Alice Through the Looking Glass will mark the first return the world originally created by English writer Lewis Carroll, and reimagined for the big screen in Tim Burton’s trademark off-kilter aesthetic style. In 2010’s Alice in Wonderland, Burton teamed up with screenwriter Linda Woolverton (Maleficent) to adapt Carroll’s original storybook narrative into a big budget, colorful blockbuster spectacle, replete with all of the A-list talent that Burton could find.
Despite going on to become the the fourth highest grossing film in its year, Burton’s Alice in Wonderland garnered generally mixed reviews. This may be why he will only be producing the forthcoming sequel, which is set to be directed by James Bobin (The Muppets), with Woolverton returning to pen the film’s script. The new movie has already seen the release of several TV spots and feature length trailers, and now Disney has released one more.
The footage above includes the first reappearance of the late Alan Rickman, reprising his role from the first film as the Blue Caterpillar. Sacha Baron Cohen (The Brothers Grimsby) as Time himself makes another head-turning appearance as he makes his way through the great winding gears and levers of universal temporality, and the trailer also features many familiar faces from the first film, including Johnny Depp (Black Mass) as the Mad Hatter, Helena Bonham Carter (Suffragette) as the Red Queen, and Mia Wasikowska (Crimson Peak) as the eponymous heroine.
Thus far, Alice Through the Looking Glass appears to offer an ever grander sampling of Burton’s vision, despite whatever claims that Bobin has made about his film diverging from the former’s visual influence on the project. Overall, the new movie should offer more of what fans of the first movie loved, though it remains to be seen how well its star performers will be able to reignite viewer anticipation after the six year gap between the first and the second film.
With any luck, Bobin, Woolverton, and Burton will be able to deliver a second film in the series for Disney that will please even casual viewers coming to the series for the first time, as well as those who saw the first film. And if the movie delivers in no other way, it will undoubtedly be a pleasure to hear Rickman lend his voice to the Blue Caterpillar once more, in what will be the great actor’s final role on the silver screen.
Alice Through the Looking Glass will see theatrical release in the U.S. on May 27th, 2016.
Source: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
