threatens her reign, and the soldiers and Bayard the Bloodhound are ordered to find Alice immediately. Meanwhile, the Cheshire Cat guides Alice to Thackery Earwicket the March Hare and Tarrant Hightopp the Mad Hatter. The Hatter helps Alice avoid capture by allowing himself to be seized instead. Later, Alice is found by Bayard the Bloodhound; but Alice insists upon helping the Hatter. At the Red Queen's citadel and palace (which is named Salazan Grum), the Red Queen is unaware of Alice's true identity and therefore welcomes her as a guest, named Um from Umbridge. Alice learns that the Vorpal sword, the only weapon capable of killing the Jabberwock, is locked inside the den of the Bandersnatch. The Knave attempts to seduce Alice, but she rebuffs him, causing a jealous Red Queen to order that Alice be beheaded. Alice obtains the sword and befriends the Bandersnatch by returning its eye. She then escapes on the back of the grateful Bandersnatch and delivers the sword to the White Queen. The Cheshire Cat saves the Hatter from the executioner, and the Hatter calls for rebellion against the Red Queen. The rebellion is quickly put down by the Jubjub bird, but the resistance flees to the White Queen's castle, and both armies prepare for battle. Former caterpillar Absolem advises Alice to fight the Jabberwocky just before completing his transformation into a pupa.
On the appointed day, the White Queen and the Red Queen gather their armies on a chessboard-like battlefield and send Alice and the Jabberwocky to decide the battle in single combat. Encouraged by the advice of her late father, Alice fights the Jabberwocky among the ruins surrounding the battlefield and finally jumps from the remains of a spiral staircase onto the Jabberwocky's neck and beheads it. During this fight, a falling masonry stone kills the Jubjub bird. The White Queen banishes the Red Queen and the Knave into exile. After the Hatter performs a celebration dance called Futterwacken, the White Queen gives Alice a vial of the Jabberwocky's purple blood whose power will bring her whatever she wishes. She decides to rejoin the everyday world, after saying farewell to his friends (especially the Hatter). Back in England, Lord Ascot takes Alice as his apprentice with the idea of establishing oceanic trade routes to Hong Kong. As the story closes, Alice prepares to set off on a trading ship. A light-blue butterfly with dark vein markings lands on her shoulder, and Alice recognizes him as Absolem.